Traditional German winter holiday market features holiday decorations, vendors in stalls and cottages selling German gift items and foods, entertainment and activities for all ages. The annual Children's Lantern Parade on St. Martin's Day is a highlight for children. Check the website for a detailed schedule of hours and events. New in 2012, Kinder Korner, a resource for children, teachers and parents, that includes at-market activities.

Santa visits on Saturday-Sunday and there are special activities each weekend.

Historic Holidays at Clarke House Museum  | Chicago

Experience a traditional mid-nineteenth century Christmas at Clarke House Museum this holiday season. Discover the simple joys of homemade decorations, including pine boughs and a tabletop Christmas tree, which adorned the 1850s Chicago home. Learn about gifts exchanged by families like the Clarkes and pick up a period recipe to try.

See a toy so amazing, so unbelievable, it has the power to transform into anything you want it to be. Enter a world where imagination rules, and ordinary becomes extraordinary.

Build a snow fort, throw snowballs, dress up a snowman and ice skate - all inside.
The brand new "ice" rink has more space to skate in your socks.

Take a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the world of magic and its historic roots in Chicago. Features a multimedia object theater experience, artifact display and live performances. Discover the tricks of the trade and witness Chicago's magical past reappear before your very eyes.

Visitors become space adventurers and set off on a journey to discover the Universe in a way never done before. Travel a billion light-years and back, fly through space, orbit the Moon, zoom into a canyon on Mars, and soar through the cosmic web where a million galaxies shower down. The experience was created utilizing real telescopic data and the best scientific imagery.

View the winter spectacle from inside the 70' Grainger Sky Theater dome.

A live show that explores the connections between the sights and sounds of the holiday season and our experience of the night sky during this special time of year. Discover the reason for the winter solstice, examine the significance surrounding the Star of Bethlehem, witness the beauty of the Aurora Borealis, and explore the winter sky celebrations of cultures all around the globe from past and present.

Exhibit examines the ancestry and evolution of numerous species, ranging from huge to tiny, from speedy to sloth-like, and displays animals with oversized claws, fangs, snouts, and horns. Highlights include taxidermy specimens, an entire skeleton of a giant hoofed plant-eater, a life-size model of the largest land mammal that ever lived, one of the oldest fossilized bats ever found, and an impressive diorama featuring the swamps and forests of an island in the Arctic. Runs May 26, 2012-Jan. 6, 2013.