A guided glimpse into the world of outdoor play will depend on the day. Possibilities include snowman and snow fort building with natural materials or garden scavenger hunt for natural objects

Search for gnomes in the Children's Garden using your best "I Spy" skills. Checklist provided.

Interactive story time and fun crafts indoors before heading out on the grounds for a winter walk. Themes change each week. Wednesdays and Fridays.

With small solar lights to guide their way, hikers, skiers and snowshoers can traverse the 1.3-mile fitness trail at Old School Forest Preserve in Libertyville or the 1.65-mile hilly section of the Millennium Trail adjacent to the winter Sports Area at Lakewood Forest Preserve in Wauconda. Starting Sunday, Nov. 4, the trails and adjacent parking lots will remain open until 9 .m. daily until March 9.

Feature the black bear and its adaptations for survival in the forest. Crawl into the bear's den, compare your senses to that of the black bear, feel his fur, come face to face with a black bear mount and more.

A new music and performance series for the stroller set parents and their pre-kindergarten children. Performances are on alternate Fridays at 10 a.m. beginning Feb. 1. Parents and young children can enjoy Chicago's best music, dance and theater in a kid-friendly setting. Kids can sit on the floor, walk around, meet the artists and sometimes play with instruments and puppets. Parents are welcome to bring snacks and juiceboxes. The Juicebox series runs year-round.

If you're looking for an alternative to skating at Millennium Park this winter, look up. Way up-94 stories, to be exact. Touted as the World's Highest Ice Skating Rink, the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center gives ice skaters a bird's-eye view of the city and the lake.

At 20 feet by 45 feet, the rink is probably too small to be your solo destination of the day, but paired with a trip to see the view from the Hancock, it's a nice way for kids to burn off energy while parents enjoy the great view. And because it's synthetic ice, skaters stay warm and don't get wet.

The rink is scheduled to be open for skating from 9 a.m.-11 p.m. through April 18. A 25-minute skate session costs $6 (in addition to the cost to get into the Hancock Observatory). You can bring your own skates or rent some there for a dollar.

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.

The exhibit features the illustrations of W. W. Denslow, a Chicago resident whose famous illustrations helped to inspire the design of the classic 1939 MGM film starring Judy Garland. The bright and colorful exhibit provides a variety of learning opportunities and hands-on activities within a three-dimensional representation of Denslow's distinctive illustrations.

Discover how sounds make music, and how music makes you feel, with activities like making melodies on bolt- and wrench-a-phones, using soft sculpture pegs to make a music box, blowing air over a reed, moving musical notes on a staff, beating percussion instruments, and creating an artistic masterpiece that reflects how music makes you feel