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Sunday, October 07, 2012
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St. Charles Scarecrow Fest| St. Charles |
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View over 150 handcrafted scarecrows and vote for your
favorite in each of six categories. Plus, live entertainment, arts
and crafts show, carnival, petting zoo, canine corner and
make-your-own scarecrow.
Where: Downtown at Route 64 and Fox River - St. Charles
When: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: Free
Autumn Harvest Festival| Schaumburg |
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Immerse yourself in local 1880s farm history with demonstrations of grain threshing, blacksmithing, corn harvesting, apple cider pressing and more. Frontier history comes to life at an authentic 1790s encampment. Event includes two historic demonstration areas, live music, pumpkin decorating, kid's 19th century games, craft activity tent, food, and refreshments.
Where: Spring Valley Nature Center & Heritage Farm - Schaumburg
When: noon-5 p.m.
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: $16 family (max 6 people), $4 person, kids 3 and under free.
Midway Village Museum Scarecrow Harvest Festival| Rockford |
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Families can build their own scarecrow with straw provided free. Bring old clothes to stuff, or purchase clothes and accessories. Activities include traditional harvest crafts and activities, old-fashioned games, wagon rides around the village, square dancing and demonstrations.
Where: 6799 Guilford Road - Rockford
When: noon-5 p.m.
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: $7, $5 kids 3-17
Grove Fest| Glenview |
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Featuring live folk music, square dancing, nature walks and pioneer craft demonstrations. There will also be storytelling for kids throughout the day.
Where: The Grove - Glenview
When: Visit website for schedule of events.
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: Visit website for information
Werewolf's Curse; Or Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow| Lisle |
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A vegan couple find themselves in a pickle when Harry is bitten by a werewolf cub. Luckily, Dr. Frank Einstein and Madam Clara Voyant may have a cure. Meet a campy cast of characters in this spoof of the horror movies of the 1930s. Audience members walk to each location to enjoy the unfolding story. Low-impact hikes (suitable for strollers, walkers and wheelchairs) are presented on the first Sunday performance of the month.
Where: Morton Arboretum
When: 3-5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, plus Columbus Day
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: $13-19
Family Bicycling| Lisle |
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Explore the Arboretum's nine miles of scenic roads by bicycle. Bring your own or rent regular bicycles, tandems, electric bikes, burley strollers, wagons and more.
Where: Morton Arboretum
When: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Wednesday; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday-Friday
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: Free with Arboretum admission.
Acorn Express at The Morton Arboretum| Lisle |
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See gardens, woodlands, wetlands and prairies in a tram tour. 60-minute and 30-minute tours explain the rich Arboretum history, and describe the trees and plants you'll see. There's also an opportunity to see lovely wildlife in a native habitat.
Where: Morton Arboretum
When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: $4-6; (discounts for Arboretum members)
Trick or Trees| Lisle |
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Play tricky games, fashion fun fall crafts, and plant a tree seed to take home. Small pumpkins to paint will also be available for purchase. Weekends in October.
Where: Morton Arboretum
When: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Cost: Free with admission
The Scarecrow Trail| Lisle |
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Artistically decorated scarecrows from local Girl Scout troops are on display around Meadow Lake, daily in October.
Where: Morton Arboretum
When: 7 a.m.-sunset
Cost: Free with admission
Sukkot Family Activities| Glencoe |
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Families celebrate the Jewish harvest holiday of Sukkot and help decorate the sukkah with handmade decorations. Activities sponsored by the National Council of Jewish Women, Chicago North Shore Section.
Where: Chicago Botanic Garden
When: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: Free with admission
Fall Bulb Festival| Glencoe |
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Shop from more than 200 varieties of daffodils, tulips, alliums and other specialty bulbs, learn from Garden horticulturists and staff demonstrations on bulb selection and planting, and sip cider, wine and beer while listening to live music and shopping among local vendors. Plus, a straw bale maze and a gourd display.
Where: Chicago Botanic Garden
When: Noon-4 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: Free; $20 parking
Railway Garden| Valparaiso |
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The new Railway Garden, a G-gauge model railway running through a 2.5 acre site, opens April 30. Visitors enter through a 1920s-era railway depot to see trains running through a garden of miniature plants, water features and a variety of landscapes. May 1 through October.
Where: Taltree Arboretum & Gardens
When: 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: $10, free kids 3 and under
Haunted Railway| Valparaiso |
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Throughout October, visitors enjoy spooky sights and sounds, plus special events during Twilight Witching Hours (4-7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday October 6-29). Spooky trees, raving ravens and creepy crawlies will take up residence in the garden, joining the thousands of miniature plants, dozens of handmade bridges, and of course, an assemblage G-gauge steam trains.
Where: Taltree Arboretum & Gardens
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: $10, $5 kids 5-12, free kids 4 and under
Discover the Power of Plants| Chicago |
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Drop in anytime between 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the conservatory's Elizabeth Morse Genius Children's Garden to plant an imaginary garden, build a tropical habitat, help water the plants, or read a book under the tropical canopy. Runs through entire 2012.
Where: Garfield Park Conservatory
When: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Cost: Free
Bonner Country Fair| Lindenhurst |
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Features a petting zoo, wagon and pony rides, crafts, face
painting, and live entertainment. Play old-fashioned games and
guess the weight of a giant pumpkin, paint a pumpkin or gourd and
help construct a scarecrow, explore hands-on exhibits, including an
activity maze, weather station and oversized farm animal
cut-outs.
Where: Bonner Heritage Farm
When: Noon-4 p.m.
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: $3, free kids 3 and under
Hayrides at Buckley| Lowell |
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Enjoy the quiet, steady pace of the horses as they pull
the hay wagon around the back 80 acre trail. Look for
pheasant, deer, and coyote as you travel through the wooded areas
and open fields past the pioneer log cabin. No hayrides Oct. 13 and
14.
Where: Buckley Homestead
When: 1 and 2 p.m.
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: $2, plus admission
Silo Exhibit| Glenview |
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Visitors can walk inside the two-story silo and turn the crank of a silage machine, watching "corn plants" delivered to the top of the silo. Plus, learn about the history of silos and silage, build miniature silos with building blocks simulating wood, brick and metal and much more.
Where: Wagner Farm & Heritage Center
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: Free with admission
Woodland Pumpkin Hunt| Olympia Fields |
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Explore the woods and search for a pumpkin. Decorate our pumpkins, play games, and have a snack. Registration required by Oct. 5.
Where: Irons Oaks
When: 2-4 p.m. Oct. 7, 9:30-11:30 a.m. Oct. 8
Ages: Preschool, Elementary
Cost: $18, $12 resident
Cat Awareness Weekend| Brookfield |
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Learn about the zoo's cats, from big cats like African lions, Amur leopards, Amur tigers, and snow leopards to small ones, including fishing cats and domestic house cats. Plus, special Zoo Chats and cat-themed crafts and activities for cat lovers of all ages.
Where: Brookfield Zoo
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: Free with zoo admission
Wake Up With the Animals| Brookfield |
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Join a keeper-led tour of the Children's Zoo, then head to the barn to help keepers with morning chores like feeding the cows, delivering hay to the goats or brushing the animals.
Where: Brookfield Zoo
When: 9:30-11 a.m. Sept. 29 or 30 (ages 4-6) and Oct. 6 or 7 (ages 7-10)
Ages: Preschool, Elementary
Cost: $48
Pumpkinfest| Wheaton |
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Breathe in the crisp fall air as you enter the zoo through a cornstalk lined path, hear the crunch of the leaves underneath your feet, listen to the children conquering the straw pyramid or enjoy the sight of thousands of pumpkins on display. Nature-made fall decorations, including pumpkins, gourds and corn stalks, available to purchase.
Where: Cosley Zoo
When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Ages: Babies, Toddlers, Preschool, Elementary, Tweens, Teens, Family/All Ages, Adults
Cost: Regular admission; cost of pumpkins varies
Unboxed: Adventures in Cardboard| Chicago |
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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.
Where: Chicago Children's Museum
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: Free with admission
Chicago Children’s “Halloweeum”| Chicago |
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Create your own creepy costume, decorate a mini-pumpkin and explore our Spooky Backyard. Includes special crafts and Monster Mash Dance Party (Friday-Sunday) and face painting daily.
Where: Chicago Children's Museum
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: Free with admission
Fire Safety 101| Chicago |
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Everyone should know what do in case of a fire. Visit the Play it Safe exhibit for kid-friendly life-saving skills and information.
Where: Chicago Children's Museum
When: 11:15 a.m. Saturday-Sunday
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: Free with admission
TRAINS – All Aboard Art!| Naperville |
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Kids enter artist Gino Severini's interpretation of trains by role-playing engineer, passenger or conductor in a child-size train and look for objects in an eight-foot wide "hidden pictures" mural of artist Don Stewart's "Steam Train." Plus, enjoy specially designed wooden train tables and a huge new interactive crane.
Where: DuPage Children's Museum
Ages: Family/All Ages
Cost: Free with admission















