Various activities held throughout the holiday season including light parade and lighting ceremony, entertainment, demonstrations and giveaways.

The festival kicks off at 6 p.m. on Nov. 15 in Pere Marquette park. Featuring live music, fireworks and the ceremonial lighting of the downtown lights. The light festival features thousands of lights and holiday displays.

Enjoy indoor and outdoor lighted displays, designer wreaths and trees, a replica English country train platform, and the Model Railroad Garden in seasonal decor.

Features more than one million twinkling lights illuminating the zoo's walkways. Enjoy animated light displays, laser light shows, ice-carving demonstrations, live musical and dance performances, costumed characters, and animal Zoo Chats with keepers.

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.

170,000 square feet of holiday fun features indoor ice skating, entertainment, rides and inflatable slides. There are also thousands of glistening lights, plush holiday décor, and holiday trees. Plus, special family fireworks on New Year's Eve at 7 p.m.

See model trains loop around a holiday-themed track. Santa has his own car. Closed Christmas Eve and Christmas.

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.

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.

Model trains will wind their way through a miniature village set in a field of poinsettias. The village is made entirely of natural materials and features a variety of Chicago-style homes and famous buildings such as the neighborhood bungalow, Chicago Theatre and Chicago Water Tower Place. Nov. 26-Jan. 8.

Docents help children and others learn through interactive displays and games in the showrooms. New topics every month. September: "Traveling Seeds"; October: "Cone Bearing Plants"; November: "Fruits, The Seasonal Food Harvest"; December: "Eggs and the Conservatory Critters"; January: "Urban Wildlife"; February: "Chocolate"; March topic: "Survival in the Jungle"; April: "Carnivorous Plants"; May: "Water Works."

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.

Build a snowman out of biodegradable and natural items to win. Fill out an entry form at the main office.

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.

Guided nature walk through the hushed winter woods, followed by a snack and hot cocoa. Dress warmly for the weather. Registration required.

Enjoy a guided nature walk through the winter woods, followed by a tasty snack and hot cocoa by a campfire. Registration required. Dress to be outdoors the whole time.

Get a glimpse into what happens at Brookfield Zoo at night. Enjoy a pizza dinner and craft activities, then go on a night hike that highlights zoo residents and nocturnal Illinois wildlife. The next morning, wake up to a hot breakfast buffet, a morning hike and a visit to an animal exhibit.

20,000 twinkling lights and hand-decorated trees transform Cosley Zoo into a fairy tale winter wonderland.Visit the animals and purchase a cup of hot chocolate, your tree, wreath, and holiday gifts.

A lightly narrated 2-hour tour showcasing the best of Chicago's holiday lights and sights. Passengers see views of the Magnificent Mile, State Street & Macy's Holiday Windows, the John Hancock Plaza tree, Navy Pier's Winter Wonderfest, Buckingham Fountain and have time to hop off at the Zoo Lights at Lincoln Park Zoo and the Christkindlmarket.

Holly Days  | Chicago

Visit the illustrated-book exhibition Picturing Poetr, then stop by the studio to create illustrations of your own poems. Enjoy an interactive family gallery walk at 1:30 p.m. On December 27 only, meet the Art Institute's mascot Artie the lion.

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.

A new traveling exhibit created by Children's Museum of Pittsburgh that links familiar childhood objects to a process of manufacturing that combines people, ideas and technology. Inspired by the factory tour segments from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the exhibit offers hands-on activities using real factory tools and machines to create objects including crayons, a baseball bat and a matchbox car, just to name a few.

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.

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

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.

A special exhibit on the history of Girl Scouting, with special focus on Oak Park, River Forest, and Forest Park. Celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Girl Scouts of the USA.

Hundreds of objects and documents from the exclusive private collection, together with a rare collection of first editions of his most famous works, tell the story of how Charles Dickens and his characters became enduring cultural icons. Interactive and multi-media displays and personal effects take visitors through a chronological tour of the life, literature and legacy of Dickens. View his personal traveling inkwell, take a ride in an early century carriage, and learn about the memorable characters, stories and themes of his famous tales through games, time period puzzles and Dickens' own personal Facebook page.

A special extra exhibit which encompasses the classic Dickens tale A Christmas Carol. Stroll through a mid-1800s street to learn how Dickens influenced the look and feel of the holiday season, and view a private collection of vintage cards and calendars.

Kids, accompanied by an adult, can make simple versions of objects inspired by Native American cultures to take home as souvenirs or gifts. From 2-2:30 p.m., hear Native American stories told in the museum's Teaching Lodge area.

Light the kinara with The Tuskegee Airmen Inc., Alderman Willie B. Cochran, the South Side Community Arts Center, Truestar Magazineand Teen Talk Radio Theater.

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.

Explore the shapes of the season with hands-on crafts, puzzles, and fun art projects.

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.

Enjoy breathtaking performances by the Kalapriya Center for Performing Arts, as dancers lead you on a journey through India, inspired by the court dances of India performed for kings and queens.

Multispecies holiday aquatic show features dolphins, beluga whales and a sea lion, accompanied by multicultural holiday music and festive backgrounds from around the world. The Oceanarium will be transformed with snow covered trees, rocks and twinkling lights. Special holiday costumed characters, including Santa, will make an appearance.

Enjoy a special extended schedule for the holidays.

Exhibit explores Schulz's personal history and his role as the sole inspiration and artistic talent behind Peanuts and its unique cast of characters. Through original cartoons, reproductions and related Peanuts ephemera, guests see how characters were developed and evolved. Schulz's Santa Rosa, Calif. studio, recreated for the first time, allows for a deeper look into his work and life. Kids and families have a chance to exercise their own Schultz-like creativity with activities like making a zoetrope.

Exhibit challenges guests to communicate, move and live like bugs at interactive stations. Live insects are featured throughout the exhibition, plus larger-than-life robotic creatures allow visitors to observe the often overlooked beauty and complexity of the insect world.

A display of over 20 trees decorated by groups in the community, plus live animal presentations and tours on Saturday.

Learn and connect to the history of the Marathon race, inspired by the Battle of Marathon (490 BC), from the first Marathon race in the 1896 Athens Olympics to today. Includes section on The Chicago Marathon. Children are invited to participate in a Race for Pheidippides scavenger hunt to redeem a prize. Exhibit coloring pages also available.

Snowflake "Learn to Skate" Clinics are an introduction to Rink Side's learn to skate classes. They are open to any child ages 2-11, there will be 30 minutes of instruction and 15 minutes of free time. There is a public session following the clinic and everyone can stay to skate! (Regular admission fees apply.) Sessions are held Dec. 26-29, 31, Jan. 2-5.

Festive decorations deck the halls, and guests also enjoy special seasonal games, group builds and plenty of LEGO holiday fun! Activities include winter-themed speed build challenges, a holiday scavenger hunt, the chance to build a giant snowman in a group build and photo opportunities with the life-size Santa and Snowman.

Activities include daily family public skate sessions, pictures on the Zamboni, a charity hockey game, hockey and figure skating lessons, skating exhibitions, Sundaes on Sundays, Pancakes with Mickey and more.  Special guest appearances include "Skates" the Chicago Wolves mascot, Ronald McDonald, Frosty the Snowman, Sponge Bob and Mickey.

Watch men painted blue do unusual performance art and original slapstick comedy. It's fun to sit in the front, but remember to wear a plastic poncho to avoid the flying food and liquids. Buy tickets at the box office, online, via Ticketmaster or by calling (773) 348-4000.

The ComedySportz crew gets in the Imagination Machine to visit the Snow Queen, in this version of the classic story by Hans Christian Andersen. They'll meet a goblin who shatters a mirror that makes you only see bad things, a Summer Sorceress, who keeps it summer around her at all times, a Helpful Reindeer and a very confused married couple of Crows.