Hear a variety of choral groups and join them in a holiday sing-along at Cloud Gate in Millennium Park.

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.

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

Visit Santa Nov. 25 from 6-8 p.m. and every Friday, Saturday and Sunday only, Nov. 28-Dec. 20 from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Special hours on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22, and Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Please note Santa takes a break each day from 3-4 p.m.

Featuring horse-drawn carriage rides, visits with Santa and entertainment. Check website for detailed schedule. Weekends from Nov. 10-Dec. 23, 2012.

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

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.

Spontaneous, family-friendly experiences around the Loop that include street performances from Goodman Theatre and Joffrey Ballet; giveaways of hot beverages, pastries and prizes from Corner Bakery; free pop-up photo booths, complete with props, from SmileBooth; strolling carolers and bands from local colleges and high schools; and Berghoff Restaurant mascot "Herman the German" giving away custom steins, ornaments and treats. Plus seasonal displays, decorations, and the 10 Wonders of the Loop.

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

Santa Lucia arrives by horse-drawn carriage and Santa arrives to open the Gingerbread House. Enjoy carolers, the Great Tree lighting, old fashioned candy cane pull, roasted chestnuts, Swedish cookies and shopping. Call for Santa hours and complimentary horse-drawn carriage ride times/date. At 7 p.m. on Dec. 8, Chef Alain Roby will try to break the record for the world's longest candy cane. The candy cane will stretch 40 feet down Third Street, beginning at Third and Campbell and stretching to the intersection of Third and Janes.

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.

Santa's little house on the Naperville Riverwalk will be occupied by Santa and kids can visit and have their photo taken.

Features music/entertainment, carolers, holiday craft vendors, food, a craft beer area, seasonal libations, a Kids' Corner with art activities and more. Held under a heated tent.

Drive-through light show includes a mile of Santa, reindeer, candy canes, penguins, Old Man Winter, lighted trees and more.

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.

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

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.

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.

Learn more about the Metis people of the 18th century at this fun-filled active program. Perform role-playing games, activities, and crafts to learn more about the lives of this fascinating Native American and fur trader mixed culture.

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.

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.

Families can visit the Family Pavilion Stage for a professional photo with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

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.

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.

Design and build a sculpture that moves in the wind, learning about balance, friction and air to put art in motion.

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

Explore ways to play with transportation toys and experiment with the forces that make them move. Plus, there will be a train-making craft in the art room.

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.

Vivaldi Strings perform holiday songs and museum staff share pieces from the museum's collection with a holiday theme.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ride Santa's Candy Cane Express in enclosed or open railroad coaches on a two-and-half mile railway line through the woods and past lakes and farm fields and visit with Santa in the vintage-1900s caboose.

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.