Festival features live music on two stages, a beer garden, food court, local merchant sidewalk sale, kids' events and activities, pony rides, face painting, a giant slide and much more. Visit the website for a complete schedule. 

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.

Pitch a tent in the Outdoor Classroom for a low-stress camping experience with flushing toilets and running water. Play nature games, go for an evening hike and make s'mores.

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.

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.

Participate in crafts, demonstrations and farm-related activities. Activities change daily. Meet at the Heritage Center front desk. Monday-Friday, June 4-Aug. 17.

The Incredible Journey  | Chesterton

Discover the life of a drop of water, record the journey, and make a special bracelet to take home.

Thematic activities, stories and art projects. Visitors should dress for the weather and park in the Vollmer Road lot.

Learn basic fishing techniques, fishing ethics, safety issues and rules and regulations for fishing. Receive instruction on baiting a hook, tying a knot, casting and how to handle and return fish to the water. Participants will practice catch-and-release fishing in our stocked lake. Parents are welcome to stay.

Introduction to fishing basics, including baiting, casting, and safety. Equipment provided, or bring your own. Reservations are required.

Walk along a winding trail and view gigantic animatronic bugs, plus more than 150 stationary insects, which will be part of six themed scenes. Guests can also see live creepy crawlies in Harry's Big Adventure: My Bug World! The interactive habitats feature several ecosystems to show how insects impact their surroundings, the environment, and human lives. Activities, including bug cooking demonstrations, cockroach races, a spider web climber, and other bug-themed entertainment is planned for guests throughout the summer.

Children can immerse themselves in backstage preparation, perform routines in center ring or manage the behind-the-scenes action of lights and sound. Plus, try making a circus balance toy or dress up like a clown.

The exhibition features selected "doodles" created by students from across the state.

Fun, learning adventure in gardening lets you explore the Wonder Works Organic Garden, examine all the different plants, inspect the different insects, remove unwanted growth and learn to use a variety of garden tools. Participating children may be able to take home a piece of freshly picked produce.

Highlights include golf specials on the main course and at Cantigny Youth Links, complimentary instructional clinics, parent/junior Golf & Grill on Sunday, and more.

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 private collection of late 17th and early 18th century French clothing and accessories. This display presents historical information on apparel, as well as the process and passion of building a collection.

From Fannie May to Brach's Candies, Tootsie Rolls, Frango Mints, Lemonheads and more, Chicago has a tasty history of making candy loved the world over. Learn about Chicago's sweet history and how candy and the City of Chicago grew up together. May 11-Sept. 18.

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.

Exhibit tells the story of Girl Scouting and Boy Scouting in America.

Meet Theodore Roosevelt as he campaigns for the 1900 Republican Party ticket. Chat with Mark Twain, see performances by Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley, and other live music and theater presentations. Explore the Victorian-era village and enjoy horse drawn wagon rides, antique high wheel bicycles and dozens of hands-on local history activities.

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.

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.

Learn about the American bicycle and Chicago's bike culture. The exhibition details the roots of America's most democratic and sustainable form of transportation and considers why human-powered locomotion could be the way of the future for our rapidly evolving urban environment.

Re-enactors in full Allied and German uniforms, and others representing the French Resistance, will set up camp, stage mock battles, perform "identification checks" on trains and more.  At 10 a.m. Sunday, watch as the Rockford Peaches, made famous in the movie "A League of Their Own," take the field at the South Elgin Parks & Recreation diamonds adjacent to the museum.

Visitors go on an interactive journey through the world of ancient Greece, where they can meet the gods, experience ancient Greek daily life and interact with the epic poem The Odyssey through more than 25 engaging interactive components, including climbing into a 13-foot tall Trojan Horse. Kids play and learn as they navigate rocky caves and open seas on "The Odyssey: A Hero's Journey" and e-mail home their Hero Record, belt tunes in the Sirens Karaoke Cave, discover which Greek god they are most like, match wits with Aristotle in a game of 20 questions, test their arm wrestling prowess in the Gymnasium and marvel at a working replica of the Antikythera Mechanism, believed to be the world's oldest computer.

Weekly program that introduces children to Modern Greek language through stories and songs. They will learn new words and phrases each week.

Barrington Youth Dance Ensemble presents a one act circus ballet. Circus festivities begin one hour before curtain and include face painting, circus acts and balloon art The show includes all the treasured acts of a traditional traveling circus: Tight Rope Walkers, Funny Clowns, High Flyers, Circus Animals, a Marching Band and a Strong Man.

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.

Family friendly show also offers breakfast buffet with Wizard of Oz characters on April 28, May 12, 19, 26 and June 16. Performances run April 25-June 16. Regular performances are at 10 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday starting on April 25 (excludes May 2, May 5, June 6, June 7, June 13, June 14). There will be two performances at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. April 28, May 12, May 19, May 26 and June 16.

From superheroes to undersea adventures, princesses to dinosaurs, Storytown takes children on an interactive, improvised adventure. The actors use kids' suggestions and ideas to create a different story each week. Kids design the setting and help shapes the story. Runs through the end of February 2013, then moves to Stage 773 in Chicago.

This is the beloved story of Peter, Wendy, Michael, John, Captain Hook, Smee, the lost boys, pirates and the Indians, and of course, Tinker Bell, in their adventures in Never Land. Performances are 1 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. Sundays from May 26-June 17.

Told through a musical narrative, this play seeks to revive the ghosts of those who drowned in the Chicago disaster of 1915, when families were torn apart and unexpected heroes emerged to rescue dozens of Chicagoans from a watery end. Runs from June 6-July 29.

The story concerns Frederic, who, having completed his apprenticeship to a band of pirates on his 21^st birthday, is released from his servitude. Soon after, he meets the fair maiden Mabel, daughter of Major-General Stanley. The two fall instantly in love; but, as always, obstacles threaten to cause trouble for young Frederic. It turns out Frederic was born during the leap year which means even though he is 21 he has only had 5 birthdays, and is in fact indebted to the pirates for 63 more years. Bound by his own sense of duty, Frederic's only solace is that Mabel agrees to wait for him faithfully. Performances run April 11-June 10. 

Join the antics of Brian Posen, Brian Peterlin, and Tim Soszko in their all silent comedy antics every Saturday. For tickets call the box office at (773) 327-5252 or visit www.stage773.com. Runs March 30-June 30.

In this physically stunning and emotionally charged program using suspended fabrics, bungee cords and tipping aerial hoops, ADC dancers masterfully breathe, rise, suspend and descend along the vertical dance floor. Appropriate for all ages. Performances are 7 p.m. May 17, 19, June 2, 9 and 2 p.m. June 10.

The story follows the mysterious Mr. X, a dashing circus performer, whose death-defying act is the talk of all Russia. Mr. X is hired by Prince Sergius Wladmir, a jilted suitor of Princess Feodora Palinska, to pose as a Russian prince and marry her, in a ruse designed to entice the princess into marrying a "lowly" circus performer. But of course, as in any good operetta that features mistaken identity and intrigue, "Mister X" is in fact a prince who had been disinherited by his family years earlier. Performances are June 8, 9, 22, 23, 28 at 7:30 p.m.; June 10, 16, 17, 30 and July 1 at 2 p.m.

Find out more or "dig deeper" into the lifestyles of the four species of crayfish common to Northern Illinois. Please dress for the weather and some mud.

Special Radio Disney Live appearance and meet and greet with Adam Irigoyen from Disney Channel's hit series "Shake It Up" and Radio Disney On-Air Personality Ernie D. Must have a wristband for meet and greet. The Radio Disney AM 1300 Road Crew provides interactive entertainment and prizes.

Enjoy displays of exotic foliage and flowering tropical plants in the Wilder Park Conservatory during the summer months.

The event includes a 5K transponder-timed run, fun walk and kids dashes, followed by refreshments, awards ceremony and entertainment. A portion of proceeds benefit The Vasculitis Foundation.

Halloween Hayrides  | Naperville

Dress up in your favorite Halloween costume (parents included) and come to Knoch Knolls Park or Seager Park. Each registered child ages 1-12 who checks in with the hayride coordinator will receive a Halloween goodie bag filled with treats and prizes. Bring your own food to cook over the bonfire or bring the fixings for s'mores. Hot chocolate and apple juice provided. Registration required. Oct. 20, 21 and 27.

Chill & Grill  | Chicago

FREE

Culinary fest, sponsored by Better Homes and Gardens magazine and Weber, includes local restaurant tastings, celebrity chef demonstration, hands-on grilling classes, grilling contest, live music and kids' activities. Tastings and hands-on grilling class require purchase. Lincoln Park, near the corner of West LaSalle and North Stockton. bhgchillandgrill.com.

Catch a fish along the banks of the Fox River, build a fort under the pines, then climb a wall to get a birds-eye-view of it all!  The Friends of Moraine Hills State Park are teaming up with our Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Chicago Wilderness to bring a whole lot of family nature discovery to McHenry Dam just south of McHenry, Illinois.  No registration is required - just stop on by!

Exhibit includes bats, uniforms, contracts, team traveling suitcases and much more from Reggie Jackson. Items in the exhibit are presented in collaboration with the Mr. October Foundation for Kids, a non-profit organization to benefit at-risk children.

Multicultural exhibit offers children a chance to become acquainted with other children from around the world. Features children from 11 countries such as Russia, India, Tanzania and Egypt and showcases how they learn, work and play through interactive activities such as playing games, making crafts, learning words in another language and even putting on a puppet show.

Families can enjoy activities and learn about outdoor activities. Fishing, camping, hiking, bird watching and other workshops will be offered from 1-5 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Kids' crafts available 2-4 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, such as decorating a seedling pot, painting a wiggle snake, creating their own Catch-a-Fish game, painting a bear track, stamping a leather wristband and painting a birdhouse.

Families can enjoy activities and learn about outdoor activities. Fishing, camping, hiking, bird watching and other workshops will be offered from 1-5 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Kids' crafts available 2-4 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, such as decorating a seedling pot, painting a wiggle snake, creating their own Catch-a-Fish game, painting a bear track, stamping a leather wristband and painting a birdhouse.