The world’s largest affordable ideas festival returns in October and this year, size doesn’t matter when it comes to big thinkers.
Chicago Ideas Week is keeping its Family Labs, an interactive experience that encourages children to create and innovate. This year’s lab matches with the seven-day festival’s theme to empower individuals in order to make the world a better place. For $15 per ticket, parents and families can learn from the following programs:
Explore Luna
When: Oct. 13, 10:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
Where: Filament Theatre, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
As the child of migrant farm workers, Soledad moves often, but she can always count on her friend Luna—the moon—to follow her wherever she goes. Through games, props, and guided discussion, explore the themes of friendship and courage with the imaginative teaching artists from the Filament Theatre. Then, stick around after the Lab to experience the play itself, free for Lab participants. Recommended for ages 6-12.
Modern Parenting
When: Oct. 16, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
Where: Edlis Neeson Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago
For parents in 2019, technology is the monster in the closet. Thanks to the internet, age-old problems—bullying, racial discrimination, competition in school—seem more pressing than ever before. But what if the tech boogeyman actually holds the key to raising better children? What if better data, accessible information and digital tools hold the keys to being better parents? This conversation will dig into the challenges of modern parenting and parse out ways that old strategies can be coupled with new tools for preparing your children for our deeply interconnected world.
And if you want a night out without the kids, look at the Chicago Ideas Week program lineup. Some of this year’s speakers include former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, actress Jessica Lange, actress Taraji Henson, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow and poet and activist Yusef Salaam.
Each attendee (including children) must have a ticket.
If you go
Oct. 12-17
Various locations
This story was originally published Sept. 14, 2018, and has been updated with the most recent information.
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