Note: Due to the rising cases of COVID-19, the museum will temporarily close beginning Nov. 20 due to the restrictions listed in Tier 3 Mitigation that is part of Phase 4 of Gov. JB Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan. Check their website for a re-opening date.
Get ready to challenge the kids’ minds and trick your senses as Chicago’s newest museum, the Museum of Illusions, has finally opened its doors.
This all-ages museum features more than 80 exhibits for a one-of-a-kind experience that not only teaches you and the kids a few things about the magic and science of illusions, but also brings out the playful side in everyone, says Chicago mom of two Stacy Stec, the Chicago museum’s communications director.
“We’re really a different kind of museum and a different experience,” she says.
At 25 E. Washington St., it is one of 18 Museums of Illusions worldwide.
“The minute you step foot inside the Museum of Illusions, guests are encouraged to touch and play and experiment with the illusions,” Stec says.
For families, she says it fits easily around nap schedules or other plans in the city since you can experience it all, including holograms, stereograms and optical illusions, in about an hour. Plus, it’s especially cost effective since kids under 5 are admitted for free.
She says kids especially like the vortex tunnel, a spinning tunnel that challenges perception and balance, the rotated room that allows visitors to seem to defy gravity and show off their superpowers, and the Ames room where kids can finally be bigger than their parents.
Throughout the museum, expect many opportunities for great photos.
And while the kids are having fun in the hands-on, multi-sensory environment, they’re also learning lessons included in the state standards for math, the arts and science, says Stec, who has an education background. The museum hopes that learning and curiosity continues long after families leave for the day.
“It’s really a cool experience,” Stec says. “They want to know why they are seeing what they are seeing. And they are going to learn that.”
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