Chicago-focused, earth-friendly, and generally karmically awesome gifts.
Adopt an animal – we did!At the Lincoln Park Zoo’s Adopt an Animal program, $35 buys you an official certificate of adoption, a photo of your adopted animal and a fact sheet. And you can use the Adopt and Animal magnet to attach said photo and fact sheet to the fridge, thus feeling good about your contribution to nature well into the spring.
Chicago Wilderness’ family activity guide is packed with kid-tested and parent-approved activities. From a backyard insect trap to a biodiversity scavenger hunt that will criss-cross the county. It’s only $5 and the proceeds help Chicago Wilderness fund its conservation and education programs across the city and suburbs.
Family Activity Guide from Chicago Wilderness
Not so much into the cute and cuddly? Take a real piece of Chicago history under your wing with the Chicago History Museum’s Adopt-an-Artifact program. For a donation starting a $35, you can be the proud patron of some of the museum’s real gems, from a set of 1902 Frank Lloyd Wright windows to the 1909 Daniel Burnham Plan of Chicago. You can also visit your name
This time of year, a lot of families have extended reunions. So why not make a few family memories by sharing some old ones? Tabletopics Conversations Starter Cubes have questions to get conversations going. Senior Editor Liz DeCarlo whipped them out at her last family gathering, and gives this thumbs-up review:
“I learned about my dadÂ’s first job and my sister-in-lawÂ’s childhood. I got to tell the story of when my older sister convinced me to jump off the garage roof with an umbrella to see if IÂ’d float down gently (I didnÂ’t) and hear my 12-year-oldÂ’s favorite memories of a family vacation.” The cards Tabletopics, , are available at thecompanystore.com.
Liz DeCarlo
Share family memories, make new ones
