Lake View Nature Center

My children are getting older, but they still enjoy looking at the animals inside. The staff are amazingly kind and helpful. Since my son was four and his class attended a tour there, we’ve gone every summer to their Wild Wednesdays program, where the kids did a scavenger hunt in order to get a little prize, sat down to enjoy some popcorn ($ 1), saw a different animal (usually from area animal rescues, etc.), fished (catch and release) and/​or used a paddle boat. I called today to double-​check when Wild Wednesdays was going to start this year and was informed that, except for birthday parties, day camps, and scheduled (read: paid) tours, the center is going to be closed. Too bad. I checked their website, and they just closed for normal walk-​in activities. I wish they could reopen (at least the nature-​center building itself) with a small per-​person charge,
The only negative aspect is the limited parking, so we’d often have to park on the street and walk a couple of blocks. I hope they will keep on the staff in another capacity and keep the animals yet, in case they can reopen next year.

Great kids area with a small playground, nature center (touch and feel stuff), and fishing pole rentals. My son loved the backhoe toe, he has seen them around but finally got a chance to try one out. Parking is limited and when we arrived, it was full — I parked along one side of the entry road and many other cars followed afterwards.

This is a small Nature Center steps away from Oakbrook Center Mall. On Wednesdays in the summer they have special programming for young kids called Wild Wednesdays. I took my two boys and they loved it. We went on a scavenger hunt for stuffed animals the staff had hidden around the lake, listened to a story, met a wild animal, rented a paddle boat, and enjoyed the play ground. I drove about half an hour to get there, but it was definitely worth it considering how much was going on. They also have fishing equipment available for older kids on Wild Wednesdays. If you live close, this might be a good place to go an learn about animals and nature, but as I mentioned earlier, the Nature Center is pretty small so I’ll save my visits for Wild Wednesdays.