Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

“Great stop for Toddlers.”

Great stop for Toddlers! The interactive color your own butterfly room was awesome. Loved the flood plane/dam/city interactive water play.

V R

Jan 2026

“Animal encounters are awesome.”

Animal encounters are awesome! Hands on and informative, worth the additional cost

Jenny Turocy

Dec 2025

“There's a wonderful butterfly greenhouse, and they even have butterfly release times.”

There's a wonderful butterfly greenhouse, and they even have butterfly release times. Thousands of beautiful butterflies flutter around you. You can stroll around looking for them, or sit down and enjoy them.

Stella Liu

Nov 2025

“Wee had soo much fun .”

Wee had soo much fun . Met Peggy she is our friend now and the butterflies plus ability to make your drawings come too life so much fun

Dominika Staniewicz

Oct 2025

“Great for kids. They have a lot of stuff to touch and play areas for kids under 7, with a toddler...”

Great for kids. They have a lot of stuff to touch and play areas for kids under 7, with a toddler area for kids under 2. Water play as well. Very informative about local wildlife, they had someone doing taxidermy you can talk with as theyre working. Secret forest (kids area) was closed for a private event but they had another we could play in.

Garrett W

Sep 2025

“A really great place to bring kids.”

A really great place to bring kids. The museum has interactive play areas, some live animals, taxidermy, and outdoor spaces as well. Best of all the butterfly sanctuary has many species of butterflies and even some birds. They do daily butterfly releases at 2pm

Arlo M.

Sep 2025

“I come here with my boys as often as possible (oldest is 4 1/2y).”

I come here with my boys as often as possible (oldest is 4 1/2y). Always a fun time! Several distinct play spaces and two separate water play areas. The permanent displays are always fun to walk through and the downstairs reptiles and amphibians always keep the boys entertained. The butterfly garden upstairs is incredible, especially during the winter it's such a great spot to feel like you're outside and warm. There's a large gallery on the 2nd floor that changes every few months, and it's always excellent. Sometimes it's more play oriented, sometimes more live animal (like the large reptile exhibit a while back), and sometimes more art gallery. Today, it's a very cool combo of exhibits, the highlight being a spot to color butterflies, digitally scan the coloring paper, and the butterfly comes to life on the wall. One of the coolest combinations of hands on craft and tech and art. Overall, highly, highly recommend. It's definitely heated towards younger kids, but there's still something there everyone would enjoy!

Paul Brown

Aug 2025

“Nice place for a family outing.”

Nice place for a family outing. The butterfly conservatory is awesome. A lot of hands-on exhibits around the Chicago water system.

John Arens

Jul 2025

“We had such a lovely time, all of it was wonderful.”

We had such a lovely time, all of it was wonderful. I'm really thankful for the patience and kindness of the person in the butterfly house(Loren), my child loves nature but struggles to get his sentences out when excited, they never rushed him, listened and shared in his excitement. That's everything 🩷

Eva K

Jul 2025

“Cool experience! Lots of information about the local flora and fauna, also there’s a taxidermy...”

Cool experience! Lots of information about the local flora and fauna, also there’s a taxidermy station that sometimes there’s someone working on a project, thought that was really cool! Had a great time!

Rebecca Aires

Jul 2025

“What a wonderful addition to Lincoln Park.”

What a wonderful addition to Lincoln Park! Awesome for young kids and families but also for adults. Very engaging and definitely not a “boring” museum experience. I really appreciated Hans’s presence in the butterfly house. He was very kind, smart, and welcoming.

Grace Murra

May 2025

“Been going here for years for event, classes, and all things Science.”

Been going here for years for event, classes, and all things Science. The staff are friendly and so knowledgeable. Great spaces for all types of events. The butterfly exhibit is such a cool experience. I have learned so much about sustainability for Chicago through their amazing Chicago Conservation Corps which calls the museum home. One of my favorite places to visit on any type of day throughout the year. Wonderful native plants and wildlife surround the museum giving it a hideaway feel in the middle of the city. Something for everyone.

Kathleen Boyle

Apr 2025