Garfield Park Conservatory is a fantastic place to bring family members of all ages. Something’s always growing, and there’s always something new to discover! To make your “growing” experience here even more enjoyable, we offer a number of special educational opportunities FREE for kids and families! Come visit the Elizabeth Morse Genius Children’s Garden, which is open during normal Conservatory hours, or visit us during one of our scheduled activity times.
About 120,000 plants representing some 600 species occupy the conservatory’s 1.6 acres, and four times a year flower shows premiere to herald the change in seasons.
Categories
Scouts and Schools:
Field Trips, Scouting
Museums:
Botanical Gardens
Other Details
Average Price:
Free
Pricing Notes:
Admission to the Conservatory is FREE! We do ask for a suggested donation during special events and exhibits.
Garfield Park has so many wonderful sights to see and do. We took our sons to this park and I love the fact that the kids can run around the park and basically free themself. We sent sight seeing and we got to explore some amaxing landscape and flowers that the park has to offer.
We love Garfield Park! It's definitely worth the drive from the (far) suburbs. My 3 year old daugter and her 4 year old friend had a great time wandering around and finding the paths through the exhibits. They enjoyed the children's area and the fish in the ponds too. I enjoyed the warmth in the middle of winter, it just felt good in there! I also appreciated the free aprking and the fact that the conservatory was not crowded, so my little one could run. There is also a place to sit and eat, if you've packed a lunch. All told, lunchtime included, we spent about three hours here.
This is a great place to visit. You can take gorgeous pictures in there. Watch beautiful flowers. It's like a piece of a summer in the middle of winter :) There are plenty of things to do for kids: slides, craft corner, and even little corner for little ones who are not walking yet. Definitely would recommend going there.
Another place I used to love going to as a child. I remember going with my entire family and feeling the warmth of the conservatory due to all the flowers. And now, I take kids there and they love it too. The flowers are always different and unique compared to the ones in our yard. Very special place to visit.
My kids really enjoyed going there. There was activities for them to do and they were very interested in the different plants. My husband & I have gone in Feb for the chocolate fest and that is a lot of fun but very crowded
Of course, that Chihuly exhibit has been great. In the autumn, they've have a sort of harvest festival. Very fun. Compared to lots of other family things in the city, parking here is a dream (usually)
beautiful plants! My favorite time to go is for the spring show when it's just bursting with flowers and we SO need to see that as the weather is still dreary outside. Fun for the entire family.. a breath of fresh air!
This is a gorgeous place to take our kids for pictures. The kids enjoyed running around the conservatory and the activities for kids. Free parking is always a plus!
My kids love the conservatory. They have a lot of kid friendly activities and crafts for kids of all ages to do. It is a great place to learn about many different plants while having fun. Parking is free and next to the building and is a great place to go on not-so-great weather days.
We took our three children here a couple years back when they were exhibiting all sorts of dinasour's. Parking is right next to the conservatory and is free. We made it through the entire place, stopping not just to see the obvious, but had fun finding those somewhat hiding. We made it a great game naming the correct dinosaurs as well as making up names of the beautiful plants and flowers we encountered. We gave each of our children a disposable camera so they could capture everything they liked. My youngest daughter has many pictures of her feet - but we made a great scrap book. It really was a lot of fun. Just enough time to see everything before late afternoon naptime settled into the kids. This conservatory is not crowed, at least the day we went. I don't think many people are aware how kid friendly it is. The children also made crafts in the garden and made a book out of natural materials. The binder was a stick from a tree - very creative. I recommend this highly.
I tried to review under the bee listing and it wouldn't work, it was awesome! The story around the bees is fascinating and the kids actually get to hold a bee (the males have no stinger). GPC is one of Chicago's best kept secrets, my kids and I have been enjoying it for years, and it is never crowded!
Great place for kids
They have a scavenger hunt at the front desk so you can help your children find specific plants as you walk through the different rooms,
The place is so beautiful and they have a great children's area with a one story slide and kids craft and story time on Mondays
This is a wonderful place for kids of all ages to explore. We enjoy the Monday morning activites and have our sweet peas growing in the garden for the summer. The staff is excellent with the children and we always find something new and exciting there.
I always go there for different activities that they offer for kids. We've done bamboo wind chimes, got spices for apple cider, done bean bracelets. Also, got a boo boo when had a close encounter with a prickly cactus. People working there are so nice and always ready to answer your questions. Parking free, easy to get there.
This is the best rainy/cold day destination for kids. Plenty of room to run around and there's a children's play area in the far corner. Definitely a favorite with our family.
