A BIG SERVING OF LEAFY GREENS Kids examine the plants at Garfield Park Conservatory.
Photo: Courtesy of City of Chicago
The smell of Coppertone mixed with the pungent perfume of OFF!, identical camp shirts, buses for field trips to exciting new places: Summertime can get grown-ups waxing nostalgic for camp days past. Thanks to a venture by the Chicago Office of Tourism, parents can relive those memories by joining their kids at Family Day Camp.
The program, part of the city’s new summer-tourism campaign promoting Chicago neighborhoods, offers several daylong trips to each of four areas: Jackson Park, Garfield Park, Lincoln Park and Pilsen. For $10 per person, camp counselors—experienced neighborhood guides hired in conjunction with the Chicago Park District—take families on tours that include visits to cultural institutions, parks and beaches, as well as lunch at local eateries.
“We were looking for a way to make it easy and fun for families to enjoy the city’s neighborhoods, and we wanted to do more than just publish a list,” says Dorothy Coyle, director of the Chicago Office of Tourism. “It can be difficult for families with small kids to navigate neighborhoods if they’re not familiar with them. A dedicated camp counselor who knows where to go and what to do makes things a lot easier.”
Families meet their counselors at the Chicago Cultural Center, then trek off together to their destination ’hood via the CTA. “We chose these four neighborhoods because they’re all easy to reach on public transportation and lend themselves to unique cultural and nature-based experiences,” Coyle says. “There’s no sitting around and listening to lectures. Campers fish, swim, do art projects—action-oriented activities designed for all ages to do together.”
The Pilsen trip includes a visit to the National Museum of Mexican Art, swimming at nearby Harrison Park and lunch at an 18th Street taqueria. The Lincoln Park itinerary involves a stop at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, a walk through nearby trails, a performance by local theater troupe Barrel of Monkeys at Theater on the Lake and fishing in Lincoln Park Lagoon. In Garfield Park, participants get to do gardening projects at the Garfield Park Conservatory, create arts and crafts, and play games on the conservatory terrace. The Jackson Park trip begins with a tour of the site of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition, followed by a visit to Wooded Island and the Osaka Garden and lunch at the 63rd Street Beach House.
“We’ve planned everything out so parents don’t have to worry about what to do next,” Coyle says, adding that counselors will be prepared with all the traditional tricks and supplies. “They’ll have backup plans in case of rain”—such as additional activities at the museums and other indoor locations where visits are already planned—“and plenty of extra sunscreen and bug spray.” The matching camp shirts, however, are up to you.
The next Family Day Camp trip is Friday 17 to Pilsen. To make reservations or see the complete list of trip dates, go to explorechicago.org or call 312-742-8497.
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