Indoor Playgrounds? Mall with a Carousel?

None of these places have carousels, but they are great places to play in the winter:

Pretend Playground in Mundelein:
http://www.pretendplayground.com/hours.htm

Children's Neighborhood Museum
http://www.roundlakeareaparkdistrict.org/parenttot.html

Little Village Playplace
http://www.littlevillageplayplace.com/

Also, look to see if the gymnastics places in your area have any Open Gym days. Cary gymnastics does this and some of the others do too.

Lastly, Parents Who Care (http://www.parentswhocare.org) do a weekly open gym event where the kids can run and play with a ton of toys in a gymnasium together. They will usually open this up to non-members too, for only a slight increase in the fee that the members pay.

Have fun!

Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles or Elk Grove Park District Pavilion Jumps N Jiggles. Have fun!

Woodfield Mall has a new indoor play area (finally!). There's also an indoor play area at Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee.

Another great place to go is Nibbles Play Cafe in Wheeling (www.nibblesplaycafe.com) - it's on Dundee Road.

Fox Valley Mall in Aurora / Naperville has a carousel in the bottom level.
Gurnee Mills Mall also has a carousel.

It's not a Chicago mall, but there is a place in Elk Grove through the park district called Jumps and Jiggles, and there is a $3 admittance fee. It's like a McDonald's playplace but with floor toys, too. The best part about it, though, is the unlimited carousel rides included in the price.

http://www.elkgroveparks.org/pavilion.asp?id=1971&fra...

There are their hours of operation and details!

If you can make it out to the Western Suburbs, you'll have a few choices. Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles has both an indoor carousel ($1 per child) and a "playground" area (although Santa is currently occupying the playground space). No traditional playground equipment, but a bridge to climb and things to climb and crawl upon. There are two playground areas in Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale. This is really popular and it gets very busy (plus MANY Moms ignore the sign restricting children to under 40" tall, so you need to be on close look-out over your younger kids.)

There is Fox Valley mall in Aurora on Route 59 that has a indoor carousel. And there is a mall in St. Charles called Charlestown Mall that does have a indoor carousel. Have a great time.

Go to Elk Grove Park District - they have an indoor playground and indoor carousel - address is 499 w. Biesterfield, phone number is ###-###-####

Woodfield Mall right in front of Macy's (used to be Marshall Fields just build an indoor playground for kids - looks like fun and has seats for the adults.

M. in Elk Grove

There is a place in Elk Grove Village, at Wellingsford and Biesterfield, that has an indoor play/climb place and a carousel. It's called Jumps 'n Jiggles, and from what I understand the price to play is really low - like $3, and that includes unlimited carousel rides as well.

Hi S.. This time of year we are all climbing the walls, looking for fun indoor things to do! Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles has a giant carousel right in the middle of the food court. They also normally have a play area where kids can climb all over stuff, but they take it down at holiday and replace it with Santa's shop. I have also heard, but haven't been, that the park district of Elk Grove Village, I believe, has an indoor carousel as well and other play things and it is open to the public-not sure if there is a fee. Hope this helps!

K. C

Check out Jumps and Jiggles at the Elk Grove Village Park District on Biesterfield (look it up online). They have a pavilion with a fun play area and an indoor carousel for $3 a visit. I know woodfield just put in a play area as well (outside Macy's) but I have not been there yet.

Randhurst Shopping Mall in Mt. Prospect has, or at least had, a carosel and an indoor play area. Woodfield now has a large indoor play area, it is located in front of Macy's. Spring Hill Shopping Center in Dundee has an indoor play area, located right outside of JCP, and a fountain (which my 2 and 1/2 yr old loves)! We bring pennies and throw them in, he just loves it! Spring Hill also has little rides.

Also check with some local park districts, some have open gym for little ones under 5 yrs old. I think that Schaumburg might have something on Fridays, but I'm not sure. I take my son to Open Gymnastics on Fridays at Cary Gymnastics Center from 10:15 until 11:30am and it is $5/child and if you have a crawler it's $2.50/child. It's fun and they run around (or crawl) and get out some of that extra energy!!! I'm in the same boat so I understand where you are coming from.

Good luck and I hope that this info helps!!