Fun 2 Year Old Activies/classes in Roscoe Village/Lakeview Area

We have a 2 year old and live in Lakeview. Here are some things that we do...
1. Millenium park has wiggle worms for free every morning during the week. They also have tons of kid activities set up under tents.
2. Gymboree - we love all their classes
3. Music Playhouse on Southport - classes are a bit pricey, but you could go to a free trial class to see if they like it
4. little beans cafe in lincoln park
5. family grounds cafe in lakeview
6. lincoln park zoo- they do a story time in the am in the summer
7. barnes and noble on clybourn does a toddler storytime
8. potbelly on southport does a toddler storytime
9. library
10. park district - although the classes are cheap, they are notthing compared to gymboree
11. we love addams park in lincoln park...awesome splash pad and sandbox and really close to the red line.

The Music Playhouse (on Southport, just north of Grace) offers fun classes from birth to age 6. Right next door is Explore and Much More, an indoor play place, which is great for 2-year-olds. You could also check out The Little Gym and/or Gymboree (Belmont/Lincoln/Ashland). And the Chicago Park District also has classes. (I know there's swimming at Gill Park.) Also, check out the Chicago Public Library site www.chipublib.org to find out if there's a storytime at a library near you. If your nanny is able to take your son on the bus or L, there are many other options not far away, too, like the zoo, Nature Museum, Millenium Park, and other indoor play areas. We also just rotate which playgrounds we go to -- my daughter is always happy to go to the playground, and changing which one we go to (and walking a bit farther to explore new ones) makes it more interesting.

Good luck-
R.

we LOVE park dist classes and also gymboree. but we also love hobbitland and bubbles academy!

Check out www.kidwinks.com to find all sorts of fun kids activities. Click on any day on the Events Calendar and get a list of all sorts of events, many of which are free. If you become a member of kidwinks (which is free) you can then sort that list by distance from your house, so you can see what's closest to you. There are all sorts of online guides (Indoor Play Areas, Summer Fun, Kids Classes, etc.) highlighted on the home page so you can easily find seasonal or specific types of things to do. Click thru the Ongoing Activities Section (see the tab at the top of each page) to find Indoor Activities, Outdoor Activities, Playgrounds, Parks and more. Again, each list of search results you get (and many are very long!) can be sorted by distance from your house as long as you're logged in as a member. Sign up for their email list and each Monday morning you'll get a list of hand-picked activities for the upcoming week. Visit their facebook pages (search for kidwinks and then do another search for Free Things To Do in Chicago With Kids) for more ideas.

Good luck!

Check out the Park District and see what they have going for summer programs.
I've had mine in Art classes and play classes at Revere Park since he was 18mos old. Nice was to keep them busy...and cheap!

I think the summer program begins in a couple of weeks. You can search by parks closest to you or by age groups.