October with Baby-on-Board

By Elizabeth Shapiro in Miscellaneous on Oct 2, 2007 6:05PM

October in Chicago makes us feel like kids again. This month, the Mayor’s Office of Special Events and the Park District have filled the calendar with Halloween-themed activities perfect for the toddler set and their kid-at-heart parents. Here are our favorites in the lead up to the big holiday.

The park district (along with Walgreens) is sponsoring events to get you in the spirit at over forty different neighborhood parks from Bessemer to Oz throughout this month. Try to catch a glimpse of the "Great Pumpkin" at pumpkin patches in Warren, Horner or Nichols Parks this Saturday or at one of another dozen other parks later this month. The Athletic Field Park is hosting a "no-scare" maze October 12-14 for $2, ideal for the little guys (for those over 12, check out the Haunted Sanitarium, at the Theater on the Lake, to get your scare on). Not afraid of the dark yet? Stay up late with the Adler Planetarium folks on Northerly Island at their free family night of star gazing and crafts on October 20.

Downtown, Daley Plaza’s Haunted Village will again be the headquarters for Chicagoween beginning October 12. Bring the kids to decorate pumpkins, to make scary masks, and to take in a performance of The Midnight Circus. Chicagoween takes an environmental approach to Halloween with demonstrations of worm composting and environmentally themed horror stories performed by Al Gore the cast of Wicked. On the 20th, your costumed kiddo can even march in the Halloween Happening Parade, kicking off at noon on State and Randolph. After the parade, your little Frankenstein can get a head start on his trick-or-treating, and the whole family can take a hay ride without even leaving the loop.

Images via the Chicago Park District and Chicagoween websites.