Things to Do in Bartlett

Marvel in a theme park-esque world dedicated to plastic blocks. See the city of Chicago made entirely out of LEGOs at Miniland. Take the factory tour and learn how LEGO bricks are made (you get one LEGO factory brick to take home). Ride on the back of a green dragon through a medieval castle full of moving characters made entirely of LEGOs, and continue the adventure through a jungle trail. Build your own LEGO cars and buildings, then test them to see if they can withstand earthquakes or set speed records on LEGO roadways. After you take in a movie at the 4-D cinema, or let your little ones spend their energy in physical play before it's time to load up the car.

Seven rope tows hoist skiers and snowboarders to the top of the trails at Four Lakes Snowsports, helping them take a panoramic glance before the pristine powder and carving their way back to the bottom. Five zones make up the skiable expanse, increasing in difficulty from a pair of bunny hills to a terrain park, where a gauntlet of boxes and rails slake appetites for jumps, grinds, and extreme cold-weather picnicking. As a proud member of the Professional Ski Instructors of America, Four Lakes’ ski school helps aspiring skiers and snowboarders stay safe and in control while zipping and darting about the slopes.

Opening weekend is a time for renewed hope, reordered batting lineups, and refreshing scents of glorious gunpowder in the sky. Catch the Flyers on May 28 for post-game fireworks after the hometown bats light up the Gary SouthShore RailCats, or pay homage to babies named Ruth as you run the bases with the kids on Family Day May 30. On May 31, remix Memorial Day grill-outs by downing two dogs off the bat, and score dollar dogs throughout game. Armed with a starter kit of ballpark eats and ballgame spheres, show the youngsters how to properly grip a fastball, a frank, and a cardboard sign that irrefutably proves fanmanship.

In 1987, Louise Beem and Dorothy Carpenter were early-childhood-education specialists. Based on their combined experience—gained from teaching preschool, founding the College of DuPage's early-childhood-education program, and being grandmothers—the two friends felt that traditional methods of teaching youngsters were less than optimal at the time. Their brainchild, the DuPage Children's Museum, began that same year. The pair designed the museum's colorful exhibits to incorporate interactive and open-ended elements, which they believed more closely matched the way kids learn and naturally process information, a discovery they say has now been corroborated by findings in neuroscience research.

In that vein, the three-story museum engages young neurons with interactive art, math, and science-themed attractions. Giving little hands the chance to explore, the AWESome Electricity exhibit bridges the gap between the electric-powered gadgets and lights families use every day to where all that nonbreakfast-based energy comes from. Kids learn how electricity gets from one place to another and what its basic units are while at play in the museum's signature hands-on spaces. Elsewhere, the Young Explorers exhibit is designed for children aged 2 and under, who develop math skills by learning concepts such as sorting and patterning and express their creativity by experimenting with color and light.

Ghastly horrors prowl The Massacre Haunted House in search of new victims and fresh screams. Inside, 40 actors in full makeup startle wary explorers navigating more than 35 rooms strewn with gruesome scenes that would strike fear into the heart of any adult, teen, or amnesiac zombie. Unsettling mazes and living nightmares stand between brave souls and the exit, where a second haunt––Fear Factory 3-D––awaits to pull them deeper into the madness. Where the haunted house may have turned hairs white with the help of live actors, the factory coaxes screams with 3D special effects made possible with specialized glasses.

If you're all dressed up in chainmail with no place to go, today's deal is an excuse to wear grandma's mail hood and mittens out of the house. Today's side deal to Medieval Times gets you an adult ticket and royalty upgrade to the sensuous four-course feast and live show, featuring horse-mounted combat, falconry, and mace-wielding professionals, for $30, a $65.55 value for adults, including tax. Your royalty upgrade gets you preferred seating in the second and third rows, a banner for cheering on your knight, a behind-the-scenes DVD, and a commemorative program. Though Medieval Times' website offers free royalty upgrades with the purchase of a regular ticket and offers tickets as low as the Groupon price when you purchase multiples, your Groupon combines these deals without requiring you to purchase multiples or limiting the showtimes you can attend.