Things to Do in Kankakee

In a shop lined with more than 100 bikes models from all around the world, Upgrade Cycle Works' pro mechanics channel their love of cycling whether they are aligning the frame on an old single speed or fitting guests for a brand new road bike. During the fit process, staffers employ the same computerized system used at the Olympic training center as opposed to tracing your body outline on a large piece of construction paper. Next, they’ll help guests choose from bike brands such as Felt, Masi, and Raleigh, and an in-store selection of rides that includes road bikes, single speeds, and hybrids.

In Upgrade's workshop, pro mechanics perform comprehensive tune-ups and repairs, revitalize faded paint jobs, replace punctured wheels, and align frames. The staff also hosts repair clinics to teach cyclists how to fix flat tires and adjust brakes.

Members of the Chicago Academy of Sciences first met in 1857, gathering at the original Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum to share their passion for education and the natural world. Though their meetingplace and library was burnt down in the Great Chicago Fire, their commitment to natural science stood strong. By 1894, the Academy had regrouped and rebuilt their collection in Lincoln Park, using dioramas filled with flora and fauna to create an interactive learning experience.

Today, the museum welcomes guests on a 6.35-acre campus opened in 1999 and filled with exhibits that expand the relationship between the public and nature. In addition to more than 15,000 plant specimens and 22,000 amphibians and reptiles, a wilderness walk takes guests through Midwestern environments, including praries, savannahs, and dunes, all filled with living and preserved animals. Visitors can touch live wildlife from Illinois wetlands and stand in a swirl of 1,000 exotic butterflies and birds in the Judy Istock Butterfly Haven and tropical greenhouse. Outdoor exhibits demonstrate the power of energy-efficient technology with 17,000 square feet of green roofs, the compost coral, rain-barrel ranch, and the restored native prairie made completely out of recycled soda cans.

As Earth places its bid for the 2020 Intergalactic Winter Olympics, today's Groupon invites you to rediscover what makes the universe so neat (hint: pretty much everything). For $30, you get a one-year individual membership (a $65 value) to the Adler Planetarium. You can also get a family membership for $40.

Bike and Roll Chicago's staff dispatches clients on wheel-based expeditions throughout Chicago. Guides—several of whom are Chicagoland natives—can lead informative and entertaining tours in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and semaphores.

Move Your Feet Sports' hour-long lessons teach all ages and abilities to serve and volley like professional bowlers who used to be tennis title holders. Classes for beginners, intermediate players, and advanced players ($25 each) are available at all three facilities. The staff of experienced instructors pump each hour-long lesson full of heart-pounding cardio moves, skill-building exercises, and techniques to crush competition like monster trucks crush hot-dog carts. Look under the Groupon tab on Move Your Feet Sports' registration page to see class options.

In 1982, the Junior League of Chicago founded the Express-Ways Children's Museum to address concerns about the lack of art exposure and educational opportunities in public schools, ensuring kids had access to science and culture. The league kicked things off with its inaugural exhibit, Getting to Know Hue, within the Chicago Public Library, teaching kids about the world of color using vibrant lights blended with music and literature. From that simple installation grew many more engaging, educational, and fun exhibits. The Express-Way became Chicago Children's Museum and eventually found a permanent home on Navy Pier where it still resides.

The three-floor facility entertains tykes with faux rivers they can cruise down in a canoe, staged paleontological digs, and a live, kid-created circus. The famed skyline exhibit explores the physics that magically hold Chicago's mighty skyscrapers up, exploring how architects came up with the idea to use steel—a rare substance plucked from the mighty armpits of Atlas.