Things to Do in Morton Grove

The seasoned staffers at Make-A-Messterpiece nurture creativity and critical-thinking skills by guiding children up to aged 12 through messy hands-on activities. Aspiring chemists can mix their own concoctions at the Experimentation Station or explore gravity at the Bubbleology area, and future chefs can dabble in gastronomic delights at Creative Kitchen. Whereas Lil' Sprouts activities teach pint-sized crafters do-it-yourself projects, the custom-designed Drum Roll studio gives children the chance to splatter paint with each drumbeat, just like Carnegie Hall during renovation season. For little ones who would rather create aesthetic masterpieces, Splat-Tacular Tables furnish the tools they'll need to draw, paint, sculpt, or decorate their own creations.

Make-A-Messterpiece also goes beyond everyday activities to host school field trips and children's birthday parties with artistic activities, food, and goodie bags. For frequent messmakers, the center offers family memberships replete with perks such as everyday access to the studio, discounts on classes, VIP passes for special events, and consultations with Jackson Pollock's ghost.

Formerly known as the Frank Govern Memorial Golf Course, Evanston Wilmette Community Golf Course awakens the competitive spirit of golfers of all abilities with an 18-hole, par 60 executive layout. With a total distance of 4,000 yards, the fairway chain invites players to attack each hole from the tee box, as the bulk of the course’s difficulty awaits in the form of challenging greens and scorecards that hypnotize anyone who attempts to read them. Trees also loom on the edges of most holes as the layout winds along the edge of the North Shore Channel. Requiring a considerably shorter playing time than its full-length counterparts, Evanston Wilmette’s abridged links cater to workers squeezing in a quick, after-hours round or 9-irons trying to get in 18 before their date with a dashing pool cue.

At Paint-N-Party, stacks of about 6,000 blank ceramics—including dishes, vases, and figurines—stand in neat racks, waiting to be cloaked in color. Water-based paints transform these figurines, boxes, banks, dishes, candleholders, and vases into artwork as guests dressed in disposable aprons brush paint and glitter across the pieces’ bare surfaces. A sealant holds in the paint’s finish, and a fiery kiln hardens pottery, making it food, microwave, and gravitron safe. Guests can also take their pieces home on the same day they paint them, following a short 20- to 40-minute drying period. In addition to accommodating individual painters, Paint-N-Party also hosts 90-minute birthday parties for kids. Each celebration includes invitations, a party coordinator, and a gift certificate for the guest of honor. Paint-N-Party also hosts events for office outings, girls' nights out, bridal showers, and other celebratory occasions.

Robert Birnecker and Sonat Birnecker-Hart are devoted to the art of distilling. For Robert, it’s a family tradition: he still treasures memories of his grandparents’ award-winning Austrian distillery, where he often helped out as a child. A graduate of Oxford and the University of London, Robert's wife, Sonat, gave up a tenured academic position to pursue the couple’s dream of making their own spirits from scratch. Today, Robert and Sonat’s award-winning Koval Distillery is the first to open in Chicago’s city limits since Prohibition. There, they blend classic, mainstream techniques with contemporary, indie methods, ensuring quality by using only certified organic and kosher ingredients grown in the Midwest.

Using a Kothe potstill custom-made and hand-built in Germany, the husband-and-wife team produces small-batch spirits, including five original white whiskeys made from rye, oat, wheat, millet, and spelt mash. They also distill Lion’s Pride aged whiskeys, plus a selection of liqueurs and brandies, such as bierbrand made with Dynamo Copper Lager from neighbor Metropolitan Brewing. These spirits have won multiple local and national awards, from Whisky Magazine’s 100 Greatest Distilleries to Visit to the Chicago Reader’s Best Local Distillery.

The hustle and bustle of the city can’t touch the calm waters of Lake Michigan. There, on gently rolling waves surrounded by fresh breezes, Kayak Chicago hosts tours and lessons, and lets paddlers take to the waters on their own with rentals. Captained by Dave Olson, a kayaker for more than 20 years and outdoor educator for more than 10, the company entrusts certified instructors and guides with shaping the strokes of kayaking newbies. Their tours take aquatic explorers out on the lake at night to ooh and ahh over summer fireworks or along the Chicago River to survey the city’s renowned architecture and map out their next bank heist. The staff also plants patrons on standup paddleboards for introductory lessons or wave-top rounds of SUPYoga or SUPPilates.

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.