It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of the amazing city of Chicago. So when my family headed that way for a few days over spring break, I knew we needed to go back to my favorite downtown attractions–the Shedd Aquarium. Since the Shedd has so many options for everyone in the family, we had an easy time spending most of the day here. When I can find a place that entertains everyone from the age of 3 to 38 equally, I count it a winner. We will definitely head back to the Shedd Aquarium for another visit the next time we visit Chicago. It’s definitely a “must-do” on my list.
The Shedd Aquarium is the largest indoor aquarium in the world with over 8.000 aquatic animals. And while the dolphins and beluga whales are (quite understandably) the stars here, we started at Waters of the World and had a blast exploring marine life from around the world. I was worried my kids would only be interested in the larger animals, but they were equally enthralled with the fish from Asia, Africa and South America. And we, of course, had to spend a good long time checking out all of the seahorses and seeing how many we could find hiding in the plants.
Then we headed to the large Caribbean Reef tank. The word “tank” really doesn’t do this justice. This massive 90,000 gallon aquarium houses sea turtles, stingrays, sharks and eels. Be sure to ask when the diver will make an entrance and you’ll be able to watch feeding time and hear more about the animals housed here. We loved this extra experience at the aquarium.
Next we headed over to the Abbott Oceanarium for the dolphin and beluga whale show. This is definitely a highlight that you don’t want to miss. The trainers have clearly worked very hard with these animals to teach them natural behaviors that they would use in the wild. Even a rescue dog joined in the fun! They shared so much information about rescue and rehabilitation at the Shedd and answered questions from guests.
After sitting for a bit at the show, we headed to the Polar Play Zone which is a great spot for kids to move a bit and have some hands-on fun. My kids loved petting starfish, playing in the kid-sized submarine and watching dolphins, whales and otters in the huge underwater viewing area. Then we made time to head to the special Amphibian exhibit. We loved searching for different kinds of frogs and salamanders.
And, of course, on the way out we had to stop for some (surprisingly reasonably-priced) souvenirs! Do they look happy or what? Overall, a great day at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.