Remarkable Educational Experiences in Northern Illinois
Lake County, Illinois, offers exciting educational experiences for student groups of all grade levels and interests. An easy-to-reach location just 30 miles north of Chicago, Lake County has numerous opportunities to learn through engaging lessons at popular attractions.
Staying & Playing in Lake County
School groups visiting Lake County, Illinois, will be greeted with hospitality and plenty of student-friendly experiences, both fun and educational. Great Wolf Lodge Illinois is an ideal place for overnight or multi-day field trips, with group pricing and extraordinary on-site experiences.
Stop at Gurnee Mills, the largest outlet destination in the state, featuring two food courts and the unique Rainforest Café for excellent group dining and shopping. For a theme park experience, visit Six Flags Great America, which opens in late April and is perfect for an end-of-year celebration.
Sweet Student Tours
Explore the world of candy-making during a Long Grove Confectionery Chocolate Tour, where groups can witness the creation of numerous sweet treats. Known for its quality products, Long Grove Confectionery shows groups how the process works through a video presentation and a view of the production line where the candy is made.
Groups can take a nostalgic tour of a vintage-inspired candy shop, Ma & Pa’s Candy, which has served the Long Grove community since the 1960s and offers hard-to-find sweets, hand-dipped chocolates and other candies. They also offer Candy Classes for the ultimate hands-on experience.
Fascinating History
Step into the Sock Monkey Museum in Long Grove and discover the largest collection of handmade Sock Monkeys in the world. Students will learn about the origin of the Sock Monkey, the production history and the Rockford Red Heel Socks they were made from.
In Volo, Illinois, students can explore seven showrooms with more than 200 collector cars, more than 40 iconic movie vehicles, along with boats, trains and military displays at the Volo Museum. Groups can also discover the Dinosaur Park at the museum, featuring over 40 life-sized, roaring, moving dinosaurs in a fully immersive prehistoric experience. Titanic at Volo Museum is a permanent experience honoring those aboard the ship on the fateful night of April 14, 1912. Unlike other Titanic exhibits, it shares powerful, in-depth stories of select passengers — exploring how they came to board, and what became of them after the disaster.
Head to Barrington and take a group tour of the opulent Sanfilippo Estate, featuring one of the world’s finest collections of restored, automatic musical instruments, as well as turn-of-the-century antiques. Explore musical artifacts in several dedicated rooms, including the Music Room and the American Orchestra Room, while other locations on the property display more history. From the Eden Palais Carousel and the Theatre Pipe Organ to glimpses of an authentic steam locomotive and other antiques, this is a great field trip destination for middle and high school groups.
Outdoor Fun & Active Adventures
In Vernon Hills, groups can get their thrills at WhirlyBall, a unique activity that promotes teamwork and active participation. Using a scoop and wiffle balls, teams zip around on bumper cars trying to secure the ball and score goals. There are also opportunities to play laser tag and bowling for more team sports fun. Enjoy more bowling and gaming fun in Gurnee Mills at Round 1 Bowling & Arcade, where students can explore ping pong, pickleball, darts, billiards, karaoke, arcade games and bowling.
Take a trip to the Richardson Adventure Farm in Spring Grove for unique activities, including an intricate corn maze and corn maze games, a 500-foot observation tower, wagon and train rides, a farm carousel, slides and zip lines, a petting zoo, live family-friendly shows, animal feeding areas, gemstone mining and so much more.
At Launch Trampoline Park in Gurnee, students can expend energy at the Trampoline Courts, play X-treme Dodgeball, test their skills on the Ninja Course, try Air Trak Basketball, enjoy a game of bowling and try Omni Virtual Reality for an immersive and fun field trip.
CONTACT Visit Lake County, Illinois
- Jayne Nordstrom, CTIS – Group Tour Manager
- jayne@lakecounty.org
- www.visitlakecounty.org
