Finding free activities in Chicago is a great way to educate the kids and keep them entertained on a budget. The Tribune Tower is one of my favorite free activities in Chicago for both kids and adults!
The Tribune Tower is located at 534 N. Michigan Avenue, a stones throw from all that shopping on the Magnificent Mile. It is also only a few hundred feet from the Chicago River and all the wonderful boat tours available in Chicago. The Tribune Tower was built between 1922 and 1925 and is a must see in Chicago. I check it out every chance I get!
Now, the free part of the Tribune Tower in Chicago is all over the outside of the building. The base of the Tribune Tower has over 120 stones from all over the world embedded in the surface of the building. Now, this may not sound interesting, but it is really so fun and exciting. The kids can see stones from Bunker Hill, Mark Twain’s Injun Joe Cave, Various States in the United States, stones from the Parthenon, and even a piece of the Taj Mahal.
There are stones from each of the 50 states, so no matter where you live, then kids can spend a little time searching for their home state’s contribution and ties to the Tribune Tower. Every time I find the stone from Georgia I feel like a little piece of home is in Chicago. It is also great fun to find stones from other states where family members live.
The whole appeal of this free Chicago activity is to get the family talking, have a little fun searching for your personal ties to Chicago, and pointing like a madman saying “there it is, the stone from…!”
Many of the stones are at easy to reach heights, so this is also a very hands on free tourist activity in downtown Chicago.
A walk around the outside of the Tribune Tower can take as little as 10 minutes or as much as an hour or so! I love this free Chicago activity because it is centrally located and easy to squeeze in between other planned tours. As mentioned before the boat tours are steps away, the trolley tours run by here daily in the summer, and you can even walk to Navy Pier from the Tribune Tower.
There are hundred of hotels located centrally in this tourist filled area of Chicago.
I also love this free Chicago activity because it is a change for the kids’ minds and imagination to run free. The Tribune Tower and the amazing stone collection is the end result of a worldwide competition. The idea was to create an office building that was the most beautiful in the world. The competition was held in 1922.
So, the next time you are in downtown Chicago doing the tourist thing, be sure to squeeze in a stop at the Tribune Tower. It is free, fun, and will really make the world a small place!
By the way, the architects were Raymond M. Hood and John Mead Howells if you really want to impress the kids with your knowledge!
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