Kohl museum offers Holiday Light Festival just for kids

Hop on board the Kohlar Express with your kids this holiday season and explore Kohlights, the area's only interactive light display designed for kids.

"It's so endearing seeing the kids interact with and learn from the lights. We don't have signs up showing where the interactivity is hidden, but kids explore everything," said Mike Delfini, Kohl Children's Museum president and CEO.

"Parents tend to walk right by, but the kids see it, and when they interact, things might change color or shape and then the parents say, 'How did you do that?' It's magical!"

Kohl Children's Museum, 2100 Patriot Blvd., in Glenview, offers outdoor, interactive, hands-on exhibits year-round for children ages 8 and younger, but all ages are welcome to discover the fun at Kohlights, open through Dec. 29.

All Kohl exhibits and programs are aligned to the Illinois State Learning Standards and are designed to nurture a love of learning in young children.

"Kohlights is not a passive experience. You will not be sitting in a car looking out a window. If parents are looking for a fun, learning event for kids that, by the way, will tire them out before they go to bed, this is the perfect holiday light event," Delfini said.

Kohlights exhibits include the Kohlar Express and the Twinkle Train, which give guests an immersive train ride traveling through a tunnel of light.

Other interactive displays include Lollipop Light Lane, with giant lollipop lights that, when pressed, change colors along the path; Festive Firs, a winter discothèque where kids chase after dancing lights; the Field of Beams that provides a 360-degree view of thousands of lights in waves and shapes across Habitat Park field; Rainbow Arbor, with cranks that turn and change lights on the giant tree in the park's courtyard; a Prism Promenade that lets kids walk along a rainbow path of lights that show the color spectrum; and the Shadow Play Snowbank, which allows for experimenting with lights to make colorful shadows because, at Kohlights, not all shadows are black.

"We love all the creative and beautiful light displays in the Chicago area, but we're especially proud of ours because Kohlights is more like a magical toy land that children play with, rather than something they're just looking at," Delfini said.

For information and tickets, visit www.kohlchildrensmuseum.org/special-events/kohlights.