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Location
Visitor tip
Don't miss the butterfly sanctuary on level 2 - it's the museum's standout exhibit with multiple species and even birds. Note there's a separate admission fee beyond general museum admission.
Best time
Visit during winter months to fully appreciate the butterfly garden, as it provides a warm, outdoor-like experience when weather is cold outside.
Visitor tip
Arrive around 2pm to catch the daily butterfly releases in the sanctuary, a highlight experience that creates memorable moments for kids.
About Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Environment-focused kid-friendly museum. Environmental museum with outdoor walkways for observing local wildlife & kid-friendly exhibits.
Quick Facts
- Type
- Natural History Museum
- History
- Over 167 years of connecting people to nature and science
- Highlights
- Live animals, immersive exhibits, conservation research
- Hours
- 10am-4pm
What visitors say
I went to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum expecting a calm, educational stroll through nature… and instead witnessed a full-blown animal talent show. Let’s start with the softshell turtle—because clearly, that was the main character.…
PNNM is a delightful walk thru nature with educational exhibits and stunning taxidermy to enhance the learning. It is pretty amazing to get up close to owls and other creatures you forget about in a big city. The highlight for me is…
This was such a beautiful place. I’m not sure why I hadn’t been any sooner. It was like the DuPage children’s museum but for nature when you enter on the lower level, they had a really cool ecosystem or irrigation exhibit that the kids…
From 2,253 Google reviews Read all reviews
Did You Know?
- The museum features a butterfly sanctuary with a separate admission fee that visitors consistently highlight as a major attraction, with daily butterfly releases at 2pm
- The museum has interactive water play areas including an ecosystem/irrigation exhibit and a floodplain/dam/city interactive water play installation that are particularly popular with young visitors
- The museum features a digital art-tech hybrid interactive exhibit where visitors can color butterflies on paper, digitally scan their artwork, and see their butterflies come to life on a wall display
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