Champaign, Illinois

Located at the north end of Crystal Lake Park, the Anita Purves Nature Center is an environmental education facility that offers hands-on learning programs, environmental exhibits, and a nature-themed play area. Established in 1979 to inspire and encourage visitors to learn about nature and the great outdoors, the Anita Purves Nature Center features a field station exhibit, four multi-purpose rooms, an observation room, an educator resource room, and the Audubon Nature Shop, which sells souvenirs and other unique nature-related gifts. The center offers a variety of environmental and educational programs for visitors of all ages and can be rented for public and private events. The adjacent Busey Woods is ideal for hiking and bird watching.

1505 N Broadway Ave, Urbana, IL 61801, Phone: 217-384-4062

Located at the National Petascale Computing Facility on the University of Illinois campus, the Blue Waters Supercomputer is one of the most powerful computers in the world and is open for the public to experience and enjoy. Finalised in 2013, Blue Waters is a sustained petascale Cray supercomputer built from the latest technologies and capable of more than 13 quadrillion calculations per second. The computer is used by engineers and scientists around the world to tackle a wide range of challenging problems, from simulating the evolution of the cosmos to predicting the behavior of complex biological systems.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at 1205 W. Clark St., Urbana, Illinois. Phone: 217-244-6689

The Champaign County History Museum at the Historic Cattle Bank is a museum that explores the history of Champaign with an impressive collection of exhibits and objects from the region. Set in a beautifully restored building dating back to 1857, the museum features three rotating galleries and exhibitions that focus on the pioneer past of Champaign, student life at the University of Illinois, and the war years as well as a quaint bookstore. Artifacts in the collection include the rifle of Henry Sadorus, the first European settler in the county, Vriner's cashier box, Olympian Bonnie Blair's speed skates from Albertville, and a roomful of World War II memorabilia, including uniforms, medals, and photos of the famed Tuskegee Airmen at Chanute Air Base in Rantoul.

102 E University Ave, Champaign, IL 61820, Phone: 217-356-1010

The Urbana Park District Park System includes several pristine natural areas and green spaces that have been beautifully restored to showcase the very best of Illinois' most diverse habitats. Parks in the system include Busey Woods, Weaver Park, Meadowbrook Park, and Perkins Road Site. Busey Woods is a 59-acre oak-hickory forest located at the north end of Crystal Lake Park and is well known for its spectacular spring wildflower display, elevated boardwalk, and excellent birdwatching. Weaver Park is a 60-acre park to the south of the intersection of Main Street and Smith Road, which boasts prairie and native grasses, savannahs, and woodlands. Meadowbrook Park is an 80-acre Illinois native landscape in south Urbana, along Windsor Road and Race Street, and the Perkins Road Site is an on-going project that will include a range of prairie and wetland environments for wildlife observation, environmental education programs, and recreation.

Attractions for Couples

Japan House is a unique teaching facility for both university students and the public that is part of the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Established to create and foster cultural understanding in the broader community, as well as a more profound sensitivity towards diverse cultures, Japan House focuses on the study of Japanese aesthetics and traditional arts, particularly around the time-honored art form of Chado, the Way of Tea. Located just south of Kirby/Florida Avenue on Lincoln Avenue, near the arboretum and the Vet Med complex, Japan House is open to the public for tea ceremonies and tours on Thursdays and during special events.

2000 S Lincoln Ave, Urbana, IL 61802, Phone: 217-244-9934

Located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, the Krannert Art Museum is an art museum that promotes a vibrant exchange of ideas in the visual arts. The second largest general fine arts museum in Illinois, it features a permanent collection of more than 10,000 works of art dating back to 4 BC that represent a wealth of cultures and various forms of artistic expression.

The museum’s permanent collection includes works from the 1930s, abstract American artists, ancient history, Andean textiles, contemporary American painting and sculpture, classical Greek and Roman works, East Asian works, and Native American art, among others. Visitors can explore the Krannert Art Museum on guided tours, which are designed to provide in-depth explorations of particular galleries and the works of art within them.

500 E Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL 61820, Phone: 217-333-1861

The William R. and Clarice V. Spurlock Museum, also known as the Spurlock Museum, is an ethnographic museum at the University of Illinois that collects, preserves, documents, exhibits, and studies objects of cultural heritage.

The museum features a permanent collection of more than 51,000 objects in its artifact collection, including cultural artifacts from the Museum of Natural History and Department of Anthropology as well as historical clothing from the Bevier Collection of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and objects donated by other institutions and private individuals.

The museum’s main galleries feature exhibits of ancient Egyptian art, works from the old Mediterranean and modern Africa, and art from East Asia, Europe, Mesopotamia, and the Americas.

600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801, Phone: 217-333-2360

Recommended Activities for Families

Located at the Parkland College in Champaign, the William M. Staerkel Planetarium is the second largest planetarium in the state and presents a variety of light show entertainment and science education programs. The planetarium features a 50-foot dome equipped with the latest in projection and sound technology, including a Digistar 4 digital projection system, a Zeiss M-1015 machine, 64 panels of LED dome lighting, a state-of-the-art surround sound system, and comfortable reclined theatre-style seating for up to 144 guests. The Staerkel Planetarium offers over two dozen interactive and narrated programs for school field trips, Scout troops, and other groups, and are tailored to fit a wide range of student ages.

2400 West Bradley Avenue, Champaign, IL 61821, Phone: 217-351-2568

The Sousa Archives Center for American Music are dedicated to documenting the history of American music through an outstanding collection of historical artifacts and archival records in multiple formats. Located in the Harding Bank Building, the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music operates as a museum, with annual rotating exhibits on a variety of themes such as women and music, baseball and music, and technology and music. Part of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s library system and the University of Illinois School of Music, the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music features significant collections, including archives of Albert Austin Harding, John Philip Sousa, and Herbert L. Clarke. The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music also house the Sal-Mar Construction, an electronic music system created by Salvatore Martirano, and the Claude Gordon Personal Papers and Music Instrument Collection.

Harding Band Bldg, 1103 S 6th St, Champaign, IL 61820, Phone: 217-244-9309