Barrington, IL
Opened October 1995

Health World is a hands-on museum and health education center with a primary target audience of children grades K-6. It is designed to provide for multiple modes of learning by combining structured classrooms with full body activity areas and thematically linked discovery spaces. The typical visit by a school group includes stops at each of these environments; learning in the classrooms and discovery spaces is facilitated by staff members while the activity areas give kids a chance to learn by doing: running, jumping, climbing, crawling, making things work and move.

Health Village

Oak Forest

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The Living Gadget

The exhibit floor is divided into six major thematic zones: The Living Gadget, dealing with anatomy and the senses; Health Village, providing role-playing environments in which children learn about health care providers and facilities; Us ‘n’ Stuff, where kids learn they can make choices about what goes into their bodies and how they use their bodies; Safety Challenge, with interactive games and activities that teach children how to be safe in everyday life; Oak Forest, which focuses on taking care of our environment, and therefore ourselves, with an emphasis on ‘reducing, reusing and recycling; and Life Trek, which explores development as an individual journeys through life from conception through death.

Perhaps the most memorable icon at Health World is a giant napping kid: visitors climb through the two-story tall figure of a sleeping Little Leaguer to explore her heart and visit an interactive Brain Theater for a show in which The Big Kid’s neighborhood adventures reveal how the brain responds when each of the senses is engaged.

The Living Gadget