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A Community-Oriented
Home-Away-
From-Home
At Your Local
Neighborhood Childcare Center

Preschool & Childcare Center Serving Chicago, IL

Letting Kids Be Kids For As Long As Possible

Experience a close-knit, family-oriented community where every child is like family. We prioritize kids’ well-being in their small, intimate setting, emphasizing play over fancy academics. Letting kids be kids for as long as possible, teachers create a nurturing environment where your child thrives and builds cherished memories.
Founder With 15+ Years Of Childcare Experience

Founder With 15+ Years Of Childcare Experience

Founder and program director Mrs. Mia combines a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Entrepreneurship with 15+ years of diverse childcare experience. With Illinois’ Director Certification, Early Childhood Education, and Infant Toddler Credentials, she brings her entrepreneurial skills and passion for arts and crafts to families daily, ensuring reliable and reputable childcare.

Expert Teachers Guide Your Child To Play, Learn, & Grow

We shape our identity through exceptional teachers—loving, supportive, and educated caregivers carefully chosen for their alignment with our ideals. With expertise in child development, they create a nurturing environment focused on personal attention, guiding your little one to play, learn, and grow.

Our Brand-New, Fully Licensed, State-Of-The-Art Facility Caters To Children Ages 6 Weeks Through 6 Years In An Exploratory, Play-Based Setting!

Exciting Play-Based & Social-Emotional Curricula

ChooChoo! Let’s hop on The Creative Curriculum express train! We’re heading on an adventure where education meets excitement with play-based and social-emotional curricula that foster engaging, hands-on development. Teachers blend creativity with a dash of logic to nurture happy hearts and bright minds.

Open Communication For Parent-Teacher Partnerships

Join a family-oriented community celebrating open communication with families. Teachers encourage collaboration and feedback and host lively family socials quarterly, reflecting their commitment to an open-door policy. The ChooChoo family embraces the warmth of a community-driven space, champions local businesses, fosters connections, and ensures everyone feels right at home here.
Open Communication For Parent-Teacher Partnerships

Fun Enrichments Spark Curiosity & Development

Tap into your child’s hidden talents and interests with exciting enrichments! From the zen of yoga to the creativity of music and art, linguistic adventures in baby signing, Spanish, and Serbian, to the joy of dance — teachers use engaging activities to spark curiosity and foster holistic development.

Your Little Learner Explores Beyond The Classroom With Laughter-Filled Field Trips, Including:

The Zoo

Botanical Garden

Nature Museum

Wrigley Field's Gallagher Way

The Fire House

& Much More!

Get A Daily Dose Of Joy On Your Brightwheel™ App

Stay in the loop on your child’s day through effortless communication with teachers. Your Brightwheel™ parent app gives you access to direct messaging, real-time updates, and adorable photos and videos anytime, ensuring you’re always in the front row for every milestone – because every moment matters.
Get A Daily Dose Of Joy On Your Brightwheel™ App

Daily Outdoor Adventures Encourage Active Discovery

All aboard the Funshine Express! Your child enjoys daily outdoor adventures, weaving through turfed playgrounds, splashing in mini water park stations, and exploring city parks on this educational track. Being outdoors encourages hands-on exploration where imaginations chug along, and every stop is a new discovery!

Included In Tuition!
Enjoy Organic Meals & Snacks Served In Our Nut-Free Environment

Safety First With Restricted Access, Cameras, & More

Your child’s safety is a top priority. With restricted access controls, internal security cameras for vigilant monitoring, and a team of CPR and First Aid-trained staff, teachers safeguard every precious moment as your little one explores, learns, and grows under watchful care.

Trusted Care Logo

Sanitization & Pro Cleaners For Your Peace Of Mind

Each day brings new giggles, brightness, and brilliance! Rest easy as teachers prioritize cleanliness with daily sanitization, and professional cleaners work diligently to ensure a fresh, germ-free environment each week. Your child’s sparkling ChooChoo station delivers non-stop excitement as they learn through play full steam ahead!

Hear What Parents Have To Say...

Only good things come to my mind in regards to this daycare. And it is because of the teachers. The teachers at ChooChoo are knowledgeable, awesome, attentive, kind, entertaining, enthusiastic. They are explaining the changes that your child is going through in new environment and help with advices, practical solutions. Applying various learning techniques, teaching kids to be kind, friendly, respectful. Warming up their curiosity. And of course practicing safe environment. Read More...

- Egishe Karapetyan

My daughter attends this ChooChoo, and I am deeply satisfied with their service. They keep kids engaged in indoor and outdoor activities and monthly field trips, which help kids learn. They share lovely pictures and videos of kids engaged in different activities throughout the day. They also have an initial onboarding transition period of 2-3 days, where you can stay with your child for a few hours to help them get familiarized with the place. Teachers are very helpful and genuinely care for the kids. And it is very neat and clean. Read More...

- Rajan Bhandari

We recently moved to Chicago and we are so glad we found ChooChoo! Ms. Mia and all of the teachers are welcoming, intelligent, organized and fun. The classrooms are clean and filled with age appropriate toys, books and other activities for kids. The teachers plan and facilitate thoughtful and engaging lessons with a focus on learning through play. Our 2 year old has already learned so much and has formed great connections with his classmates and teachers! I highly recommend ChooChoo! Read More...

- Emily Zheutlin

ChooChoo have created something truly special, and I will be forever grateful for the unwavering love and support they've shown my daughter since the very first morning we dropped her off. I could fill several pages with examples of how responsive, compassionate, and genuinely kind the entire ChooChoo family is. Instead, the most helpful feedback I can offer any parent currently searching for the best daycare in Chicago is this: there's no one I trust more to have my daughter's best interests at heart than Mrs. Mia and her staff. Read More...

- Andrew Ogletree

Our family absolutely loves ChooChoo! I was SO thankful to have found the summer program at ChooChoo. The consistency for the summer has been invaluable to me and my husband. The teachers are so warm and wonderful, and we love getting updates throughout the day on the app. We also love that they are given nutritious snacks and lunches, and that they get a mix of outdoor and indoor time. When we leave for the day my girls ask to go back - a testament to how much they are enjoying the program! Read More...

- Stephanie Wong

ChooChoo was definitely the right choice for our family!! I am 100% calm and happy knowing they are taking care of my 3 year old son. Kudos to Hoppers classroom and teachers! Compassionate, dedicated, child-oriented group of people who attend to your child’s individual needs and are willing to cooperate with families so they can set your child up for a success across all developmental areas! Read More...

- Milena Stankovic

My 2 year old daughter has attended ChooChoo for the past 7 months and we have had a wonderful experience. It is extremely well run: clean facility, prompt diaper changes, food provided, lots of art projects, communicative staff, host several events for parents to attend and socialize. A detailed monthly newsletter is sent out explaining weekly curriculum themes, introducing new staff, reminders about holidays etc. The staff are all very profesional. There are dedicated classrooms for each age group, but also some opportunities to interact with children of different ages which I know my daughter has enjoyed. Read More...

- Elizabeth Wagner

Our son has attended ChooChoo Chicago. He has loved going to ChooChoo and has had the most consistent care-taking experience with Mrs. Mia. I love that they take the kids outside on a regular basis. They also engage the kids in many arts and crafts projects, learning experiences and exposure to different languages. There are kids of various ages so my son enjoys teaching younger kids and learning from older kids. We've made great family friends through ChooChoo. Our son loves going to ChooChoo and runs into the house every morning - doesn't get better than that! Read More...

- Jessie Beebe

Our 2.5 year old son, has been there for over a year now. We cannot be happier with the care he gets. The onboarding was progressive and very smooth to make sure our son was comfortable. The communication with parents is excellent, so we feel involved and heard. Kids have a lot of fun playing and learning. It's a multi-cultural environment, which is great, too. In summary, this is a great place!! Read More...

- Laurent Beaudouin

We are newer parents to ChooChoo and have been sooooo impressed by our first daycare experience with our almost 2 year old thanks to Mia, Emi, Luke, Christy and the rest of the amazing staff. Our daughter started there 3 months ago and we are so thankful she did. We get updates and photos all day long on the Brightwheel app. The teachers are so diligent about having the kids wash their hands and stay as clean as possible. They are also so kind and warm to our little girl and clearly care about the kids. Read More...

- Brian & Maddie Giblin

My daughter attends this ChooChoo, and I am deeply satisfied with their service. They keep kids engaged in indoor and outdoor activities and monthly field trips, which help kids learn. They share lovely pictures and videos of kids engaged in different activities throughout the day. They also have an initial onboarding transition period of 2-3 days, where you can stay with your child for a few hours to help them get familiarized with the place. Teachers are very helpful and genuinely care for the kids. And it is very neat and clean. Read More...

- Rajan Bhandari

We recently moved to Chicago and we are so glad we found ChooChoo! Ms. Mia and all of the teachers are welcoming, intelligent, organized and fun. The classrooms are clean and filled with age appropriate toys, books and other activities for kids. The teachers plan and facilitate thoughtful and engaging lessons with a focus on learning through play. Our 2 year old has already learned so much and has formed great connections with his classmates and teachers! I highly recommend ChooChoo! Read More...

- Emily Zheutlin

ChooChoo have created something truly special, and I will be forever grateful for the unwavering love and support they've shown my daughter since the very first morning we dropped her off. I could fill several pages with examples of how responsive, compassionate, and genuinely kind the entire ChooChoo family is. Instead, the most helpful feedback I can offer any parent currently searching for the best daycare in Chicago is this: there's no one I trust more to have my daughter's best interests at heart than Mrs. Mia and her staff. Read More...

- Andrew Ogletree

Our family absolutely loves ChooChoo! I was SO thankful to have found the summer program at ChooChoo. The consistency for the summer has been invaluable to me and my husband. The teachers are so warm and wonderful, and we love getting updates throughout the day on the app. We also love that they are given nutritious snacks and lunches, and that they get a mix of outdoor and indoor time. When we leave for the day my girls ask to go back - a testament to how much they are enjoying the program! Read More...

- Stephanie Wong

ChooChoo was definitely the right choice for our family!! I am 100% calm and happy knowing they are taking care of my 3 year old son. Kudos to Hoppers classroom and teachers! Compassionate, dedicated, child-oriented group of people who attend to your child’s individual needs and are willing to cooperate with families so they can set your child up for a success across all developmental areas! Read More...

- Milena Stankovic

My 2 year old daughter has attended ChooChoo for the past 7 months and we have had a wonderful experience. It is extremely well run: clean facility, prompt diaper changes, food provided, lots of art projects, communicative staff, host several events for parents to attend and socialize. A detailed monthly newsletter is sent out explaining weekly curriculum themes, introducing new staff, reminders about holidays etc. The staff are all very profesional. There are dedicated classrooms for each age group, but also some opportunities to interact with children of different ages which I know my daughter has enjoyed. Read More...

- Elizabeth Wagner

Our son has attended ChooChoo Chicago. He has loved going to ChooChoo and has had the most consistent care-taking experience with Mrs. Mia. I love that they take the kids outside on a regular basis. They also engage the kids in many arts and crafts projects, learning experiences and exposure to different languages. There are kids of various ages so my son enjoys teaching younger kids and learning from older kids. We've made great family friends through ChooChoo. Our son loves going to ChooChoo and runs into the house every morning - doesn't get better than that! Read More...

- Jessie Beebe

Our 2.5 year old son, has been there for over a year now. We cannot be happier with the care he gets. The onboarding was progressive and very smooth to make sure our son was comfortable. The communication with parents is excellent, so we feel involved and heard. Kids have a lot of fun playing and learning. It's a multi-cultural environment, which is great, too. In summary, this is a great place!! Read More...

- Laurent Beaudouin

We love ChooChoo, and even more importantly, our kids love going to ChooChoo. ChooChoo is a family home daycare that is very well-organized, both from an educational/development perspective and from an administrative/practical perspective. The group of kids ranges from 1 to 5 years old, which is great because they can learn from and take care of each other. ChooChoo organizes many activities, including going to the playground, arts & crafts, dance classes, swim classes, etc. We are very happy to have chosen ChooChoo as our family home daycare for our kids. Read More...

- Ralph Mulder

How Old Is Your Child?

Cabooses - Infants

Infants

6 weeks to 15 months

Toddlers

15 months to 24 months

Junior Preschoolers

2 year olds

Preschoolers

3 to 6 years

Summer Camp

18 months to 6 years
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Cabooses - Infants

Infants (6 Weeks To 15 Months)

  • Intimate Classroom of 11 children, ratio 4:1 + floater teacher
  • Full-Time Program (FTP): 7:30 am to 6:00 pm
  • 2, 3 or 5-day enrollment options are available
Learn more

Toddlers (15 Months To 24 Months)

  • Intimate Classroom of 12 children, ratio 4:1 + floater teacher
  • Full-Time Program (FTP): 7:30 am to 6:00 pm
  • Part-Time Program (PTP): 7:30 am to 12:30 pm
  • 2, 3 or 5-day enrollment options are available
Learn more

Junior Preschoolers (2 Year Olds)

  • Intimate Classroom of 14 children, 1:7 ratio
  • Full-Time Program (FTP): 7:30 am to 6:00 pm
  • Part-Time Program (PTP): 7:30 am to 12:30 pm
  • 2, 3 or 5-day enrollment options are available
Learn more

Preschoolers (3 To 6 Years)

  • Intimate Classroom of 14 children, 1:7 ratio
  • Full-Time Program (FTP): 7:30 am to 6:00 pm
  • Part-Time Program (PTP): 7:30 am to 12:30 pm
  • 2, 3 or 5-day enrollment options are available
Learn more