Will County museums offer holiday shopping specials Sunday

If you’re not one for the post-Thanksgiving Day bustling shopping crowds this weekend, here is a quieter, more thoughtful alternative.

Instead, head out for a calm, curiosity-filled excursion to a local museum gift shop this weekend for Museum Store Sunday.

There, you can pick up “broad assortments of highly curated, unique, mission-specific gifts” for loved ones on your list, according to the Museum Store Association.

Museums around the world – and in Will County – are participating, giving patrons a chance to learn and shop.

Here’s a look at what local exhibit destinations are offering this Sunday.

Joliet Area Historical Museum

Joliet Area Historical Museum Chief Operating Officer Kelly Klobucher said, “We have elves working hard … getting everything ready.”

Popular gifts include:

• Baskets filled with Joliet or U.S. Route 66 themed-pieces (wrapped and ready to go for gift exchanges, hosts, teachers or any last-minute needs)

• Joliet and Route 66 ornaments, books, T-shirts

• New vintage-style T-shirts with Joliet’s iconic bridges

· Blues Brothers coffee

• Neon Route 66 sign, for its 100th anniversary in 2026

Many gifts are less than $25, Klobucher said.

The Joliet Area Historical Museum is located at 204 N. Ottawa St., Joliet.

Four Rivers Environmental Education Center

This weekend, before exploring the “Lost and Found Exhibit: Remnants of Savannas and Old-Growth Forests” exhibit at the Four Rivers Environmental Education Center in Channahon, guests can “enjoy coffee from Deans Beans, our bird-friendly coffee supplier, and tea that visitors can sip while they shop,” said Kylee Beckwith, guest services associate.

Popular gifts:

• Handmade mugs from Fine Field Pottery based in Streator

• Handmade nature earrings made of upcycled cereal boxes

• Eagle pellets (chocolate-covered peanuts)

• Deer droppings (chocolate-covered raisins)

• Sasquatch poop (milk chocolate-covered malt balls)

• Rabbit poo (milk chocolate pretzel balls)

All chocolate candy is from the Genesee Candy Co.

Four Rivers Environmental Education Center, owned and operated by the Forest Preserve District of Will County, is located at 25055 S. Walnut Lane, Channahon.

Will County Historical Museum & Research Center

Director Sandy Vasko said that on Museum Store Sunday, the Will County Historical Museum & Research Center collects “no sales tax on all sales – we pay the sales tax for you.” This Saturday, all shoppers will receive a special souvenir penny pin.

Popular gifts:

• Books about local towns and their history

• Route 66 T-shirts, socks

• Balancing bird toy

Most unusual items:

Illinois coal, “just right for putting in some naughty person’s stocking,” Vasko said. She also noted the museum’s Nicaraguan pottery for sale.

The Will County Historical Museum & Research Center is located at 803 S. State St., Lockport.

Isle a la Cache Museum

Free admission to this museum operated by the Forest Preserve District of Will County now includes the “Indige-Facts” exhibit on loan from the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum, formerly the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian.

Popular gifts:

• Tiny turtles, either stone or crocheted, that remind visitors of the museum’s turtle ambassadors

• Carved wood pens representing bears, eagles, wolves, turtles and owls

• Handmade nature earrings made of upcycled cereal boxes

Janet Zavoral, Isle a la Cache facility office manager, said, “When you visit the museum and gift shop, you can stop by and see our four Blanding’s turtle ambassadors.”

Isle a la Cache Museum is located at 501 E. Romeo Road, Romeoville.

Plum Creek Nature Center

Plum Creek “offers visitors a place to explore the natural world, with hands-on exhibits and interactive play elements,” according to its website.

Plum Creek also is owned and operated by the Forest Preserve District of Will County.

Popular gifts:

• Honey, which makes “a lovely gift for the tea drinkers and cooks on your list,” said Marissa Jones, facility office manager at Plum Creek.

• Hats and gloves from Britt’s Knits

• Handmade wooden toys crafted by local resident Beth Temple

Plum Creek Nature Center is located at 27064 S. Dutton Road, north of Goodenow Road, in Crete Township.