Family-friendly winter activities in metro Detroit
Detroit Zoo
By Danielle Alexander
Whether you live in Michigan by choice or force, you know that we have to make the best out of these seemingly never-ending winters. My family and I try to take part in as many indoor and outdoor activities as we can, so that we do not feel so cooped up. However, there are times where it becomes unsafe– or just too cold– to leave the house, so we end up making our own fun at home.
Indoor Winter Activities
My kids and I spend a lot of time at indoor play places in metro Detroit during the winter months. Although I do my best to stay out of tunnels and off of slides, I will usually cave and join in on the fun. A few of our favorites include Kidcadia Play Cafe (Dearborn), Fort Clarkston (Clarkston), Detroit Kid City (Southfield, Dearborn, Clinton Township and, opening soon, Shelby Township), Safari Playground (Walled Lake), Rochester Play (Rochester) and Under the Sea Playground (Troy). Many of these indoor play places offer membership pricing options, which for those who regularly frequent them, it quickly becomes worth it.
Another good option for children (and adults) to burn some energy (let’s face it: there’s only so much running around the kitchen and living room a mom can handle!) is an indoor trampoline park. Defy Detroit (Commerce) is newer and dedicates a timeframe on weekday mornings to only those five and under, which is great for my little ones, but we also love AirTime, which has five locations in Southeast Michigan (Ann Arbor, Westland, Novi, Sterling Heights and Troy), Sky Zone (Brighton, Shelby Township and Canton), and Urban Air (Sterling Heights) as well.
Many local swim schools offer open swim times for families in addition to swim classes. Goldfish Swim School, for example, offers Family Swims, which are great ways to bond as a family in a “shiver-free pool”–my kind of swimming–that is heated to 90 degrees. Aqua Tots is another option for fun indoor swimming.
Both my kids and husband love museums, especially science ones, so we regularly check out Cranbrook (Bloomfield Hills), the Michigan Science Center (Detroit), Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum (Ann Arbor) and U-M Museum of Natural History (Ann Arbor). All of the walking ends in quiet car rides home– hubby included!
Check out your local movie theaters, ice skating rinks and bowling alleys for more indoor family fun.
Outdoor Winter Activities
Did you know that the Detroit Zoo is actually open 362 days a year? I didn’t realize this until I had kids of my own, so even though we might only get to see a couple exhibits on those really cold days, at least we will get to go out as a family for a bit. Purchasing the membership is a must for us every year, especially knowing that we really can use it all year long.
On those not-so-bitterly-cold days, a family hike at a local nature center can always be fun, especially if hot chocolate at a local coffee shop is in the cards for after. Stage Nature Center (Troy), Johnson Nature Center (Bloomfield Hills) and Carpenter Lake Nature Preserve (Southfield) are three of many hiking options in metro Detroit. In addition to hiking, Huron-Clinton’s Metroparks have other outdoor family-fun options, such as tobogganing, cross country skiing, ice fishing and more.
There are many outdoor activities throughout the winter Downtown, too. One of the more popular ones for families is ice skating at The Frankenmuth Rink at Campus Martius. It is open seven days a week until March, and skate rental is available.
January is also the month for many local ice festivals, such as the Plymouth Ice Festival taking place January 11-January 13, as well as Downtown Rochester’s Fire and Ice Festival taking place January 18-January 20. Both include entertainment and activities that the whole family will enjoy.
Local sledding hills are also fun spots to spend time with the family in the winter, as well.
At-home Winter Activities
My children are obsessed with crafts, but I prefer to leave the messy projects to their teachers (I’m not the only one, right?). With that said, we channel our creativity on the cleaner side with activities like Paper Airplane Contests. We’ll Google different ways to make paper airplanes and then make our own runway using masking tape. Whoever’s plane goes the farthest gets to pick the movie that night, which we all enjoy with popcorn and hot chocolate. And thanks to Disney+, we now have endless options.
I recently picked up a bag of indoor snowballs from Kohl’s. An indoor family snowball fight is a fun, safe and warm way to still embrace the season without needing all of the snow gear!
Freelance writer Danielle Alexander is the managing editor for Detroit Mom and editorial coordinator for West Bloomfield Lifestyle and Birmingham Life magazines. She wishes the Chaldean community a safe and healthy January. Stay warm out there!
Already dreaming of summer? January also means time to sign up for summer camp! Check out KidsCamps.com, acacamps.org and OaklandCountyMoms.com or Google local overnight and day camps before they start filling up. Summer will be here before we know it.