2024 – 2025 SWMI Winter Break Activities: 30+ Boredom-Busting Activities for Families

Make it Memorable with SWMI Winter Break Activities

It doesn’t get better than having time off to relax, enjoy time with family, and bask in one of the most enchanting seasons of the year, no matter which holiday you celebrate.

However, as the school hiatus progresses, the kids develop a strong case of cabin fever, and you are fresh out of ideas. Where to take the kids sledding or tubing?

Where can you find indoor activities when you need a snow break? What if there isn’t any snow?!

We have researched so you don’t have to: this guide includes 30+ boredom-smashing winter break activities to entertain and engage families in Kalamazoo over winter break.

Most area schools start winter break on December 23 and return to school on Monday, January 6, 2025.

In this article

• Featured Activities
• Indoor Activities
• Outdoor Activities
• Road Trips
• Winter Break Activities Calendar

Play Inside

Although we expect snow in December, sometimes we don’t have it! Get inspired with some warm and dry inside activities away from the cold air.

These shops, museums and other local favorites serve as some great indoor spaces to explore and play during break.

• Test your artistic skills by painting pottery at Art Bayou. You can paint in the studio or create at home and drop them off for the kiln. Art Bayou recently relocated to their new space on Portage Road.

• Catch a show at the KVM Planetarium. At only three dollars per ticket, this is an affordable and fun activity. Be sure to visit the museum while you’re there too- admission is free!

• Climb the walls at Allegan Event. Find ziplines, climbing walls, and Michigan’s largest indoor ropes course.

• Go ice skating at Wings West. Be sure to check their schedule online for open ice times.

• Try a hot cocoa bomb from Mattawan Candy Company. These adorable snowmen were one of our favorite stocking stuffers!. Add warm milk and watch your chocolate drink come to life.

• Make your own Sand Candle with Kalamazoo Candle Company.

With shops in both Portage and Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Candle Company provides two convenient locations for this fun activity.

Sand = no drying time and you can add as many or as few colors as desired. Each color has a different scent.

For an additional fee, kids can also decorate the candle jar with stickers

• Try a new restaurant. Z&W Chinese Cuisine opened in 2023 in Portage (find them across the street from Wedel’s at 12th street and Milham). We love the build your own bowl option: pick your protein, veggies and sauce.

• Work on your inner Jackson Pollock at Pinspiration. Schedule some time in their splatter room to create your masterpiece.

Need a night out? Pinspiration is also the perfect spot for MNOs or date night.

• Cozy up at the Kzoo Cat Cafe. Playing with adoptable cats and eating snacks sounds like a great afternoon. Be sure to register online before you go.

• Climb to new heights at Climb Kalamazoo. There’s a wall for everyone!

• Try some Camps & Clinics at Branch Gymnastics. Tumble and flip with friends.

• Bounce away the day on inflatables at Jungle Joes. All age groups can participate and there’s an arcade!

• Explore Kid’s Empire. Climb, slide and play at this indoor playground for kids 12 & under on West Main in Kalamazoo.

Outdoor Winter Break Activities

Let it snow! Embrace the beauty of a Southwest Michigan winter and get outside- or at least outside in your car to see some light shows before the holiday season ends.

• Go skiing or snowboarding at Bittersweet Ski Resort in Otsego.

• Go on a scavenger hunt for beautiful artwork downtown with a mural crawl. If the weather is calm, this free activity is a fun way to simultaneously see the city AND beautiful artwork. Win. Win.

• Try out a new favorite sledding spot in SWMI.

• Experience one mile of Christmas lights as you drive Marshall’s Merry Mile. The Merry Mile runs through December 29; the cost is $10/car.

• Bundle up and hike on one of our favorite trails.

• Take a stroll downtown through the sparkling lights.  We recommend some shopping or grabbing dinner while you are on the mall, too!

• Ride the Holly Jolly Trolley on NYE.

• Try snow tubing.

• Dine outside in a heated igloo. Most restaurants recommend reservations.

• Go cross-country skiing at the Kalamazoo Nature Center.

• Take a drive down Christmas Card Lane to see over 40 oversized Christmas cards in the Westwood neighborhood.

• Try our Portage driving route to see lights, sights and bites! We recommend a walk through Celery Flats to see the historic buildings.

• Playground Hop. There are over 25 playgrounds around Kalamazoo for your kids to run off their energy. No snow? No problem.

• Visit a family-friendly New Year’s Eve event.

Road Trip

Looking to explore beyond Kalamazoo? Try these day trips during break.

• Head west to St. Joe and stroll through over one million twinkling lights. Light Up the Bluff runs through until mid February.

• Go on a gnome hunt in Frankenmuth. Pick up the map in the Visitor Center.

• Explore some drive-through lights in other cities in the Mitten. The Christmas Lite show (pictured) runs through January 4, 2025 in Comstock Park.

More to Explore