Winter break is a wonderful time to engage in fun activities with kids that make the most of the season. Indoors or outdoors, we have some great ideas to share for younger children, tweens and teens...
What kid doesn’t like gingerbread?
Kidzu Children’s Museum has several Gingerbread Workshops coming up: December 9 and December 20, 3:30-5pm and another during Parent’s Night Out Gingerbread Workshop on December 15, 6-9pm. Design your own winter wonderland at our Gingerbread House Decorating Workshop! They’ll have all the materials (and sweets!) you’ll need to decorate the perfect gingerbread house for the holidays. All ages welcome! Gingerbread house $25, Optional Add Ons: Add LED lights to your gingerbread house for an additional $5/house. Add a little sparkle and learn about electricity with this LED light add-on!
Sign up at the Burwell School Historic Site in Hillsborough for their Gingerbready or Not! On Sunday, December 10, 1-3pm. Get into the holiday spirit at the Burwell School! Join them for a magical gingerbread house-making event, perfect for families. Each ticket is just $20 and includes a gingerbread making kit to spark your child's imagination. Hot cocoa, cookies, and holiday music will add to the festive atmosphere. Don't miss out on this sweet opportunity to create cherished holiday memories together!
Visit La Vita Dolce on Thursday, December 14, 2:30-5pm. Soak up the holiday spirit with La Vita Dolce’s annual Gingerbread Cookie Decorating event! They’ll have everything you need: gingerbread cookies, icing, and candy — and even some holiday tunes. Festive treats like our Gingerbread Latte, S’mores Hot Chocolate, and 10 flavors of made-in-house gelato will be available for purchase (wine and beer available for the parents). All ages welcome, and no reservations or tickets needed — just come by beginning at 2:30p on December 15th! $8 for cookies, candy, and icing.
A Visit with Santa is always Nice!
Santa is coming to Maple View Ice Cream for Sundaes with Santa on December 7, December 15 and December 22, come visit Santa and his Friends from the North Pole! Check out Maple View Ice Cream Shop’s Holiday Ice Cream flavors such as Chocolate Twinkle, Gingerbread Dream and Pa-Rum-Pam-Pum Rum Raisin plus many others or order one of their holiday desserts like Brownie Christmas Tree or Shackin’ Around the Christmas Tree. Whatever you chose you can’t go wrong, it’s ice cream after all!
Look to the Stars!
Check out the Morehead Planetarium with your kids over the winter break. There’s plenty of shows to choose from and be sure and check out ‘The Longest Night: A Winter’s Tale,’ which is a one-of-a-kind fulldome planetarium show that captures its audience with a timeless fable of courage, generosity and renewal. Its story explores the concept that winter is a time for Earth to rest, waiting for new growth in the spring. Its star, a young girl born into a family of nomadic storytellers, embarks on a simple quest that leads her to a dragon’s nest. What will she discover there, and how will it help her save her village? Morehead collaborated with Paperhand Puppet Intervention to develop the story and visuals of “The Longest Night.” Please note: The Planetarium closes from December 22 - January.
For your tweens and teens or the kids home from college who are looking for something to do they can check out these activities:
The Climbing Walls at the Chapel Hill Community Center on South Estes Drive and Progression Climbing on Legion Road, both in Chapel Hill, which provide opportunities for climbers of all skill levels to train and exercise with other climbers.
What about Tar Heel Escapes? At 140 West Franklin Street, it’s “an exhilarating, interactive experience designed to test your wits, unearth clues, solve puzzles, ESCAPE! There are three escape rooms to choose from with different difficulty ratings.
Would anyone be up for some Disc Golf? There are three courses in the area: Southern Community Park in Southern Village is an 18 hole course; The UNC Disc Golf course, located off Raleigh Road in the UNC Outdoor Education Center is an 18 hole professional level disc golf course featuring a mix of open and wooded holes. The last course is at Anderson Park in Carrboro, which also has 18 holes, and the course is moderately hilly and heavily wooded. Who’s up for a game?
(photo credits: Top image, courtesy TarHeel Escapes, Gingerbread making kits courtesy La Vita Dolce, Carolina Skies Planetarium Show courtesy Morehead Planetarium)
