100+ Things to Do During Winter Break

Winter Break can bring a change of your normal routine that can be both be exciting and exhausting. Check out this list for more than 100 things to do to keep your family busy and also get some much needed rest!

100+ Things to Do During Winter Break

1. Check out Manhattan’s Festival of Lights. Dress up warm, figure out how to work the night mode on your camera and plan to feel like a child all over!
2. Go see Santa!
3. Check out the Manhattan’s Farmer Market which is still open during the winter.
4. Take a tour at the Midwest Dream Car Collection.
5. Go grab local donuts to either enjoy while out on the town or to take home to be cozy!
6. Grab brunch with your crew in one of the local top spots around the Manhattan are! Cinnamon rolls, pancakes, waffles? This list has got you covered!
7. Check out the rec centers to burn off some energy when its too cold to go play outside.
8. Take in some of the local holiday theater and concerts in the area. Instead of another toy this year, give the gift of time to the ones you love.
9. Take a Holiday Train Ride! Book your tickets early because they will sell out early!
10. Start planning for your Spring and Summer Youth Sports. No better time to start thinking ahead than while you might have a little bit of down time!
11. Go shopping for some new K-State gear to get ready to finish out winter and head into the spring!
12. Visit A&H Farm for some fun on the farm, even in the cold. Don’t have an annual pass and don’t want to spend the extra money? Check out the Friends of Sunset Zoo special days to visit A&H Farm!
13. Spend the night binge watching a show and eating popcorn! Sometimes you just need a beak from the hustle and need a chance to just sit and zone out! Make it an at-home date night, family night or enjoy the evening on your own.
14. Schedule a tour of Lazy Heart D Ranch! Tours are scheduled year round, including the winter, but call ahead!
15. Bundle up and take a winter hike at our top local family friendly hiking trails. Even when cold, fresh air is so good for us!
16. Stay in the warm car and do a driving tour of Manhattan’s local murals.
17. Check out the family friendly options in Aggieville.
18. Take a break from cooking and go grab one of the top burgers in the area. Enjoy dining out for the night or order take out and head home instead.
19. Tour K-State’s Beach Art Museum. It is family friendly and will give you a place to explore inside for a few hours.
20. Check out the local dance and gymnastic options for your crew. Maybe your kids want to try out ballet or tumbling, and many offer open gym times.
21. Spend the day in Topeka and visit the Children’s Discovery Center.
22. Tour the Hildebrand Farms Dairy. Try their locally made products and get up close to the cows!

    

23. Visit the Rolling Hills Zoo during their winter hours! Make a day of it as you explore Salina!
24. Go tour the new Museum of Art & Light!
25. Bake treats and take to emergency responders such as our favorite crew, the Manhattan Fire Department!
26. Clean out and donate unused toys and clothes. There are many local places around town you can drop stuff off at or try your local Buy Nothing Group on Facebook.
27. Visit Hutchinson and explore the Cosmosphere and Space Center.
28. Tour the new exhibit at the Flint Hills Discovery Center.
29. Build a gingerbread house together as a family or have a contest to see who can build the best one!

    

30. Take a bike ride. Dress warm and wear bright colors! Look at a local trail, city park or create your own path around your neighborhood.
31. Get up close and personal to our bug friends and visit the KSU Insect Zoo!
32. Spend the day exploring at MHK Play Studio. Little hands have lots of big ideas and MHK Play is the perfect spot to encourage this.
33. Sign up for Imagination Library and get free books!
34. Take your dino lovers to visit a dinosaur themed location in the area.
35. While storytime is on hold, check out the library being a little quieter for a few weeks. Check out books, movies and music from the library.
36. Have a dance party in your living room! Maybe you dress up in costumes, maybe you wear pajamas. The possibilities are endless.
37. Take a day trip to Wamego!
38. Enjoy a date night with your significant other.
39. Be OK with saying no when the to-do list is too much. Decline an invite and let go of the guilt of it. There is a strong power is saying no thank you!
40. Decorate cookies together. Eat cookies together!
41. Take a day trip to the Milford Nature Center and Fish Hatchery.
42. Do some last-minute local holiday shopping around town!
43. Stop at Radina’s for some hot coca and drive around and look at the holiday lights.
44. Celebrate the New Year as a family at the Discovery Center with festivities around a family friendly bedtime!
45. Tryout a family nap. Maybe you sleep, maybe you spend the whole time laughing.
46. Take a family day date or a date night to Sinker’s Lounge.
47. Give yourself some grace when getting ready for the holidays. Clean the bathrooms and the kitchen before company comes over but no one cares if you have not vacuumed in a few weeks. They are there to spend time with you and don’t really care if you have a little extra dirt on the floors.
48. Explore Wonder Workshop to try out some interactive play spaces and hands on learning.
49. Complete a family puzzle together. Or at least attempt to!
50. Take a winter hike up the Manhattan Hill. The view is so different in the winter.
51. Go to bed early. The extra chores can wait just one more night, and you will feel so wonderful getting an extra hour or two of sleep!
52. Schedule a moms’ afternoon out and get a hydrafacial at Glo.
53. While you are already out for a mom’s break, schedule a massage at Body First.

    

54. Get the family’s haircuts done. Try out Platinum & Company, who is great with both adults and kids! Take a look at Campus Barbershop for the men in your family.
55. Get some more use out of the family matching pajamas and wear them all day long while you hang out at home together. The mess you will be cleaning up looks a better when created by cute matching siblings.
56. Check out the local Live theater in the area. Different than the holiday concerts, this is focused on year round events!
57. Take a night out and try out some new drinks with friends or your better half at Arrow Cocktail Lounge.
58. See who can jump the highest or farthest at Leap and then eat at Powercat right next door! If it’s warm, ask them to get out the outside games.
59. Try out a horse drawn carriage ride around town. Bundle up and enjoy the ride!
60. Check out the indoor pools and go swimming in either Wamego or Junction City while they are not as busy while it is colder outside.
61. Make a homemade simmer pot to warm up your whole house and have it smelling just like Christmas Day.
62. Go visit family! Invite them to you if the trip there won’t work for your family this year.
63. Enjoy an at home game night and pizza party.
64. Camp in the living room under the Christmas tree. Get out the sleeping bags or crash on the couch. Remember the magic of Christmas from your childhood view.
65. Have a Yes-Day or Yes-Hour where you just say “Yes!”
66. Invite some friends over to visit. Adult friends, kid friends, family friends. Yes please!
67. Go shopping for new shoes for the family for the spring in the next size up so you are not rushing out the door one morning to find your child’s shoes just don’t fit anymore!
68. Check out the best local bakeries for some sweet treats to try for both the holidays and the long days when everyone is off of school!
69. Bundle up, get outside and go visit a local park!

    

70. Try your balance on the Ice Skating Rink. Lean into feeling silly.
71. Cheer on the cats at a K-State women’s and men’s basketball game. Check out our tips for attending a game with kids here.
72. Lay on your living room floor and do absolutely nothing. Don’t even think about the laundry that you should be doing. Just enjoy the sound of your children in the background hopefully laughing.
73. Take your little ones to get their ears pierced!
74. Crank up the Bluetooth speaker and sing along to holiday music on repeat.
75. Get out of town for a few days in Omaha or the Ozarks.
76. Take a glance at the calendar for the next semester and see if there is anything major you need to plan for such as outfits to buy, travel or random things to prep. Do those things now on a cold, slow day at home.
77. Watch the sunset. The sunset comes so early in the winter but also looks so beautiful when its bouncing off the snow.
78. Get ahead of a New Year’s resolution and check out the top local gyms for moms. Don’t worry about waiting for the New Year to start to get moving!
79. Make chili and homemade cinnamon rolls. Even better, ask your mom to do this while you go visit!
80. Take a quick evaluation of your phone time. Is it for work or are you scrolling Facebook for the 10th time in an hour? Don’t stress about it, just adjust as you need to.
81. Clean out your old books and donate them to one of many of the free little libraries you will find around town!
82. When it feels too cold to go outside, make your own inside snow out of baking soda and hair conditioner.
83. Read a book or two. Just 20 minutes a day really adds up and you might be surprised at the change of brain pace it can open up.
84. Have a lazy movie day or night with the family. Order takeout or eat ice cream. Enjoy the slow.
85. Head to Abilene for the day! With so much to explore and new places to eat, you can easily enjoy a whole day exploring.
86. Relax. Put your feet up. Sip some coffee or wine. Just slow down, even if for 10 minutes. Breathe deep.
87. Paint inspiration rocks to leave around town in the hidden rock garden on Stagg Hill or across from the high school.
88. Take a long, hot shower. Perhaps use the shower to clean out empty shampoo bottles or just stand there and let the water soak you out!
89. Check out the local area coffee shops. Try one or try them all! What a great time to go visit of the local shops while the town is a bit quieter with students away for the holidays.
90. Take turns with your significant other having a night off from the bedtime or morning routine.
91. Go play in the snow! You are never too old to play.
92. Read together. Maybe everyone sits and listens to one book or maybe everyone reads their own books under the same snuggly blanket.
93. Review your annual finances. No fighting, just review the past year’s spending.
94. Once you have reviewed your annual finances, set your family financial goals for the following year.
95. While you are at it, set your family goals as well. Maybe it’s to only eat out two times per month, exercise four times a week or to read for 20 minutes every day. No right or wrong, just focus on what you want as a family.
96. Do some deep cleaning. Maybe that means cleaning out one junk drawer or maybe clean out every closet and every cabinet.
97. Move your body. Maybe it’s a run, maybe it’s yoga, maybe its a family dance party. It’s all important and all adds up.
98. Give back. Find a place to volunteer as a family.

    

99. Stock up on your gift closet for the next year while places are having sales. Need a quick gift in a pinch, not to worry because you have things on hand. Replace your gift bags and tissues paper while you’re planning and everything is on sale!
100. Take a day trip and explore new museums in Wichita.
101. Soak in a long bath. Maybe you listen to a podcast or maybe you just enjoy the silence.
102. Take some random pictures of your family. You will enjoy looking back at them later, even if one or two are a little tired and grumpy at the time.
103. Put on your snow gear to stay warm and walk around the K-State campus while classes aren’t in session. Campus is so different when there are no students around.
104. Check out the Sunset Zoo! It is so different in the winter and definitely worth getting a little cold!
105. In the middle of the loud, messy day or night, remind yourself how lucky you are to be able to enjoy the holidays with your family!