Spend a whole weekend splashing inside two of Michigan’s best indoor waterparks. Take in a ball game, travel the zoo, or even tap maple trees together. When the kiddos are ready for easy-breezy fun, discover the best of what spring brings when you Go Great Lakes Bay in Michigan as a family!
There are plenty of fun & inexpensive things to do with kids in Michigan this spring when you Go Great Lakes Bay, including: catching Butterflies in Bloom at Dow Gardens and exploring its treetop canopy walk; wandering through two zoos; experiencing a working historical farm; and discovering the Delta College Planetarium and Mid-Michigan Children's Museum.
Pack a family picnic to enjoy in Dow Gardens’ award-winning Children’s Garden and explore a canopy walk that soars four stories high through the trees!
Make sweet memories at Chippewa Nature Center! See syrup made at the Sugarhouse, or tour the Sugarbush at Tap-A-Tree outings.
Team up as a family and swing through the trees on ziplines & rope bridges at Frankenmuth Aerial Park.
Spend a day on the shoreline at Bay City State Park. Enjoy the play area and climb the observation towers overlooking Tobico Marsh.
Pet Rosie the donkey & Simon the rooster at Grandpa Tiny’s Heritage Farm, a working farm filled with hands-on experiences.
Ride the hand-carved carousel & miniature train before meeting 150 animals at the Saginaw Children’s Zoo!
Discover the Reptile Sanctuary & Rainforest Experience and get acquainted with 200 exotic animals at Wilderness Trails Zoo.
With mini-golf, go-karts, bumper boats, laser tag, and arcade games, spring into fun at Funway Amusements Saginaw.
Play putt-putt while overlooking a marina at Buoy 18 Mini Golf, and enjoy the game room for free.
Choose between two courses at Alpine Mountain Golf before hopping into bumper boats & go-karts!
Golf your way around a rushing waterfall at Dutch Village Adventure Park, then hit the batting cages.
Climb in for a horse-drawn carriage ride with Fantasy Carriage Company or H&H Acres and Carriage Service. (Ask first, but kids can usually pet the horses!)
Board the Golden Ticket Trolley for a family ride through Frankenmuth, complete with a kid-friendly playlist.
Laugh, learn, and tinker your way through an educational adventure on our self-guided STEM Tour.
Make forever memories at Michigan’s biggest indoor waterpark & family fun center — Bavarian Blast Waterpark at the Bavarian Inn Lodge! Try 16 new waterslides, a wave pool, mini-golf & mini-bowling, a ropes course, and 180+ arcade games.
Dive into Zehnder’s Splash Village Hotel & Waterpark, with a six-story Family Raft Ride, four-story tube slides, an arcade, and poolside dining options!
Watch the fun fly at Urban Air Adventure Park, with giant trampolines, climbing walls, an indoor zipline, laser tag, and two kinds of bumper cars!
Hit the bowling lanes at Stardust, play more than 60 video arcade games, and take on two-story laser tag!
Bring your rolls of quarters into Crazy Quarters Arcade and spend hours playing pinball machines & dozens of classic arcade games.
Enjoy bowling, indoor mini-golf, an arcade, bumper cars, laser tag, and a laser maze at Valley Lanes.
Play pinball & arcade games as a family at Brinstar, then bite into tasty burgers & fresh-cut fries.
Jump into Airborne Adventure Park, where the whole family can soar on wall-to-wall trampolines.
Stop by the River Place Game Room for 40 arcade games, then find sweet rewards at SugarHigh Bakery or SugarRush Sweets & Treats.
Find your way through thousands of mirrors inside the Ultimate Mirror Maze — and try The Vault Laser Beam Challenge.
Let the little ones burn off energy inside The Playground, a fun playscape for kids — with perfectly poured lattes for parents.
Explore the amazing properties of H2O, experiment at the Tinker Track — Mid-Michigan Children’s Museum is filled with hands-on fun & interactive galleries!
Catch a show that’s out-of-this-world at Delta College Planetarium, then visit the gift shop for stellar souvenirs.
Open in May, see big smiles at the Antique Toy and Firehouse Museum — and the world’s largest collection of motorized fire trucks!
Work on a piece together at Painterly Pottery or Space Studios, with handcrafted pottery for your family to personalize.
Have a ball at a Great Lakes Loons Minor League Baseball game — and snap a family photo with mascot Lou E. Loon!
See which kid-friendly shows are in town at Midland Center for the Arts, The Dow Event Center, The Temple Theatre, or State Theatre of Bay City.
Bring your crew to cheer on the Michigan Arsenal at an action-packed Arena Football One game.
Feel magic & cheer any time of year at the world’s largest Christmas store, Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland!
Discover 100 stores at Birch Run Premium Outlets, with Go! Games & Toys for kids to Pottery Barn Outlet for parents.
Find fun souvenirs, hit the arcade, and sample fresh fudge at Frankenmuth River Place Shops.
Browse toys, candy, and souvenirs at the Bavarian Inn Castle Shops — and let the kids pick treats from the bakery.
Shop for wooden toys & puzzles (or a new spring kite) at Toyberg, or explore “a toy store, unplugged” at Joyful Tantrum.
Pop by Bricks & Minifigs, a buy, sell, trade, and play store filled with all-things-LEGO®!
Get lost inside a colorful, whimsical wonderland of sweets at Tummy Ache Candy Store.
Watch fudge paddled at Zak & Mac’s Chocolate Haus or Frankenmuth Fudge Kitchen and taffy pulled at Frankenmuth Taffy Kitchen.
Enjoy a heaping helping of family fun at Funtown Chowdown Food Truck Festival or see thousands of brilliant butterflies in flight during Butterflies in Bloom at Dow Gardens!
Spend a long weekend checking items off this bursting bucket list when you Go Great Lakes Bay in Michigan — and have a four-day adventure your family will never forget! Because here, it’ll be a toss up: who had more fun, the parents or kids?
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Travel to Frankenmuth, Michigan for a weekend with your family and be ready for all kinds of over-the-top fun! This town is known as “Little Bavaria,” but it’s home to two of Michigan’s top indoor waterparks and the world’s largest Christmas store, making it a must-stop for more than 3 million who visit annually.
Read More +Situated along the Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron, Bay City is bursting with flavors to savor, boats to board, and places to play, carefree! You're on vacation and you've got a weekend to spend making beautiful memories together in Bay City!
Read More +Splash at multiple spray parks, roam through colorful gardens & groves, and dare to take the country's longest canopy walk up to four stories high in the forest! It’s all here (and ready when you are) when you spend a weekend in Midland with the kids!
Read More +With hands-on, interactive museums, zoos & petting farms where your hearts will melt, and opportunities to bounce sky-high or squeal with excitement aboard a choo-choo train — Saginaw is a kid-friendly spot that adults will love, too!
Read More +When you planned on clear skies & sunshine — but Mother Nature has something different in mind — look to this guide for weatherproof ways to spend the day indoors as a family in Frankenmuth.
Read More +When you planned on clear skies & sunshine — but Mother Nature has something different in mind — look to this guide for weatherproof ways to spend the day indoors as a family in Bay City.
Read More +When you planned on clear skies & sunshine — but Mother Nature has something different in mind — look to this guide for weatherproof ways to spend the day indoors as a family in Midland.
Read More +When you planned on clear skies & sunshine — but Mother Nature has something different in mind — look to this guide for weatherproof ways to spend the day indoors as a family in Saginaw.
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By: Jen W. O'Deay | Updates: Go Great Lakes Bay | Jen is a Saginaw native and owner of Feel These Words, an independent copywriting studio & home to the free "5 Day Website MiniBoost". Jen specializes in writing that connects, delivered through website copy, branded content articles, and WingWoman writing services. You'll find Jen camping with her family, laughing, and at feelthesewords.com
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