School's out

The ultimate Houston list of kid-friendly and family fun for spring break 2023

While much of Houston is headed to the Colorado slopes or beach towns for spring break, many are choosing to stay home and explore the city.

With that in mind, we're rounded up a list to beat boredom this spring break. From dinosaurs to shows to hands-on fun, to lagoons, wild animals, and spacey journeys, Houston boasts an array of activities to engage kids of every age.

We'll update this list, so save, bookmark, and check back for even more best bets for spring break.

Arts, crafts, and hands-on activities

Brazos Bookstore
The independent bookstore's spring break lineup blends storytelling and art history in an array of activities that include painting, printmaking and more.

Color Factory
Head to Upper Kirby for this vivid, immersive experience that takes guests into an explosion of colors. New for spring is the Colors in Bloom confetti room and a larger-than-life bluebonnet installation that pays homage to Texas' beloved blue state flower. During spring break, guests can create their own planers and take home wildflower seeds to grow.

Cooking Classes at Central Market
With options for children ages 7 to 9 or ages 10 to 12, little chefs can learn how to make a host of tasty dishes including classic fried chicken, pizza, breakfast favorites and more.

Dig World
This amusement park in Katy lets kids operate real construction equipment, picking up cones and testing their driving skill behind the wheel of a Caterpillar 263D3. Passes are offered in two-hour increments, which means plenty of time for fun.

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft
Experiment with different materials, tools and techniques with a different focus every day of spring break. Artists of all levels will find ways to tap into their creativity to craft unique pieces they'll treasure forever.

Spring Break Camp at Main Street Theater
Campers ages 6 to 12 will create an original play, create their own costumes and props, and play theater games. Classes are offered daily during spring break from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Immersive activities, museums, and more

Children's Museum Houston
The ultimate kids' destination's Spring Break Destination Celebration runs from March 11 through 19, kicking off with a street festival and offering a variety of events daily. There's a bungee trampoline, Pi Day celebrations, human hamster balls and a host of other activities to keep kids enthralled.

Dinos Alive Exhibit
Get up close and personal, prehistoric style at this immersive experience. More than 80 life-sized dinosaurs, including the fearsome T-Rex, the shrub-eating Stegosaurus and others are on display, offering an incredible opportunity to see what life among these epic beasts was like.

Discovery Green
The downtown park has plenty of activities available during the break, nearly all of them free. There's a showing of Jurassic Park: World Dominion on May 16. There are mad scientist demonstrations and hands-on STEM fun. There's even an outdoor roller rink, where guest can skate for a fee. Check the park's extensive calendar for the most up-to-date listings.

Hermann Park
There's always something happening at Hermann Park, whether it's visiting the Houston Zoo and learning about animals, taking a ride on the train or the pedal boats, or exploring the McGovern Centennial Gardens. It's easy to spend a day (or more!) at the park's many attractions. Know that spring break means bigger crowds than usual, so arriving early to find parking, or riding METRO to get there, is advised.

Holocaust Museum Houston
Beginning with spring break, the museum will offer extended hours from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursdays, lasting throughout the summer. The museum has several activities planned for spring break, such as survivor talks and story times.

Houston Museum of Natural Science
It's easy to spend a full day at this Hermann Park museum, between its permanent exhibits, IMAX theater and planetarium. But the big news for spring break is that the museum's beloved Cockrell Butterfly Center reopens on March 11 after extensive renovations. Explore the new rainforest conservatory and learn why these delicate creatures are an important part of our natural world and how to help preserve them.

Houston Zoo
The zoo offers extended hours during spring break, which means more time to visit the new cougar cubs, Shasta VII and Louie, as well as take in experiences like zookeeper talks, ride the Wildlife Carousel or feed a giraffe. The zoo highly recommends making reservations online ahead of time for the best experience.

The Lone Star Flight Museum
Fun really takes off at this museum dedicated to aviation and flight history. Multiple activities are planned over spring break, including making and flying paper airplanes, DC-3 and Howard 250 plane tours, testing drone skills and more.

Museum of Fine Arts Houston
Anyone who's wanted to feel like part of the art will love MFAH's grand-scale, immersive presentations, Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest and Worry Will Vanish, on view beginning March 12. These epic installations are created with thousands of LED lights and two-channel video production that gives visitors the experience of walking in a dream.

Space Center Houston
Blast off with spring break fun at Space Center Houston's Moon2Mars Festival, March 11 through 19. Celebrating NASA's Artemis Program, the event features virtual reality experiences, performances, and astronaut meet-and-greet opportunities. Music fest concerts include '80s pop icon Rick Springfield.

Stage and theatrical fun

Don't Let The Pigeon Drive the Bus The Musical

Main Street Theater for Youth offers this production based on the much-loved children's book by Mo Willems about an over-eager bird ready to step into the driver's seat. Playing at the MATCH, there are twice-daily shows during spring break. On March 15, there's a special Pigeon Party, including Pigeon's favorite food: hot dogs.

Free Shows at Miller Outdoor Theatre

Spring break coincides with the opening of Miller's 100th season as Houston's premiere destination for free arts programming. ON March 17, catch the energy and artistry of the Trinity Irish Dance Company and on March 18, get into the groove of the Roaring '20s with activities such as photo installations, live mural painting, Vaudeville performers and an evening show by the Hot Sardines. Pack a picnic, grab a spot on the hill and see why this is one of Houston's most-loved traditions.

Staycations

LagoonFest Texas
As CultureMap has regularly reported, LagoonFest Texas boasts more than 24 million gallons of water and kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, swimming, sailing, and other water fun at this mega park in Texas City. The park is open daily from 11 am to 7 pm for spring break, with a la carte options so kids and adults can choose their own water adventure.

Margaritaville Lake Resort
The whole family will find something to love at this Lake Conroe retreat. Book the resort's The Weather Is Here package to get 10 percent off the best room rates and a $50 resort credit. With amenities like the Fin City Arcade, mini golf, a pool and more, it'll be an experience to remember.

Marriott Marquis Houston
With its Texas-shaped, lazy river pool, this downtown destination is the perfect spot for families looking for fun without leaving town. Marriott’s Spring Break Package, which includes a $150 Total food and beverage credit, which can be used over one or two days, 20 percent off a spa service, access to Altitude Pool Deck and unlimited bike rentals. Rates start around $330 and a two-night minimum is required.

The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa

Houston’s regal, 27-acre playground is offering a spring break package that includes an in-room movie, stuffed animal, popcorn, and candy upon arrival, plus complimentary hotel self-parking and late check-out (if available).

While the kids frolic in the Houstonian Club's pools, Bungalow or Hideout, parents can enjoy date night at TRIBUTE restaurant, cocktails at The Bar Patio, massages at Trellis Spa, or work out at the club — with no resort fees.

Photo courtesy of Lagoonfest Texas

Dive into spring break at Lagoonfest Texas.

Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 doesn't match the first movie's enthusiasm

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2.

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films like M3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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