fun for all

16 family-friendly activities for winter break fun in Houston

It’s that time of year again! Beginning this weekend, kids will be out of school until the new year, which means families are looking for things to do in the days between now and when school starts again.

Look no further than this list of our favorite holiday break activities. And be sure to check out our list of festive light displays.

Day Camps
Houston Arboretum and Nature Center
In the center’s Cool Critters experience, kids ages 4 to 12 can explore the strategies plants and animals use to survive until spring. The experience is packed with live animal encounters, outdoor games, nature hikes, and hot cocoa.

Space Center Houston
Space Center U is an immersive day camp for kids ages 11 to 18 during winter break, December 22 through 24. The STEM-focused camps feature a variety of hands-on activities that help future astronauts and scientists understand teamwork, problem solving, and developing critical thinking skills in a fun atmosphere.

Holiday Lights

Holiday in the Garden
Through January 3, Moody Gardens puts on a show with holiday lights and ice sculptures, along with favorite holiday films, an Arctic slide, and a host of other family fun. The cost for admission and activities ranges between $25 - $60.

Radiant Nature
Back for its third installment, this stunning display, presented by Houston Botanic Gardens and H-E-B, is inspired by the Chinese zodiac. Brilliantly lit installations include all12 animals of the zodiac, along with Texas bluebonnets and other illuminated wonders. The exhibition is open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays along with select weeknights through Feb. 22. $28.50.

Check out our full list of festive light displays.

Ice Skating

Green Mountain Energy Presents Ice At Discovery Green
Glide under the glittering lights of downtown while making memories that will last a lifetime. DJ Skate Nights are on Saturdays, and Houston’s top figure skaters show off their stuff on special evenings throughout the winter break. Regular admission is $18, which includes 75 minutes of skating. Monday’s Cheap Skate Nights, $9, are perfect for those on a budget.

Ice Skate Memorial City
There’s always something fun happening here, with multiple theme nights. While the rink is open throughout winter break, don’t miss the final skate of the year on December 27, where skaters can ring in 2026 with holiday hits and sparkling décor in this festive celebration on the ice. Admission is $10 with a $5 skate rental fee.

Ice Village
Rice Village transforms into a winter wonderland with its first-ever ice-skating rink. Located across from Starbucks and Birkenstock, it costs $20 to skate, which includes skate rentals.The rink is open Monday to Thursday from 5 to 10 pm, Fridays from 5 to 11 pm, Saturdays from 10 am to 11 pm, Sundays from 11 am to 8 pm. Hours on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are 1 pm to 7 pm.

Indoor Fun

PuttShack
The indoor mini golf spot is a great go-to for those of all golf abilities. The tech-enabled golf balls keep track of shots and hazards, upping the game from the Astroturf and windmills of yore. Starting December 22, the entertainment venue is extending its unlimited mini golf play for winter break. Play unlimited rounds for $25 (juniors for $15) from Sunday to Friday through January 4.

Sky Zone, newly open on Highway 6, has more than 15 trampoline experiences, including freestyle jumping, ultimate dodgeball, mega launch slides, zip lining, and other high-energy activities. Families can purchase memberships or individual jump tickets.

Museums

Bayou Bend
The MFAH’s decorative arts house museum hosts its annual Christmas Village through December 30. Listen to Christmas carolers, wander down Gingerbread Lane, explore the garden’s beautiful lights display, and watch family-friendly films. Admission is $18.

Children’s Museum Houston
A host of family friendly activities await at the museum. Enjoy hands-on experiences like interactive workshops where kids can make your own creations; art-themed sessions where they can create their own masterpiece; and the wildly popular Polar Palooza, complete with snow.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The museum has several exhibits on display through the winter break, including two that are can't-miss. Louvre Couture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston pairs Paris couture with artworks in the museum. Take a self-guided tour of the Beck and Kinder buildings, exploring the 36 installations that showcase selections from Louvre Couture—Art and Fashion: Statement Pieces, the first-ever fashion exhibition at the Louvre Museum, set alongside masterpieces from the MFAH.

Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times is the first major exhibition in the United States dedicated to the emperor and his 20-year reign, with each object offering insight to the cultural, social, political, and economic aspects of this period of ancient Rome.

On Stage

Alley Theatre
Audiences who want to keep the Christmas spirit going can catch a performance of the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol at the downtown theater through December 28. The story of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge who gets a visit from three ghosts on Christmas Eve is a story of change and hope.

Houston Ballet
The company's annual production of The Nutcracker runs through December 28. The family-friendly fairy tale ballet is the story of Clara, who receives a magical nutcracker as a Christmas gift, transporting her on a wondrous journey.

Stages
Through Christmas Eve, December 24, catch a performance of Winter of the Snow Queen, an interactive musical where the audience must help a girl rescue her best friend from the titular character. It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play shares the beloved Christmas story in a whole new way. Follow the adventures of George Bailey, a man down on his luck who’s visited by an angel who helps him understand that every life makes a difference. The show runs through December 28.

Ice skaters on an outdoor rink, two holding hands

Photo courtesy of Discovery Green

Green Mountain Energy presents The Ice at Discovery Green is back in downtown, with outdoor skating fun for all.

museums visual-art performing-arts families family friendly

Movie Review

Summer camp drama The Plague proves middle school is still pure horror

Photo courtesy of IFC

Everett Blunck in The Plague.

Anybody who’s attended elementary school in the last 100 years knows the concept of “cooties,” a fictional affliction that is typically caught when touched by a member of the opposite sex. A more updated version of the same idea is featured in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, this time called the “Cheese Touch,” making anyone who touches a moldy piece of cheese on the school’s basketball court an outcast.

A much more menacing version of this “disease” is on display in The Plague, which takes place at a summer water polo camp for tweens. The film focuses on Ben (Everett Blunck), a slightly awkward boy who struggles to fit in with the “cool” crowd led by Jake (Kayo Martin). That group has no problems making fun of others that they deem to be different, especially Eli (Kenny Rasmussen), who has been ostracized because of a rash he has that the kids call “the plague.”

Ben wants to be part of the main group, but his natural empathy leads him to reach out to Eli on more than one occasion despite Eli engaging in some uncomfortable behavior. With the camp’s coach (Joel Edgerton) not much help when it comes to the bullying tactics by Jake and others, especially those that take place at night, Ben is left to fend for himself. His vacillations between wanting to be accepted and wanting to do what’s right continue until his hand is forced.

Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Charlie Polinger, the film has all the feel of a horror movie without actually being a horror. The staging used by Polinger gives the film a claustrophobic feel as Ben can’t seem to escape the psychological torture inflicted by Jake and others no matter where he goes. He also employs a jarring score by Johan Lenox to great effect, one that’s designed to keep viewers on edge even when nothing bad is happening.

No matter how far removed you are from middle school, the film will likely bring up feelings you thought you had left behind. Much like with Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade, Polinger finds a way to tap into something universal in his depiction of tweens, an age when everyone is still discovering who they really are. Some go along to get along, others don’t even attempt to fit in, but no one truly feels settled.

Whether the plague is real or not in the world of the film is up for debate. While most of the time it comes off as something made up to underscore the feeling of otherness felt by Ben, Polinger does literalize it to a degree. He even tiptoes up to the line of body horror before wisely retreating, although what he does show will still make some viewers squeamish. However, because he seems to be leaning one way before pulling back, there’s the possibility that some will be disappointed by the tease of something more intense.

The film’s biggest success is in its casting. Finding good child actors is notoriously tough, and yet Polinger and casting director Rebecca Dealy found a bunch who sell the story for all it’s worth. Blunck, Martin, and Rasmussen get the most play, but everyone else complements them well. Edgerton is the only well-known actor in the film, but he’s used sparingly and isn’t asked to do much, leaving the kids to carry the story on their shoulders.

Fitting in as a tween is hard enough without others actively trying to find ways to cast someone out. The Plague is an effective demonstration of the dynamics that can play out in a competitive environment that also includes a group that has yet to develop into fully-rounded people. It features discomfort on multiple levels, marking an auspicious debut for Polinger.

---

The Plague is now playing in theaters.

movies film