After searching around to a bazillion websites last year, I grew frustrated when I couldn’t just find a list of ALL indoor places in southeast Michigan that weren’t blatant ads, so I decided to make my own list of places to go in southeast Michigan. This is my cheat sheet for when I need an adventure with the kiddos this winter. Hope it’s helpful to you as well!
This list includes all the indoor fun spots I could find in Genesee, Ingham, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, Washtenaw and Wayne Counties. I expanded my reach this far because I am smack dab in the middle and am always looking for an adventure and don’t mind a bit of a drive for a fun spot. Make sure to scroll to the bottom, too, for spots/ideas located in multiple counties.
*I was not paid to list any of these spots. All links go directly to the place’s website or Facebook page.*
GENESEE COUNTY
The adorable grocery store at the Flint Children’s Museum
Flint Children’s Museum (Flint)
Flint Institute of Music (Flint)
Sloan Museum/Longway Planetarium/Buick Gallery (Flint)
Crossroads Village & Huckleberry Railroad (Flint)
Frankenmuth (Lots to do in this city!)
Michigan’s Own Military & Space Museum (Frankenmuth)
INGHAM COUNTY
Extreme Fun (Okemos – inside the Meridian Mall)
Impression 5 Hands On Museum (Lansing)
Jumpin Jax Bounce Arena (Lansing)
Play (Lansing)
Potter Park Zoo (Lansing) — Check out the Wonderland of Lights during the holidays!
The tigers of Potter Park Zoo, where many exhibits are indoors
LIVINGSTON COUNTY
2|42 Community Church – Free play structures and indoor soccer field (Brighton)
Bounce (Hartland)
Castaway Play Cafe (Howell)
MACOMB COUNTY
Extreme Fun (Roseville – Inside the Macomb Mall)
Morley Candy/Sander’s Factory Tour (Free – Clinton Township)
C.J. Barrymore’s Sports & Entertainment (Clinton Township)
Joe Dumars’ Fieldhouse (Shelby Township)
OAKLAND COUNTY
Checking out the enormous fish tank at Bass Pro Shops inside Great Lakes Crossings
Airtime Trampoline (Troy)
Boogie Babies (Rochester Hills)
Detroit Kid City (Southfield)
Detroit Zoo (Royal Oak) – There are many wintertime activities!
Great Lakes Crossings (Auburn Hills) – Play in the kids section, take a ride on the carousel, have lunch at Rainforest Cafe and check out the big fish at Bass Pro Shops.
Rochester Play! (Rochester)
Tiny Town Play Lounge (Northville)
Laser Quest (Madison Heights)
Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum (Farmington Hills)
Meadowbrook Hall (Rochester Hills)
Putting Edge Mini Golf - Glow in the dark (Novi)
Paradise Park (Novi)
Robot Garage (Birmingham)
Safari Playground (Walled Lake) – OPENING SOON
Cranbrook Institute of Science and Art Museum (Bloomfield Hills)
WASHTENAW COUNTY
Playing in the toddler area at the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum
Ann Arbor Hands On Museum (Ann Arbor)
Domino’s Petting Farm (Ann Arbor)
Great Lakes Zoological Society (Ann Arbor)
Leslie Science & Nature Center (Ann Arbor)
Museum of Natural History (Ann Arbor)
Michigan Firehouse Museum (Ypsilanti)
The Chelsea Treehouse (Chelsea)
Jump City (Ann Arbor)
WAYNE COUNTY
Arts and Scraps (Detroit)
Belle Isle Aquarium (Detroit)
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History (Detroit)
GM Renaissance Center (Detroit) — Free tours daily
Detroit Historical Museum (Detroit)
Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit)
Museum of Contemporary Art (Detroit)
Dossin Great Lakes Museum (Detroit)
Ice skating in Campus Martius Park (Detroit)
Michigan Science Center — (Detroit)
Motown Museum (Detroit)
PuppetArt Detroit Puppet Theater (Detroit)
Bouncing Off The Walls (Wyandotte)
Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village (Dearborn)
Selfridge Military Air Museum (Mt. Clemens)
Sky Zone Sports (Canton)
Eleanor & Edsel Ford House (Grosse Pointe Shores)
Inside The Henry Ford Museum
OTHER PLACES TO CONSIDER
Bowling alleys
Community theatres — Check for kid-friendly productions!
Community pools
Libraries — Check for free programming
Roller rinks — Check for “Rollers and strollers” events for young kids; open skates for big kids
Ice skating rinks
Nature Centers — Check for winter programming
Sledding (Links to a website full of spots to sled in Michigan)
Huron-Clinton Metroparks (Various locations) – Tons of wintertime programming for kids of all ages.
Jungle Java (Locations in Ann Arbor, Clinton Township, Canton, Farmington Hills)
Planet Rock Climbing Gym (Ann Arbor, Pontiac)
Pump It Up! (Auburn Hills, Canton, Shelby Township, Taylor, Wixom)
Where did I miss? What are your favorite places for kids big and small during winter around southeast Michigan?
I LOVE that you did this. Thank you now and in advance for the numerous times I’ll be checking it this winter. I’m going to send it to the calendar person in my MOMS Club for ideas, too
(One place is the former Detroit Science Center is reopening as the Michigan Science Center. Hopefully my kids will still love it there; I don’t know what they’ve changed. They’re having a press conference on the 4th to announce the official date but are definitely having Planetarium showings during Noel Nights downtown.)
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Thanks so much, Angela and thanks for the tip on Michigan Science Center…Not sure how I missed the reopening news, but that’s SO exciting. I loved that place before and am glad to see it’s reopening
Thanks for this list! What a great resource.
No problem! Definitely let me know if there are spots I missed or if you come across any great ideas to add
This is the best list ever!!
I’ve hit all of the Genesse & Ingam county places and Castaway Play in Howell but there are so many other places that we need to check out!!
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Too funny, I’ve been to all the places except for those in Genesse and Ingham
I really want to check out the Longway Planetarium one of these days!
This is my kind of site – I always pick up family fun events and put them in my calendar just in case. We enjoy trying new things and places – this will be added to my favorites! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for stopping by, Dionne! Hope it will be useful for planning future fun
People need to note even though this says “All the places found” this is not an entire list of places as there are many many more. FYI
Absolutely, Jill. If you have any suggestions of places to add, please feel free to let me know and I’ll pop them in
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This is an amazing list! I am gong to share it over on the Bargain Shopper Detroit Facebook page!
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Just an FYI: Northville is in Wayne County, not Oakland (Tiny Town Lounge). Just wanted to correct that in case someone was looking for anything in Northville.
Thanks for the heads up! I didn’t realize Northville is technically divided between Wayne and Oakland Counties. Looks like most is in O.C. but parts of Northville are in Wayne. How crazy!
Beautiful list…i will check this on website…thanks a lot for sharing with us..
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Actually probably 90-95% of Northville is in Wayne County. Anything south of 8 Mile Road is Wayne. I actually live in the Oakland County part of Northville & all the time forget that it’s mostly Wayne.
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