Source: Indys Child Parenting Magazine

Get the Family Out Over the Holiday Break!

by Taylor Newell

December 01, 2012

The holiday break is great, right? The kids are home from school for consecutive weeks, giving the entire family the chance to spend quality time together watching seasonal movies, decorating, baking – you get the idea. All this is just great until the kids start to get restless (when I was younger, this happened around day 0.5). Now you’re faced with a dilemma: how do you keep the kids entertained without draining your entire holiday gift budget?

Here is a list of fun, inexpensive events and activities for the entire family in Downtown Indianapolis over the holiday break.

Take in a fun holiday experience that features the Yule Slide, Jingles the Jolly Bear, visits from Santa, the Snow Castle, ice fishing and cookie making at Jolly Days Winter Wonderland at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis through Jan. 6. Stop by the museum’s Lilly Theater at no extra charge for a showing of The Magic Snowman based on the classic children’s tale Stone Soup. $17.50 adults, $12.50 kids (2 – 17).

Explore holiday decorative ideas of the 1930s and 1940s during at the Indianapolis Museum of Art through Jan. 6. Who knows, maybe you’ll absorb some new ideas for your own home decor! FREE admission.

Calm the commotion with some locomotion with Jingle Rails at The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art through Jan. 6, an intricate model train diorama complete with a miniature Downtown cityscape. $10 adults, $6 kids (5 – 17), children 4 & under FREE.

Step into a scene from A Christmas Story, play with some classic American toys and hang with Radio Disney during Winterfest at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center Dec. 17 – 30.

See the amazing holiday lights display during Christmas at the Zoo at the Indianapolis Zoo through Dec. 30. Take the Holiday Train Ride, see a holiday-themed dolphin show, decorate cookies and find one of 10 hidden mistletoes for a chance to win a Dolphin In-Water Adventure. $9.50 adults, $7.50 kids.

Catch Christmas at the Puppet Studio Dec. 22 and 27, a Christmas variety show filled with music and audience participation at Peewinkle's Puppet Studio. $10.

The Indiana Ice play all of their home games Downtown this year at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and Pan Am Plaza. Catch a game Dec. 22, 30, Jan. 4 or 5. Get in the game for $11 at Bankers Life or $10 at Pan Am with discounted prices for kids, seniors and military service members. The Pacers also play four home games over the holiday break at Bankers Life and the Colts take on the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium Dec. 30.

Speaking of Pan Am Plaza, test out your own skills on the ice at the Indiana/World Skating Academy on public skating evenings for only $6.50 (get $2.50 off if you bring your own skates).

While you’re Downtown, bundle up and take a walk by Monument Circle to admire the Circle of Lights® presented by the Contractors of Quality Connection and Electrical Workers of IBEW 481 (until Jan. 12). The 4,784 lights on the monument have lit Downtown for the holidays for 50 years (since 1962!).

Downtown Indianapolis offers a fantastic variety of fun things to do on any budget, especially during the holiday season. For more information on Downtown events, visit www.indydt.com, download the Indy Downtown mobile app and follow @IndyDT on Twitter. Happy holidays!