21 Things To Do With Your Kids Before Michigan Schools Start

Most Michigan kids go back to school on Sept. 5, leaving about a month before the summer of 2017 unofficially slips away. That was fast, wasn’t it? If you’re scrambling to fill the calendar with family outings before homework and school activities take over your kids’ lives, here are some ideas — both close to home and around Michigan.

Some of these events are free, others are good for families on a budget and some require more of an investment. The list includes road trips that you may want to squeeze in before school starts.

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Free Or Budget-Friendly Events

Go to the Detroit Institute of Arts. Admission to this world-class museum is free to residents of Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties. The DIA’s family-themed events include drop-in workshops, family tours and even a hip-hop showcase.

Go bowling. You’ll pay, but kids bowl free at dozens of venues around Michigan.

Take the kids for a ride on the Cullen Family Carousel at Rivard Plaza on the east riverfront in Detroit. While you’re there, check out the inlaid granite map of the Detroit River, a standing glass sculptured map of the St. Lawrence Seaway, a children’s playscape, playful fountains and lush landscaping.

Go to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Outdoor Adventure Center. It’s a great place for city kids to connect with nature in a fun way.

Go fishing. AllAboutFishing.com has several recommendations on the best fishing holes around the state. Kids 16 and younger fish for free under Michigan fishing regulations.

Events With An Admission Charge

Take them out to the ballpark. The Detroit Tigers have home games against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians this month.

Get them in the mood to learn at The Henry Ford in Dearborn: The staggering collection from the Henry Ford estate offers not only a look at Americans’ fascination with the automobile and its development in the Detroit area, but also other American inventions and historic memorabilia. Be sure to tell the kids it’s where one of their Saturday-morning TV favorites, “Innovation Nation,” is filmed.

Are you sensing a theme about combatting summer slippage by easing kids back into learning? Cranbrook Institute of Science in Bloomfield Hills has activities through August, but one for the calendar is Aug. 21, the date of the total solar eclipse. Cranbrook has a full day planned.

• See Also: Total Eclipse Of The Sun: How Much Will Michigan See?

The Detroit Zoo is fun and educational, too. “The Difference We Make” exhibit continues through Aug. 3. It features artwork of some nearly extinct animals created by some Metro Detroit students created in collaboration with zoo artist-in-residence David Baile.

Go to SEA LIFE Aquarium Michigan in Auburn Hills. More than 250 species are represented, including sharks, seahorses, clownfish, turtles, touchpools, jellies, rays and octopus.

Take a QLine Cultural Tour. Stops include the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History, Freer House and the Detroit Public Library.

Go to a drive-in movie. Drive-in movies are a vanishing part of Americana, but America’s largest with nine screens and parking for 2,500 cars is close to home in Dearborn. Gates open at 8 p.m. during the summer (it’s open year-round, and in-car heaters are available). You can use the theater’s FM stereo or the old-time speakers.

See almost every farm animal you can imagine at the Michigan State Fair, which runs Aug. 31-Sept. 4. There are lots of other family-friendly events, including a midway.

Road Trips

Get lost in the dunes. The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Empire was named “The Most Beautiful Place in America” by Good Morning America in 2011.

Visit a lighthouse. The Au Sable Light Station, built in 1874 and one of Michigan’s most notable lighthouses, but if you can’t travel that far, check out the William Livingstone Memorial Light, the only lighthouse in the nation constructed from marble and one of only two in Michigan erected as a memorial.

• See Also: 5 Historic Great Lakes Lighthouses For Sale In Michigan

Take the Great Lakes Circle Tour along the scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. The entire route is a 6,500-mile undertaking, but the trip can broken apart in manageable pieces.

Catch some of Michigan’s stunning waterfalls. There are about 200 waterfalls on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Mean it when you say you’re going to go to the beach. There are hundreds of beaches in the state. Why haven’t you been yet this summer?

If your quest for more beaches in your life took you to St. Joseph, treat your kids to the magic of the Silver Beach Carousel, which has 48 unique figures — a horse, of course, but also tigers, a panda, clownfish and others — and two chariots.

Kids love Christmas, and it’s Christmas year-round in Frankenmuth, where you’ll find Bavarian hospitality regardless of the season.

Take in a summer festival. There are still dozens of events around Michigan.

Feature photo by Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for American Express/Getty News Entertainment