5 Things to Do With Your Kids This Holiday Break

Normally, we do a countdown of activities to help you plan for your adventures in the upcoming weekend, but with holiday coming up, we thought we'd focus on everything New Year's this week.

On Monday we told you about:

Today we are going to discuss local places to take your kids for some fun during the winter break.

• at the — All this week, the ice arena has open skating from 4:35-6 p.m. This family-friendly indoor skating rink not only offers a place to get some good exercise, it's also a place to have fun. After skating, relax with a cup of hot cocoa or cappuccino.
• at the  — Wednesday through Friday, take the children back in time to see a bounty of historic toys including: Tonka trucks, dolls, books and other charming toys. Or check out the three steam locomotives with a background of buildings and houses from Birmingham's past. The museum is a short walk from downtown.
• Drop-in at the — If your child likes to build and play with Legos or is interested in everything from hex bugs to bigger robots, this is a great place to go over the break. With more than 4,000 square feet and at least six large tables full of thousands of Legos, you can let their imagination take over. There are special lower tables with larger Legos for toddlers. You can drop in any time 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday.
• at  — Cranbrook Museum offers a fun educational experience with 11 permanent galleries and its new Life on Earth! exhibit. Over the winter break week, the museum is also offering a special holiday science potpourri program where children can watch a lightning show, extract DNA from a strawberry, build a star, test their word skills with a holiday-themed crossword puzzle, or catch a planetarium or bat show. The potpourri program is included in your admission and runs Monday through Friday 1-4 p.m.
• Make a  craft at the  — The library offers hours of fun during the holiday break. Children can create their own puppet show with the dozens of puppets on-hand, color pages, play on the computer, read and check out books, or pick out movies to take home with them. Plus all week long, the library is providing the supplies for children to create a Magic of Oz craft.  

Correction: The Birmingham Historical Musuem is not open on Saturday this week.