Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a great weekend destination, home to excellent museums, beautiful parks, sports events and a vibrant performing arts scene. The city is well known for its beautiful downtown which offers an array of restaurants, shops and cafés. Best things to do in Ann Arbor, Michigan with kids include the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History and Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum.
University of Michigan Museum of Art
Built as a war memorial in 1909, the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) is one of the largest university art museums in the country and one of the top Ann Arbor attractions.
The museum is home to the newly renovated Alumni Memorial Hall, the Maxine and Stuart Frankel and the Frankel Family Wing and features a comprehensive collection of more than 19,000 works that spans an array of periods, cultures and forms of media. The collection boasts works by Pablo Picasso, Franz Kline, Claude Monet, Randolph Rogers and Kara Walker, and represents over 150 years of art collection at the University. The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) offers a variety of educational programs, workshops, and classes for both students and visitors, as well as decent-led tours of the museum and unique art-based events throughout the year.
Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum offers imaginative and interactive learning experiences to inspire visitors to discover the wonder of science, technology, art, math, and engineering.
Established in a historic firehouse in downtown Ann Arbor 33 years ago, the museum quickly grew to become the cornerstone of science education in the community and today boasts over 20,000 square feet of exhibition space with more than 250 interactive displays devoted to promoting science and literacy. Signature exhibits include ‘The World Around You’, where visitors can explore The Bubble Capsule, Climbing Wall and Magnet exhibits that will spark the imagination, ‘The Lyon Country Store,’ a 1930s shopping experience, and ‘Michigan Nature’, which presents an interactive nature walk, a native fish lake, and a soundscape from Michigan. The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum is one of the best things to do in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The museum also hosts special events throughout the year, such as Walk This Way, which explores the science of locomotion with the U of M Robotics and Motion Laboratory.
Michigan Stadium
Nicknamed ‘The Big House’, Michigan Stadium is the largest stadium in the United States and the second largest in the world, seating crowds of up to 115,000 people. Built in 1927, the stadium has played host to a variety of sports games, including college football, lacrosse, and hockey, as well as being the venue for the University of Michigan’s main graduation ceremonies.
The stadium drew a record crowd of 115, 109 people in 2013 for a college football game between Michigan and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Although Michigan Stadium is not open to the general public for exercising, tours or photo opportunities, private tours of the facility during weekdays can be arranged.
