Winter Activities for Families

There are so many great things to do in the Wausau area, even in the winter! Here’s Wausau Mama’s list of the Best Winter Activities for kids, parents, and families for the 2023/2024 season:

Watch the Wausau Holiday Parade and visit with Santa, 12/1
Kids can learn to curl at the Wausau Curling Club, Sundays in November & December
Ring in the season at Willow Springs’ Old Fashioned Christmas Festival, 12/2
Visit the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum to see the exhibits and create in Art Park
Watch the Mosinee Christmas Tree Lighting and Parade, 12/2
Attend the Central Wisconsin School of Ballet’s The Nutcracker, 12/2 & 12/3
Listen to holiday music with the Wausau Symphony & Band, 12/3

Join this group to see all of the Santa events in the Wausau area
Bring your baby or toddler to an age-specific class at Monk Botanical Gardens
Visit the NEW Children’s Imaginarium which opens on 12/6
Sign your kid up for indoor swim lessons at North Central Healthcare or the YMCA
Attend Holidays at the Houses with exhibitions and children’s activities, 12/9
Sign the kids up for downhill ski lessons at Granite Peak’s ski school
Enter the Sweet Landmarks Gingerbread House Contest before noon on 12/9
Visit a local Christmas Tree Farm and cut your own tree

Go fat biking with your teen at Ringle Trails with a rental from Rib Mountain Cycles
Purchase gifts from local makers at the Wausau Holiday Makers Market, 12/9
Sign the kids up for basketball, soccer, or karate at the Woodson YMCA
Channel your creative side at Clay House or Clay Corner
Go to a holiday movie at the Marcus Cedar Creek Cinema through 12/21
Attend Monk Botanical Garden’s Winter Solstice Celebration, 12/21
Go cross-country skiing at Nine Mile County Forest or Sylvan Hill
Attend Vintage Game Night at the Marathon County Historical Society, 12/21

Take a sleigh ride and roast marshmallows with Starwood Farms
Over winter break, create a Newspaper Animal Collage at the Rothschild Library, 12/27-30
Learn to cook something new at a Grebe’s cooking class (Registration opens in January.)
Sign up for Art Babies or Creative Explorers at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum
Cheer on the Wausau Cyclones hockey team with free hats for the first 250 fans, 12/29
Watch or participate in the Winter Badger State Games
Attend Noon Year’s Eve Celebration! at the Greater Wausau Children’s Museum, 12/30
Celebrate the new year at Greenheck Turner Community Center’s New Year’s Bash, 12/30

Sign up for the kids Snow Striders program with the Wausau Nordic Ski Club, by 1/5
Go snowshoeing at Nine Mile Forest from mid-December through mid-March
Take the kids to the Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum in Stevens Point
Attend Call of the Wild: Illustrated Edition at The Grand Theater, 1/17
Attend a build night with the Learn Build Fly program, Tuesdays at 7pm
Take the family to a pizza party sleigh ride at Willow Springs Garden, 1/21
Compete in the Ring of Snow Challenge on skis or snowshoes, 1/27
Go bowling at Dale’s Weston Lanes, Coral Lanes, or Day’s Bowl-a-Dome
Enjoy winter activities at Wausau Events’ Winter Fest, 1/27

Go ice skating at one of the many indoor or outdoor ice rinks in the area
Watch CWCT’s production of Dear Edwina Jr., 2/2-2/4
Go sledding at George Street Park in Rothschild or at one of these hills in Wausau
Walk through the galleries at the Center for the Visual Arts
Snowshoe or ski along the Winter Trail Tale at Nine Mile County Park (weather permitting)
Try hatchet throwing with your older kids at Blades and Boards in Rib Mountain
Sign up for a Creative Cooking parent and child cooking class at the YMCA

Hike on a section of the Ice Age Trail such as the one that starts at Hoot Owl Drive
Watch the fireworks at Granite Peak’s Family Festival, 2/9
Visit the Wildwood Zoo in Marshfield, open daily 7:30am-2:30pm
Tackle the new high ropes course at Sawmill Adventure Park
Get tickets for the 32nd Annual Woodson YMCA Father Daughter Dance, February TBD
Attend a Public Climb event at Greenheck Turner Community Center, select Saturdays
Go to Wittenberg’s Darwin E. Smith Aquatic and Fitness Center to enjoy the water slide
Solve an escape room mystery at Cracked in Weston

Go snow tubing at Sylvan Hill, 12/16/22 – 3/5/23 (weather permitting)
Attend Willow Springs Garden’s Winter Festival & Sled Dog Race, 2/17
Dine in an outdoor igloo at Van Acre, Carmelo’s, or Hoehn’s Huddle
Take your kids to the indoor play area at Rainbow Play Systems in Rib Mountain
Watch CWETA’s production of Beauty and the Beast at the Grand Theater, 2/20-25
See a discounted movie with the Kids Dream Family Film Series from Jan. 5 – March 3
Attend The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System at The Grand Theater, 2/29
Check out one of the fun playgrounds in the Wausau area (they’re even fun in winter!)