Posted by May Recreation Content Team on
Christmas is officially upon us! It’s the season of peace, love and joy — but sometimes we tend to forget that and focus on the material things. This Christmas season, try to focus more on the spirit of Christmas by enjoying time with your family and making memories that will last a lifetime.
Here are 10 festive things in the Houston area that you can do with your family this Christmas:
1. Get in the holiday spirit with some good, old-fashioned ice skating. There are two good options for this in the Houston area, depending on where you’re located. The first is Discovery Green Ice Rink located at Discovery Green Park downtown. The park also has a new and exclusive seasonal art installation you can check out while you’re there.The Ice Rink at The Woodlands Town Center is another great option for those located in North Houston. The 21,000-square-foot facility features ice skating in the main room with lighting, a state-of-the-art sound system, and tables for parties and concessions. There are lots of restaurants and shopping surrounding the rink, so you can make a night of it with Christmas shopping and dinner, followed by ice skating.
2. Take the family to see the Charles Dickens Christmas classic: A Christmas Carol – A Ghost Story of Christmas, which follows Ebenezer Scrooge’s journey with the three ghostly spirits who visit him on Christmas Eve. The show will be on stage from November 16 to December 30 at Alley Theatre.
3. Pack up some hot cocoa, get the family in the car and head out to view some gorgeous Christmas light displays. Here’s a list of our favorite ones:
- Moody Garden Festival of Lights – Galveston
- Magical Winter Lights – Gulf Greyhound Park, La Marque
- Santa’s Wonderland – College Station
- Sugar Land Holiday Lights – Constellation Field, Sugar Land
- Trail of Lights – Dewberry Farm (the first year!)
- Zoo Lights – Houston Zoo
- River Oaks – River Oaks Country Club, Inwood Drive, Willowick and Del Monte are some of the prime streets to view these gorgeous, traditional light displays
- Woodland Heights – The Lights in the Heights event will be held on December 8 from 5 to 9 pm, but the lights will be on and viewable all through Christmas (Bayland Ave. east of Studewood is a main street along with Highland and Woodland)
- Spring Shadows (on Quincannon Lane, north of I-10 and Memorial City Mall off Gessner)
- Prestonwood Forest – The 40th annual Nite of Lites will be lit December 8 to December 30 (dusk to 10 pm weekdays and til 11 pm weekends).
4. Put on your holiday best and head to the Wortham Theater downtown to see the Houston Ballet’s The Nutcracker. The holiday classic will be on stage from November 23 to December 29.
5. Check out the Children’s Museum of Houston’s holiday events — they have lots of holiday events lined up for December, like Lights, Snow and Ugly Sweaters and Grinchy Whobilation.
6. If the kids love trains, take a trip out to the Christmas Train at Victory Camp in Alvin. The train ride takes passengers through more than 300,000 lights and hundreds of Christmas decorations, colorful gingerbread villages, penguin snow lands and life-size storybook illustrations. It opens November 30 and runs on select days through December 23.
7. Step back in time with some old-fashioned Christmas fun at Dickens on The Strand in Galveston — a Victorian-themed holiday celebration. For 45 years, Galveston Historical Foundation has put on this festival which is filled with tradition: parades, nonstop entertainment on six stages, strolling carolers, roving musicians, bagpipers, jugglers and costumed street-cart vendors peddling holiday food and drink, Victorian-inspired crafts, clothing, jewelry, holiday decorations and gift items.
8. For something that feels a little more like vacation, head over to the Kemah Boardwalk for Jingle on the Boardwalk from December 1 to 23 to welcome the season with Santa, holiday music, movies, a toy drive, Christmas Boat Lane Parade (on December 8 only) and more!
9. The Christmas Village at Bayou Bend where a dazzling bridge brings you into a winter wonderland featuring thousands of lights and activities for all ages throughout the 14-acre estate; model trains, faux-snow slide, faux-snowballs, games, carolers and more.
10. The Tomball German Christmas Market & Festival is happening December 7 to 9 in Old Town Tomball. This is a free festival that has it all: live music, carolers, street vendors selling a wide array of unique items, and festival food — including authentic German fare.
