Indoor things to do in Farmington Hills, MI in winter

The Zekelman Holocaust Center

Michigan's Holocaust museum, in a dramatic angular building on Orchard Lake Road. The permanent exhibit moves through survivor testimony, documents, paintings and films, and holds an authentic WWII-era boxcar and a sapling grown from the tree outside Anne Frank's hiding place window; a library archive of more than 20,000 volumes is open to the public as well. Doors are open Sunday through Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday until 3 p.m., closed Saturday, with last admission an hour before closing. It is a serious couple of hours, better suited to older children and adults than to restless toddlers, and parking is free.

The Hawk - Farmington Hills Community Center

The city's 245,000 square foot community center, built into the old Harrison High School, and the closest thing Farmington Hills has to a one-stop winter afternoon. The aquatics center has lap lanes, a leisure pool and a waterslide, and the building also holds a gymnasium, a fitness center, a makerspace, art and dance studios and a theatre. Anyone can walk in to look at the public art or eat at the concessions stand, but a Hawk Pass is needed for the pool, open gym or fitness floor, and guest services sells one by the day at the front desk. Building hours run 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday; non-residents are welcome and simply pay a little more.

Farmington Hills Ice Arena

A city-run arena off Eight Mile with two ice sheets, seating for 1,200, concessions, locker rooms and party rooms, home to youth and adult hockey, figure skating and a learn-to-skate program that starts at age 3. For a drop-in visitor the thing to know is that public skating here is a mid-day session, Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at $3 a person with skate rental another $3 a pair. That makes it the cheapest ticketed outing in this table and a good school-holiday or day-off plan, but it is no use to anyone who can only go after work.

Farmington Hills Nature Center

The interpretive building tucked inside Heritage Park, next to the day camp, and free to walk into. Public hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, but from December through March it closes on Mondays, which is exactly the season most people would come, so check the day before you drive over. Interpretive staff run nature programs year round that change with the season, and the fire pit and gathering area behind the building can be reserved for $30 for two hours if you want an outdoor half to the visit. It is a short stop rather than a whole afternoon.

Farmington Community Library, Farmington Hills branch

The larger of the district library's two buildings, on Twelve Mile, and the default free indoor afternoon for a lot of families here. There is a substantial children's area, a busy events calendar that anyone can turn up to without a card, and collections that run well past books: video games, movies, play kits and devices. It is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m., which makes it the latest-opening free option in town on a dark January evening. A card is only needed if you want to take something home.

Country Lanes

A 32-lane bowling centre on Nine Mile with a recently renovated bar and grill, Alley 33, a snack counter and a pro shop behind lanes 5 and 6. Drop-in bowling is $6 a game per person Tuesday through Sunday with shoes another $4, or $30 a person for a two-hour all-you-can-bowl session with shoes included; renting a whole lane by the hour runs $35 Tuesday to Thursday and $40 Friday to Sunday for up to six bowlers. Lanes are first come, first served for open play and the centre asks you to call ahead about availability, which is worth doing on league nights. Its posted hours change, so ring before a long drive.

Zap Zone Farmington

The big indoor amusement centre on Grand River, and the most effective way in this table to burn off a whole cold afternoon. A $31.99 day pass buys unlimited laser tag, bumper cars, the Adventure Park obstacle courses, the Ninja Zone Jr. course and Glo-Golf, an indoor blacklight mini golf course themed from a city street to an underwater reef; go-karts and arcade credits are priced on top, at $40.99 and $41.99 for the bundled passes. The recommended minimum age is 5 because the laser tag equipment is one size fits all, and bumper cars need riders 44 inches tall, so it suits grade-schoolers and teenagers better than toddlers. Hours are not published online, so call before setting out.

Escape Room Zone Farmington

An escape-room venue a couple of doors along Grand River from Zap Zone, running several themed 60-minute rooms at $30 a player for the basic package or $36 for a plus package. The same building also does Paint Blast and Paint War sessions, half-hour splatter-painting slots at $27.99 and $39.99 a head, which make a reasonable plan B for a group that has already done the rooms. Booking a time online is the norm rather than walking in, and the puzzles suit older children, teenagers and adults rather than little ones. Party packages for up to eight players are $350 and include two rooms and a private area.

The Riviera Cinema

A long-standing Grand River movie house, now run by Emagine, with power-reclining leather seats, reserved seating, big screens, Dolby Atmos sound and a bar for guests 21 and over. Emagine does not publish a standard ticket price for the location, but it does advertise $5 Dollar Ticket Tuesdays, which on the right day makes this one of the cheapest indoor outings in Farmington Hills. It is a first-run chain cinema rather than an art house, so expect the current releases, and tickets can be bought at the box office, online or in the app.

Farmington Civic Theater

The Art Moderne single-screen movie house that has anchored downtown Farmington since 1940, designed by C. Howard Crane, the architect of the Fox Theatre in Detroit. It went back to showing first-run films in 2021 and now mixes new releases with Michigan short-film nights and repertory evenings, at $5.75 or $8.50 a ticket depending on the show, and free for members. The neon blade sign and the ring of canopy lights are worth the walk on a cold night, and there are restaurants either side of it on Grand River, which makes dinner and a film an easy plan. Note that a city page still lists an older $5 cash-only price, so the theatre's own site is the one to trust.

Farmington Players Barn Theater

A community theatre company now in its 73rd season, performing in a white converted barn set back behind a restored gold farmhouse on Twelve Mile, with its own paved and lighted car park front and back. Tickets are $26 for adults and $24 for seniors and students, with evening performances Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and matinees on Sundays and some Saturdays at 2 p.m. This is a season of scheduled productions rather than a drop-in attraction, so look at what is running before you build an evening around it; a full season ticket is $90.

Kids Empire Farmington Hills

An indoor playground near Grand River and Nine Mile, built around a multi-level padded maze with winding slides, jungle-gym passages, ball pits and a dance floor, plus a separate toddler zone of mini slides and soft blocks. Admission is $19.90 a child and two adults come in free with each paying child, with a third adult at $5; a ten-visit pack is $159. The ticket is good from opening to closing and you can leave and come back the same day by checking in with staff, which suits a nap in the middle. Open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday, for ages 1 to 12, with free parking and cafe snacks for the grown-ups.

Sandverse

Billed as Michigan's largest indoor sandbox, this Twelve Mile play space is a big raised bed of clean white play sand stocked with construction toys, ride-on diggers, moulds and scoops, with a parent lounge alongside. Open play is $16 for a first child for an hour or $20 for two hours, each including two adults, with cheaper rates for a second and third child, and walk-ins are welcome with no reservation needed. It is built for children roughly up to age 10 and is at its best with the preschool end of the family. The site lists 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, though its open-play page shows a later Tuesday start and an earlier Sunday close, so check before a long drive.