January 2025 Save-the-Dates

Last updated 01.04.2025

Happy New Year!

The holidays have been a bit of a roller coaster so far, but we have managed to enjoy some fun outings as well as nice relaxation at home. I have basically been living off of hot chocolate and cinnamon spiced tea. If it's not necessarily cold here during the winter, at least we can pretend...and the snow at some of the area museums helps! Here is a quick rundown of highlights for New Year's Eve and January as the new year comes dashing toward us.

New Year's Eve

Please note that Polar Palooza Snow Days will pause on New Year's Eve (and Dec. 30th). Snow resumes on New Year's Day, Jan. 1st.

• One of the biggest bashes around is the Children's Museum New Year's Eve Noon Bash. Pack your snacks and be among the first to arrive at 9 am to enjoy the museum before the ball drops at Noon in the courtyards. The museum closes at 3 pm on New Year's Eve. Full schedule of events here.
  

• For the art-loving family, the Museum of Fine Arts will have a family art-making activity available from 11 am - 2 pm on New Year's Eve (and they have for several other days during the break as well). Details here. Also, our family visited on a whim the other day, and our 6-year old enjoyed the "Living with the Gods: Art, Beliefs, and Peoples" (the free audio guide was a key factor in her enjoyment and the collection is vast, colorful, and engaging). It is on view through Jan. 20th. She also enjoyed "Notre-Dame Cathedral: An Immersive Experience" (on view through Jan. 26th).
  

• For an adult New Year's Eve night out, check out "Mixers & Elixirs" hosted by the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

January Family Highlights

If you are visiting Houston (or a local visiting the district) this month, here is a quick highlight of events in or very close to the walkable Museum District zones. (In my mind, this means they are a close walk or 5-minute drive away.) As always, double check the links before you head over. There is always a possibility for last-minute changes or errors on my part. I will update this list throughout the month as my schedule allows.

• Wed., 1/1: Polar Palooza Snow Day (Children's Museum of Houston)

• Wed., 1/1: Zoo Lights (Houston Zoo)

• Wed., 1/1: Holiday Train +Holiday Carousel (Hermann Park Conservancy)

• Thu., 1/2, 11 am - 2 pm: Winter Break Family Activity (Museum of Fine Arts Houston)

• Thu., 1/2, 11:30 am - 12:45 pm: "Little Kid Flicks" Film Fest for kids 5 - 10 years (Museum of Fine Arts Houston), Free with museum admission but first-come, first-serve seating

• Thu., 1/2, 2:00 - 3:00 pm: "Big Kids Flicks" Film Fest for kids 8 and up (Museum of Fine Arts Houston), Free with museum admission but first-come, first-serve seating

• Thu., 1/2:  Polar Palooza Snow Day + Free Family Night (Children's Museum of Houston), Free from 5 - 8 pm

• Thu., 1/2: Free Admission to Holocaust Museum Houston All Day

• Thu., 1/2:  Zoo Lights (Houston Zoo)

• Thu., 1/2: Holiday Train +Holiday Carousel (Hermann Park Conservancy)

• Fri., 1/3: Registration Deadline for the Clothing Swap at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft!

• Fri., 1/3, 10 - 12 pm: Mommy Mingle Fridays (Children's Museum of Houston)

• Fri., 1/3, 11 am - 2 pm: Winter Break Family Activity (Museum of Fine Arts Houston)

• Fri., 1/3:  Polar Palooza Snow Day (Children's Museum of Houston)

• Fri., 1/3: Free Admission to Holocaust Museum Houston All Day

• Fri., 1/3: Zoo Lights (Houston Zoo)

• Fri., 1/3: Holiday Train +Holiday Carousel (Hermann Park Conservancy)

• Sat., 1/4, 11 am - 3 pm: Hands-On Houston "Natural Dyes" Crafting Event + Clothing Swap (Houston Center for Contemporary Craft), FREE but pre-registration required for clothing swap portion

• Sat., 1/4, 2 - 4 pm: "Memory Portrait" Open Studio (Contemporary Arts Museum Houston), Free

• Sat., 1/4:  Polar Palooza Snow Day (Children's Museum of Houston)

• Sat., 1/4: Free Admission to Holocaust Museum Houston All Day

• Sat., 1/4:  Zoo Lights (Houston Zoo)

• Sat., 1/4: Holiday Train +Holiday Carousel (Hermann Park Conservancy)

• Sun., 1/5: Free Admission to Holocaust Museum Houston All Day

• Sun., 1/5:  Zoo Lights (Houston Zoo)

• Sun., 1/5: Holiday Train +Holiday Carousel (Hermann Park Conservancy), FINAL DAY!

• Sun., 1/5 at 1 - 4 pm: Family Zone (Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Law Building outside of the "Living with the Gods: Art, Beliefs, and Peoples" exhibit on the second floor)--Basically, there will be a station setup with activities for family. This is the same exhibit I mentioned earlier in this post, and our daughter really enjoyed visiting and listening to the free audio guide. It would have been even better with a few little activities like the Family Zone provides.

• Mon., 1/6: Last Day of Mexican Mountain Village Exhibit! + Three Kings Day Celebration (Children's Museum of Houston)

• Thu., 1/9: Toddler Takeover (Children's Museum of Houston)

• Sat., 1/11: Super Saturday--"Journey to the Moon" (Asia Society Texas), Free, Registration required

• Sat., 1/11, 7 pm: The Muppet Movie (Museum of Fine Arts Houston), Ticketed event

• Sun., 1/12, 1 pm: Little Artists (Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Law Building Classroom), Ticketed event with limited capacity designed for parents and children aged 3-5, preregister online

• Sat., 1/18: MLK Day Celebration (Children's Museum of Houston)

• Sun., 1/19, 1 pm: Sunday Studio/a.k.a. Family Art-Making Studio (Museum of Fine Arts Houston), Ticketed event with limited capacity recommended for families with children ages 5-12 years

• Fri., 1/24: BODY WORLDS 101 exhibit opens (Health Museum)

• Fri., 1/24: Reclaimed Creations exhibit opens (Health Museum)

• Sat., 1/25: Lunar New Year Celebration (Children's Museum of Houston)

Looking Ahead

• Sat., 2/1: Lunar New Year Celebration (Asia Society Texas), Free for festival, some select ticketed events

• Sat., 2/1, 11 am - 3 pm: Hands-On Houston--Peg Doll Families (Houston Center for Contemporary Craft), Free

• Sun., 2/2: Survivors & Descendants Family Program (Holocaust Museum Houston), Registration required, designed for children ages 5-13 years and their families

• Mon., 2/10: Sensory Friendly Day (Children's Museum of Houston)

  
  

Adult-Break Ideas

• Fri., 1/3: Tango Night (Museum of Fine Arts Houston)

• Sun., 1/5: Paint & Process (Health Museum), Registration required

• Thu., 1/9, 6 - 8 pm: Extreme Pain, Extreme Joy Book Release & Signing (Houston Center for Contemporary Craft)

• Fri., 1/10, 6 pm: Art Encounters (Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Kinder Building between the yellow tunnel and the rainbow tunnel, affectionately nicknamed)

• Fri., 1/10, 10:30 am - 3 pm: Motherhood Art Book Workshop (Houston Center for Contemporary Craft), Registration required and the Saturday date is sold out at the time of this posting

• Sat., 1/11: "Welcome to the Space Show" Anime Cinema Series (Asia Society Texas), Ticketed event

• Sat., 1/11, 3 - 4:30 pm: "Designing Motherhood" Curatorial Team Panel & Reception (Houston Center for Contemporary Craft)

• Sat., 1/18: Yoga in the Bamboo Garden (Asia Society Texas), Registration required

• Fri., 1/24: Public Screening of The Six Triple Eight (Buffalo Soldiers National Museum), Free but registration required

• Sat., 1/25: Paint & Process (Health Museum), Registration required

• Check out the upcoming films at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and purchase your tickets in advance. If you love throwbacks, they will be playing The Muppet Movie and Love & Basketball in the coming days. Also, they will be showing Oscar-Nominated Short Films as well as many others.

General Museum Free Days

These are a few hotspots for free museum visits that are ongoing throughout the year:

• Free Family Thursdays at the Children's Museum of Houston: 5 - 8 pm

• Free Tuesday Evenings at Houston Museum of Natural Science: 5 - 8 pm--If you are a local who hasn't been in awhile, you won't even recognize the middle of the main floor. There is a huge new permanent exhibit.

• Free Thursdays at Museum of Fine Arts Houston: 11 am - 9 pm--Don't miss the tunnels with kids!

• Free Family Thursdays at the Health Museum: 2-7 pm; Reserve tickets before making the trip (but they usually are available at the door, too); Live organ dissections on most Thursdays

• Free Thursday Exhibition at Asia Society Texas: 12 - 7 pm

• Houston Center for Contemporary Craft--Always Free

• The Menil Collection--Always Free (and the lawn outside of it is always gorgeous)

***There are many others that are also great for the whole family, but these are the big ones with kids.***

Feeding the Fam

If you are tired of holiday food, we have been entertaining out-of-town family members and hanging out with friends at nearby Nonno's, Candente, and our old faithful Barnaby's (which had some really cute dog-themed holiday decor this year).

• Nonno's has comfy, casual indoor seating and a patio out back. On Monday evenings, you and the kids can enjoy free-play video games (and they cost about a dollar each on other days). Their signature thin-crust pizza and wings are available for lunch and dinner. Pasta is also available starting at 5 pm, and it is GOOD!

• Candente has a large and lovely patio. The music on the speakers is loud enough that your kids won't annoy anyone but not so loud to be annoying in and of itself. This is a must-visit for some of our out-of-town family members whenever they visit, and several of our neighbors also love it. Our fav dishes are the pork carnitas, the fajitas, the tortilla soup, the nachos, and the tacos. Our daughter loves the quesadilla. Kids also get a coloring sheet and free soft-serve ice cream (actually, they don't seem to care who gets the ice cream regardless of age).

• Barnaby's on Binz is a general crowd pleaser with patio toys and a coloring sheet for kids and a wide variety of salads, sandwiches, and other entrees on their menu. Do not miss the strawberry lemonade or the strawmosa version of it. They have added a refresh of the toys on their patio for the kids. On Wednesday evenings, kids eat free.

That's all for now, but I will update this list if other events cross my feed! Feel free to share others that you know in the district in the comments. Also, follow on Instagram for random updates related to the area.