Looking for ways to entertain the family over the holiday break? Try these activities

With schools out for winter break, you might be looking for some things to do. Here are some options of different activities and special holiday programming that you might want to consider:

Climb the walls, literally. Try your hand at rock climbing at Bliss Climbing & Fitness (climbbliss.com), which has 40-foot climbing walls and a 15-foot bouldering wall. New routes are put up regularly so even if you’ve visited before, it won’t be the same ol’ thing. Kids as young as 4 are allowed to climb, and those under 14 need adult supervision. Day passes are $19, and equipment rental, including climbing shoes, is extra. More info: 316-831-1479, climbbliss.com

Visit a museum or two or three and catch the grand reopening of the former Living Room at Wichita Art Museum. Wichita has several museums to choose from that cover a range of interests: art, local history, planes and more. At the Wichita Art Museum (wam.org) admission is always free. The grand reopening of WAM’s remodeled Living Room, renamed PLAY, is set for Friday, Dec. 22. Adults get their own artmaking time from 6-8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 22, as part of WAM’s Friday night programming.

The Kansas Aviation Museum (kansasaviationmuseum.org) has winter break events including visiting with the Grinch and watching the Grinch movie (11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 19), decorating and eating cookies with Santa (11 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 20) and checking out the new Wichita Library Book Bus (10 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 22). The entire family can visit KAM for $25 on Thursdays.

If you’ve ever wanted to climb the clock tower of the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum (wichitahistory.org), now’s your chance. As part of its free all-ages winter break programming, museum staff will take visitors on special tours of this behind-the-scenes area from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17. Other programming includes learning how Victorians celebrated Christmas and making a Victorian-inspired card (1-3 p.m. Dec. 17) and creating a fashion project influenced by the current “Being Modern” exhibition (1-3 p.m. Dec. 15.)

Get your game on. If arcades and indoor games are your thing, Wichita has plenty of places to choose from. For half-price game specials, hit up Bowlero (bowlero.com/location/bowlero-wichita) or Dave & Buster’s (daveandbusters.com/us/en/about/locations/wichita) on Wednesdays. At Chicken N Pickle (chickennpickle.com/wichita), you can also lace up your skates and swirl and twirl around its ice pond. A skate pass is $11; for an extra $4, you can rent skates.

If you prefer vintage ‘80s and ‘90s video games, go to The Arcade (thearcadewichita.com), where you can play all the games you want all day for $12, with a $2 discount for kids 10 and younger.

Book it to the library. The Wichita Public Library has lots of free programming planned for the holiday break at its various locations, and the sessions cover all age groups. For example, there’s a Cocoa and Canvas painting event for teens and a Candy Cane Carnival for ages 4-12 on Dec. 20, tween gaming events on Dec. 27, and another Candy Cane Carnival on Dec. 29. Kids ages 3-7 can have an indoor faux snow day with mounds of shredded paper to dive into on Dec. 30. For a complete listing of events and to make reservations, visit www.wichitalibrary.org/Events

Throw things. Relieve a little holiday stress or holiday break boredom by swinging an ax at either Axe to Grind (axetogrind.us/wichita) or Blade & Timber (bladeandtimber.com/locations/wichita-delano-district). Both have a minimum age restriction of 10 years, and reservations are highly recommended. Cost is $24.99 at Axe to Grind, while a session at Blade & Timber is $26.

Visit the zoo, both old and new. Before the Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita had a zoo in Central Riverside Park. You can still see animals in the park as part of the Kansas Wildlife Exhibit, which is home to more than 25 different species of native mammals, reptiles and birds and is free to visit. The daily noon feedings are a great time to check out Chuck the turkey vulture, Chapa the beaver, the small falcon Amadeus, Odin the screech owl, Rufus the bobcat and Crystal the opossum. (Pokey the opossum passed away in October.)

For a wallet-friendly option for visiting the Sedgwick County Zoo, take advantage of Winter Wednesdays, when admission is just $3 per person. It’s open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. It’s also one of the few Wichita attractions open on Christmas and New Year’s days.