5 Indoor Kid-Approved Adventures During Winter In Park City, Utah

Winter isn't always the best time to be outside in Park City. That sentiment may seem odd to say for a place that's considered one of America's prettiest mountain towns and has become a veritable winter playground for skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and tubing. However, the average temperature here in December, January, and February sits well below freezing at between 18 and 21 degrees Fahrenheit. You also get more cloudy days here in winter than in July, June, or August, when Park City becomes a summer haven full of fishing, trails, and festivals. So, while it's great to get out there, there's also a good chance you and your kiddos will be seeking at least some amount of indoor time during your vacation here.

This isn't always easy to accomplish, especially when you're visiting with children who possess boundless energy that's easier to burn off outside on the slopes. Fortunately, Park City has almost as many fun and kid-friendly indoor activities as it does outdoor adventures. You only need to know where to look to find the kind of entertainment that's still on offer on those bitterly freezing days (or when you just can't be bothered to make it outside).

From captivating stage shows and ice skating to hands-on art classes and a haven for bookworms of every age, here are five kid-approved winter experiences in Park City. We've tracked these down using advice from official tourism board sites and local Utah family-focused bloggers. We've also verified reviews on online platforms like Google Reviews and TripAdvisor to ensure parents and kids have walked away feeling happy and entertained.

Located about 5 miles from downtown, the Park City Ice Arena is an indoor skating rink that offers a range of activities for all ages. You can join one-hour public skate sessions most days of the week or sign your kids up for ice skating lessons. There are classes for children as young as 4 years old, while classes for adults are available as well.

If your kids want to learn how to play ice hockey, they can also join the Mini Pucksters and youth development classes. These help your kids develop skills related to the sport, including puck control, stopping at speed, backward skating, and team play. Even if they're not interested in playing hockey competitively, these additional skills can make them more confident ice skaters. The arena offers an intensive 5-day figure skating camp in the summer months, and speed skating classes are also available in January and February for kids aged 7 and above and adults looking to try something new on the ice.

The arena has a 4.5-star rating on Google across more than 240 reviews, with many people commenting on the affordable price, hard ice, and high-quality rental gear. Past visitors have also called it a great place to take the family for a bit of fun ice skating. If it's your child's birthday while on vacation, you can even book a party package that includes a private room, open skate passes for up to 15 people (with rentals), and a small birthday gift from the arena.

It's time to get off the skates and take things in a slightly different direction. Park City Library is right in the middle of town, so if you're staying at one of the downtown resorts, you won't need to venture far. In addition to a great selection of kids' books, the library hosts various free events throughout winter.

The library's event calendar is jam-packed with storytime sessions for toddlers, preschoolers, and Spanish-speaking babies and parents. They also run a weekly Minecraft Club, where children of every age can learn to problem solve while playing the popular game. Music and Movement sessions, Crafternoons, origami classes, and bracelet-making workshops are just some of the other fun experiences families can enjoy here.

While you're at the library, head up to the adult fiction area to check out one of the rotating art exhibits there. You can also attend film screenings, including the School Break Film Series, when the library puts on a movie each weekday during Park City School District breaks. The library is highly reviewed online, with some calling it one of the best places in Park City to visit with babies or toddlers. Even kids who aren't into reading can still enjoy games and technology, such as VR headsets. And if you start itching for some outside time while you're there, you can always go sledding on the slope right outside the building.

Kimball Art Center is one of the top things to do in Park City on a rainy day, according to people who know the city best. Over the years, people on online platforms have highlighted its impressive range of activities for children and adults. Kids of various ages, along with their parents, can develop their art and craft skills through painting and drawing classes or clay wheel-throwing and hand-building workshops.

Be aware that some of these experiences, like the painting and drawing classes, can be a bit expensive, costing upwards of $250. Others, like clay wheel throwing, are more reasonably priced at $45 (at the time of writing), a price that includes the fee for materials. The art center also hosts winter day camps for children aged 6 to 12. These usually run for 6 hours and cover various art forms with teachers, from pottery and printmaking to drawing and painting. Each day costs $90 per child to attend.

You can also just visit the Kimball Art Center to explore the exhibitions on display, as entry to the center is free. These rotating art exhibitions feature works by numerous artists in different fields, typically focused on a central theme, such as America's incarceration system or explorations of the modern cinematic experience. The art center is surrounded by galleries and restaurants, including Red Flower Studios, where you can try glassblowing, so be sure to explore the neighborhood once you're done at Kimball.

Not every child wants to spend their vacation creating art or reading, even if they're not interested in getting outside on a particular day. Some kids just want to go somewhere they can run about. Woodward Park City may be best known for its skiing, snowboarding, and snow tubing slopes, but this adventure playground also has a great indoor facility for skateboarding, scootering, parkour, and trampolining. It's about a 30-minute drive from Park City proper or slightly less from Canyons Village, America's largest ski resort and its year-round fun and high-end hotels.

If kids want to practice their skateboarding, inline skating, scooter, or BMX tricks, they can do so at indoor courses thoughtfully designed to help beginners develop their skills or experts let loose. Those big jumps are also a lot safer and more fun when you land in a foam pit or on rubber pads. Woodward also has its own custom-built parkour area to help children move their bodies and gain confidence in a safe setting while performing jumps, climbs, and vaults over obstacles.

Smaller children may prefer joining a tumbling session, where they can learn how to bounce on trampolines, roll down tumble tracks, or perform flips. The Olympic-grade trampolines alone provide hours of entertainment for both kids and adults. They're perfect for trying aerial flips and tricks. The Micro Clubhouse, meanwhile, offers a fun foam pit for toddlers. "We are currently on our [fifth] visit to Woodward," one visitor said on Google Reviews. "Such a great vacation location if you have active teenagers."  At the time of writing, tickets for the Indoor Hub start from $60 for 2 hours of playtime.

The Egyptian Theatre has earned high praise on TripAdvisor, garnering a 4.8-star rating from more than 370 reviews. It's also considered one of the top things to do for fun and games in Park City. While most people visit the theater to see one of its productions, such as live bands, musicals, and plays, it's also a great place for kids to learn acting and other performance skills. This not only gives them a creative outlet but can also help develop their confidence and self-expression.

The Egyptian YouTheatre facilitates this with various camps and drop-in classes tailored towards children in elementary school, all the way to the 12th grade. Little ones can learn Broadway and puppetry skills or take part in drama and art workshops. Older teens can advance their acting skills through in-depth workshops, attend headshot sessions, and participate in semester-long intensives in musical theater, production design, and acting.

If you can't time your visit for one of the classes, catching a play or musical also makes for a fun family outing. The YouTheatre produces productions tailored for young children, including world premieres of original musicals, such as "Flo! The Show!" The main theater stages plays and musicals more suitable to older children and adults, such as "Cabaret", "The Prom", and "Frozen". The Egyptian Theatre is located on Main Street in the center of Park City, so you can easily grab a bite to eat at nearby restaurants or pubs before or after curtain call.