Provides great opportunities for young people of all ages and all skill levels to participate in…read moretheater. Summer camps, dance classes, and full-scale musical theatre productions offer kids a range of opportunities. MainStage productions (which do require an audition) are well produced with top-notch sets and costumes, a live orchestra, and talented casts. Great family-friendly entertainment. A true jewel in the community.

The Creature Conservancy is pretty awesome! I pass by it all the time but finally had a chance to…read morevisit during open hours on a Sunday. It was pretty delightful & the staff were super friendly and interacting with the animals. The CC was started 20 years ago with Al the Alligator! He was dropped off at the Vet clinic and they started CC all around him. Pretty awesome. It's not a massive space so it was perfect to get there at 3:30pm - in time for the 4pm show which is followed by an Al the Alligator feeding! We checked out all the habitats on the outside as well. Super cool experience - I'd love to come back for one of their turtle yoga, 18+ paint nights, etc. They always have pretty cool themed programming. Also follow their social media - they post the best content!

10 stars!! My husband found this place and it's amazing!! Sooo many animals and better than the Zoo…read morebecause you don't have to walk a ton and the workers are very friendly and personable. There are a lot of things you can look at without paying such as the Tegu (big looking lizard), an Owl, tortoises, parrots, black swans, muskrat, llama, horses, and one other animal. But if you pay for admission, you can enter their buildings that have lots more animals like sloths on the ceiling, a reindeer, an emu, mongoose, warthog, clouded leopards, a cougar, and a 300 pound alligator! There are many animals inside for sure! General admission is $15 and it's considered a day pass which means you can leave and come back (the lady clarified for us). Kids above 2 are $13 and those 2 and under are free! Loved this place and def coming back!

Liberty Athletic club is more expensive than most if not all other gyms in Ann Arbor, but I find it…read moreworthwhile, especially for families. The decor looks a bit dated compared to say the newly constructed L.A fitness - but the facilities are quite comprehensive - I use the strength training facilities, my partner makes use of the included fitness classes, and my kids love the indoor play area and pool, and great outdoor pool / recreation area during the summer. Great place to host birthday parties too. Hard to find this combo anywhere else. I also find that Liberty being independently owned leads to better service than I experienced at L.A Fitness and Planet fitness - the people who work at Liberty have often times been around for years and seem to care more. If you are a solo adult, the extra cost might be harder to justify. But for our family, this is hands down the best fitness club in Ann Arbor.

My husband and I have been members of Liberty Athletic Club for the last year and I have nothing…read morebut great experiences so far. In the last year they've been renovating quite a bit to update the spaces, equipment, etc, which has helped the overall vibe. They started by painting and reflooring the main workout room and are currently renovating and updating the indoor lap pool and hot tubs/saunas. The locker rooms are clean and the lockers are easy to use. The workout equipment is in great condition and even during their busiest times it's easy to get a treadmill or a bike. Plenty of TVs and things to keep you occupied with as well as you're huffing and puffing along. They have a few rooms for specialized classes--group fitness, spin and yoga. Now, I've only done the yoga classes so I can't comment on the others but the yoga classes I've attended were good (restorative yoga). I've always felt a million times better coming out than when I went in. There's a lot to do for families too. With a big kid's complex with a play area, rock climbing wall and indoor water park for fun during the winter months (also open in the summer). The outdoor complex is awesome and open Memorial to Labor Days. To be honest, this was the selling point for me. They have a few lap lanes for adult swimming (yes there are only two but I never had a problem getting a lap of my own this summer and I went several times a week) a bigger "play" area in that pool for the older kids/teens, and a splash/smaller pool for kids with a nice water slide. The outdoor cafe area has beverages, smoothies, frozen yogurt, and a few hot items for lunching. There's a small playground and even a few holes of mini golf in the complex as well. Plus outdoor tennis courts, of course. The club is big on tennis and they have a ton of courts inside as well. Plus classes, teams, and more. I feel like there's always a tennis club gathering when I'm there. There's a small indoor cafe as well with snacks, water, smoothies and such. They close around 7:30pm every day so it's more for lunch or a post-work pick me up before your workout. They have a small spa area upstairs with pedicures and massages. When you join you get a coupon for either or so I booked one and splurged on another. Great solitary environment. I had a beautiful pedicure and one of the best massages I've ever had. It's just a little pricey to do often, but if I could I would. It's definitely not a cheap membership, but I get a generous stipend from work for a fitness membership which covers most of the cost. If not for this I'm not sure I could swing it. But since I can, I try and make the most of my membership.

Music is life! It has been a part of my life even before I was born. I love dancing, listening and…read moreanything that has music. I believe music stirs the soul, and its gift can never be taken away. All of my family has a passion for music and my niece and nephew have taken music lessons here. Highly recommend.

Had first guitar lesson and evaluation w the owner, Alex, and was assigned to an instructor based…read moreon schedule and availability. This is going to be great journey and am really looking forward to getting started. Oh Wait...ok, that was Thursday. Friday, I auditioned and joined a band (vocals), so by Sunday, I called the Center and switched to a vocal coach. Had my first session wtih Chris McCall last week and LOVE IT! Convenient parking directly across the street. The center is one block from Main Street, in downtown Ann Arbor. Classes are 30 mins, they bill you for the month upfront and I can see why. It secures your spot with your instructor and keeps people from totally flaking out on their lesson, leaving the instructor high and dry. Schedules are flexible and the people are friendly.

I booked a class for a friend on a Saturday afternoon. We…read morearrived early, checked in and sat at the tables waiting for the class to start. The building is huge and they had tons of classes and items to paint separately. There were quite a few people signed up for the class and they had a few teachers helping out. We were given an overview and an example of what we needed to do and we were off. The class included one of our creations to be glazed and colored. It was such a fun class and the 2.5 hours went very quick! Awesome thing to do and super fun!

I have always been interested in learning how to make pottery, so for my birthday we took the try…read morewheel throwing class as a family. Jeremy was so helpful and did so amazing at explaining things to us. We were able to get one on one help when we needed it. Everyone was so nice, welcoming, and helpful here. With the crazy snow storm hitting they were able to get us in earlier to make sure everyone had a safe trip home. A company that cares right there! This definitely made my birthday, we had so much fun. I plan to come back to take some beginner classes. I cannot recommend this place enough and plan on telling everyone about it! Thank you for helping make my 32nd birthday AMAZING!! So excited for when we can pick up our finished pieces!

I absolutely love this place! I've been to their fund raiser and to a print class... and I just…read morecan't say enough great things about it. First, the people that work here genuinely love what they do... and it shows. They organize things PERFECTLY. It starts on time, is well-run, and the people that join in on these events are also just amazing. What a fun experience from start to finish. The parking nearby is a little rough on the weekends, obviously... but otherwise, this place is the best! Do a class, do an event... you won't be disappointed!

Family Fridays : painting soup mugs! So fun except for the little loudmouth jerk that won't STFU!…read more My little and had so much fun painting our mugs. It was a great experience to do this together. Two hour time was perfect. Good instruction and great supplies. I love the colors and getting creative though this is not my wheelhouse, it was still a lot of fun. Classes are very affordable. The instruction was great and gave me some ideas to play with layering. I had a little problem with using a gift card but they were great in the office to get us signed up and squared away. We'll definitely be back!

I honestly can't recommend it not recommend Oz's. I reached out to them regarding guitar lessons…read moreand tried contacting a few instructors that teach through them, too. I got one reply back & unfortunately he wasn't available for my desired time slot. No reply back from anyone else.

Took my sons here to get a Kazoo. we had a great time and the staff was super freindly and helpful.read more

I have been going to the Clay Work studio for three years now and I love it! The classes are…read moreamazing - jam-packed with info - but they also offer 'independent potter' status, which gives you access to the entire studio. And the other potters are amazing, eager to help, and full of useful information.

Clay Work Studio is a wonderful spot to learn and grow. There is a place for everyone from very…read morebeginners to experienced potters. The classes are great ~allowing for lots of open studio time! It is nice to have opportunities to practice what you learn in class on your own. The potters are very welcoming and everyone is respected regardless of where they are at with their craft.

We did the day camp since we live in Ann Arbor and expected more for the cost. Parts of the robot…read morekit were broken at the start, and our son finished the build early in the week. From Wednesday to Friday there was a lot of video game time and not much structured activity. He enjoys this kind of camp but felt it "wasn't worth the money," and we agreed.

We sent our son to ID Tech Camp at University of Michigan last year and he had a blast! He learned…read morea lot about designing your own RPG. He came home with the game he designed and had some trouble getting it to work on his computer. But my son is a bit of a geek and loves to try and figure out these technical problems. He was able to and now has the game installed on his computer. The camp is definitely not cheap. We decided to send him strictly to day camp because it save us $500. Note to ID Staff: that is pricey for 4 night stay! We are lucky because we have relatives near the university and they were able to take care of our son for the week he was at camp. The teachers are young college students/graduates and were very knowledgeable and engaging with the students. No stuffy professors here. They were also very careful with our children's safety and the parents had to follow the rules when picking up and dropping off the kids for camp. I appreciated that. Our son said the food was just ok. But really, we didn't expect a 5 course meal to be served to him. These are kids. Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, turkey sandwich is really all that the kids want. We are planning another adventure at ID Tech camp this year. Programming in Java. He is really looking forward to attending again this year. Yes, this camp is a bit expensive but we put a little money aside each pay check so we can send our kids to camp each summer. Our boys know that we save all year to send them to camp. This is a good lesson for them to learn as well. When you budget for camp it makes it an easier decision to send them. Especially when they ask and want to go to camp.

Daycroft is a school unlike any other…read more The Montessori philosophy is the foundation of what makes Daycroft so amazing. The kids that attend Daycroft are genuinely some of the nicest kids I've ever met. There is a huge emphasis placed on the "culture of kindness" and it shows every day. Children are treated with respect, and therefore respect one another. When behavior issues arise, children are counseled through it by their teachers, not simply punished. There is an emphasis on understanding and empathy rather than control. A HUGE reason this is possible is the faculty to student ratio. Every grade-level classroom has two full-time, certified teachers. The class sizes are nearly always 20 kids or less, so that's a 10-to-1 ratio max most of the time. When they go to specials (music, art, gym, Spanish, library, and technology), each class is split in half (half go to music and half to art, for example, then they switch) to preserve that ratio- unless the class makes more sense to have more kids (such as gym or orchestra). Daycroft is a school where everyone knows everyone by name- students know and are friends with other students at other grade levels, teachers know students' names in grades other than just the ones they teach, and specials teachers get to teach the same kids for up to nine years. The bond that is created with such a close-knit community is special. Daycroft is a family.

Our family has been at Daycroft Montessori for four years and are starting our fifth year. We…read morehighly recommend the school. We annually renew our decision to enroll at Daycroft due to the following: 1. The Montessori philosophy: mixed-age classrooms, children work uninterrupted on learning activities that they freely choose from a teacher-created set of options, children primarily learn by working hands-on with a myriad of subject-appropriate materials rather than verbal instructions from an instructor, and work plans designed for each individual child to the point that, depending upon the needs of the child, work plans can range from daily to weekly in duration. 2. Two teachers in each Daycroft classroom. This translates into a ratio of approximately one teacher for every 10 students. 3. The extraordinary religious, racial, and ethnic diversity of the children enrolled at Daycroft. For those of you reading this review who are new to the Montessori philosophy, let me explain that Montessori means disciplined choice. There is zero chaos in a Daycroft Montessori classroom. There may be a quiet hum, or happy chatter, but no chaos. From their workplan, children choose which item to address when. They are taught how to effectively focus and not interrupt other children's work. Because workplans are individualized to best fit their learning style, the children become deeply engaged. Before they move on to a new activity, the children must clean up their current activity. So, classrooms are tidy, calm, and, at the end of the day, everything is back in its place. We particularly love the diversity of the Daycroft families. Because it's so diverse, children learn experientially about the many skin tones, religions, & ethnicities. The teachers invite families in to share their rituals, foods, and experiences. Parents have the opportunity to become as involved as desired. I've volunteered in the classroom and my husband has volunteered in after-school. (There are quite a number of after-school activities for the children.) Daycroft has two locations. The Zeeb campus is K-6. Our family's experience has been at the Zeeb campus, which is where I will focus my review. The building is in excellent condition; bright, clean, and well-designed. It includes the K-6 classrooms, a robust library, media center, well-appointed art room, music room with risers and instruments, multi-purpose room (used for lunch, spanish, and after-care), kitchen, gym/auditorium, science room, sickroom, and administrative offices. All classrooms have smartboards and other types of technology (computers, etc). All children at Daycroft have Spanish twice a week and upper grades learn additional languages, and the etymology of language. Musical instruments are introduced at an early age, and increasingly sophisticated instruments are added as the children progress through the grades. There is an orchestra, choir, and band, and the children perform a concert semi-annually. Annually, in the spring, there is an all-school musical that is amazing. Every child is involved - creating the sets, singing in the chorus, and/or being on-stage. At Daycroft, children have choices appropriate to their age and abilities. All subjects are taught extensively and deeply throughout the children's time at Daycroft. For example, geometry and algebra are introduced in pre-school; each year, a child's learning of such subjects advances in sophistication. Because the children have individual workplans and uninterrupted worktime, they progress at their pace (with the teacher's encouragement and guidance, of course). What the children learn at Daycroft is far advanced from what my husband and I were taught at the same ages in our own school experiences. The administrative and teaching staff are always available to the parents. Two years ago, our daughter hit a personal "bump in the road". We spent time with her teachers and the head of school to work through this and found the experience to be very gratifying. All of us worked collaboratively to help our daughter traverse the situation successfully. From a distance, I've noted this scenario repeated successfully with other children at Daycroft. All children, at some point, will need some extra attention and the Daycroft staff has the time and commitment to provide it. From a physical perspective, children have gym three or four times per week. Plus, of course, recess. At the Zeeb campus, there are two playgrounds with age-appropriate equipment - one for lower elementary and a second for upper elementary. Zeeb has a garden, pond, and wetlands for the children to use in their curriculum. Some classrooms also include yoga daily for the children which has been a wonderful thing. Check out Daycroft Montessori - you'll be glad you did.