What's On This Weekend: December 1-3

Christmas is almost here! Jingle your way through dozens of festivities this warm, sunny weekend. Read on for more:

FRIDAY

• Help trim the tree and hang wreaths to holiday music, learn to make paper snowflakes, and design an ornament to hang in the Holland Museum lobby

• Witness the lighting of more than a million lights along the St Joseph bluff and listen to Christmas carols

• Listen to traditional Dutch stories, make a lantern and play family games before Sinterklaas' arrival, then head to the Holland Museum for photos, holiday craft, tasty cocoa and cookies

• Savor hot chocolate and sweet treats from vendors ahead of the tree-lighting ceremony and candlelight parade of 100 lighted floats, costumed characters and marching bands in Dowagiac

• Learn about slopes and ramps, team up to ask, imagine, plan, create and improve sleighs and help Santa's sleigh go during this Forever Curious Children's Museum Stem Club challenge

• Watch storefronts of downtown St Joe businesses come to life during this magical holiday tradition of Live Mannequins

• Check out the magnificent illumination display in Battle Creek during the Festival of Lights (through Dec 16)

SATURDAY

• Dress up as your favorite Whoville character for a spectacularly fun, whimsical parade in downtown Saugatuck

• Get a great, hands-on intro to Christmas cookie decorating and take a dozen decorated cookies to take home during this parent-child class in Zeeland

• Visit the picture perfect Santa house every weekend until Christmas in downtown St. Joseph

• Take a sleigh ride through the village, visit Santa, decorate cookies, make a craft, write a letter to Santa, have your child's face painted, eat tasty treats and listen to holiday music in Stevensville

• Enjoy breakfast, visits with Santa, an elf hunt, a holiday-themed planetarium show and more at the Grand Rapids Public Museum

• Be mesmerized by a kid-friendly holiday magic show -- and hot cocoa! -- at the Paw Paw Playhouse

• Drop by the GRAM Studio to make pop art screen prints inspired by Andy Warhol's American Icons

• Get to the Pioneer Log Cabin Museum for hot cocoa, cookies, holiday music played by the high school band and the annual tree lighting

• Sit down a variety of activities inspired by the classic Ezra Jack Keats book, A Snowy Day, at Holland's Herrick District Library

• Watch costumed pets and their owners escort Santa into downtown St Joe to kick off the holiday season

• Sit down to a free holiday performance of South Haven's local hand bell group at the Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum

• Get your Christmas shopping done in the store while the kids watch their favorite holiday movies downstairs at Tip Toe in Holland

• Check out Christmas for the Animals at John Ball Zoo, with Santa and his reindeer, ice carving, aquatic diving elves and animal enrichment demonstrations

• Play a variety of awesome, family-friendly Nerf games at the Niles District Library

• Watch costumed children, reindeer and Santa march through downtown Paw Paw during this whimsical daytime holiday parade

• Meet live reindeer, take photos with Santa, do fun holiday crafts and catch the lighted parade during the all-day Fennville Holiday Celebration

• Visit the annual Holland Modular Railroad Club holiday train show in Zeeland

• Enjoy a full day of holiday events in Saugatuck, including the Christmas parade, annual tree lighting and Santa's workshop

• Visit Santa, tuck into a yummy breakfast, make a craft with one of Santa’s helpers, and play along with an interactive holiday band at Fernwood Botanical Garden in Niles

SUNDAY

• Visit with Santa, make crafts, go for a sleigh ride and enjoy some yummy treats in the picturesque village of Baroda

• Attend Clara's Nutcracker Party and meet favorite characters, do a craft, have tea and learn a few ballet moves before attending a matinee performance of The Nutcracker in Grand Rapids

• Hop on the festively bedecked train for a leisurely ride through Eden Springs Park at House of David in Benton Harbor

• Mark the holiday season with a wonderful, kid-friendly concert by the Niles Area Community Orchestra

• Mr. and Mrs. Claus return to the Nature Education Center at the Ottawa County Parks and Recreation

• Tuck into a seasonal brunch buffet, highlighted by a visit with the man in red, at Bistro on the Boulevard

• Join Tip Toes and The Oven Mitt for a delicious cookie decorating event in Holland

• Sing well-known Christmas carols along with Carrie VanDenburgh and other musicians on stage during this festive annual tradition in Berrien Springs

Check out all the yuletide details on the Southwest Michigan Kids calendar.