Category: Fun & Resources

Believe it or not, Mother’s Day is this weekend! Are you ready or do you find yourself in need of some last minute gift ideas or ideas of fun things to do with mom on her special day? We’ve tried to help you out by putting together a list of events around Lansing with special deals for mom, as well as gift ideas around campus.

Events:

Explore the Beauty of Nature on Mother’s Day at MSU Bird Sanctuary

Treat you mother to a walk-in nature at the W.K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary – for free! The Bird Sanctuary is MSU’s largest off-campus educational complex. On your visit, you will see different species of birds, waterfowl, game birds and songbirds as you make your way around. The bird sanctuary will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day Brunch

Treat your mother to an early brunch on the Princess boat! Doors will open at 9 a.m. and the boat will leave at 9:30 a.m.

Mother’s Day Afternoon Dinner

Treat your mother to an afternoon dinner on the Princess boat! Doors will open at 1:30 p.m. and the boat will leave at 2 p.m.

Mother’s Day at the Zoo

All moms will receive FREE admission to Potter Park Zoo on Mother’s Day. The Zoo offers farmyard edVentures, Winds Down Under, Bungee Jump, and pony rides!

Gift Ideas:

1-800-FLOWERS.COM

1-800-FLOWERS is a great place to grab flowers and other items for Mother’s Day. 1-800-FLOWERS will offer a special discount for MSU staff/faculty employees. Remember to use offer code is MSU2. To shop log onto 1-800-FLOWERS.COM and apply the code at checkout or call the toll free # 1-800-FLOWERS (1-800-356-9377) and mention the code.

GiftTree

GiftTree offers a special discount to all MSU employees on gifts and gifts baskets. GiftTree offers a wide selection of gifts like gift baskets, flowers, fruit, personalized gifts and more. Visit GiftTree and enter the promo code MSU10 during checkout.

MSU Dairy Store

Take your mother to the MSU Dairy s=Store this Sunday for a special treat. Grab some ice cream or other treats and take a walk around campus.

MSU Bakery

Try ordering a special treat for mom from the MSU Bakery. They offer specialty items as well as customized cupcakes and cookies.

Spartan Bookstore

Check out the Spartan Bookstore. They carry specialized items like “MSU Mom” items, household items and more.

Alumni Hall

Alumni Hall is in Eastwood Towne Center. They offer special MSU items from jewelry, household items, and clothing. Alumni Hall is a great place to start your Mother’s Day shopping.

The 24^th Annual Race for the Place is Sunday, April 15.

The Race for the Place is the largest annual fundraiser for MSU Safe Place. MSU Safe Place is a program that addresses relationship violence and stalking. It is located here on the MSU campus and serves students, faculty, staff, their spouses/partners and non-affiliated members in the Greater Lansing area.

The Race for the Place 5K course takes place at Michigan State University starting at the Jenison Fieldhouse. Race for the Place is a fun-filled family event with events for kids of all ages, such as a FREE Kids Run 100-Yard Dash and KIDS One-Mile Fun Run, both including special prizes. They will also have MSU varsity athletes participating and a visit from Sparty!

You can register for this event here on the sign-up page. Come support a good cause and have some fun!

This is a guest post written by Lydia Weiss from the MSU WorkLife Office.

If you have kids in your life, one thing you are probably keenly aware of is that they keep you busy. It’s also sometimes difficult to find activities that they enjoy, especially activities and opportunities that keep their brains, creativity, and learning engaged. It can become even more complicated if you have several kids in your life and they all have different interests. Well, here’s the good news – there are tons of options available in the Greater Lansing area for youth, some of which are available right here at Michigan State.

First up is Girls Get Going on April 14, 2018. This is a half day free sports clinic for 3^rd – 8^th grade girls to try new sports in a safe and supportive environment. This is the 15^th year that Girls Get Going has been hosted at MSU. The event is sponsored by Recreational Sports and Fitness Services, Intercollegiate Athletics, WorkLife Office and Daring Ideas Consulting, LLC.

Also happening in April is Take Your Child to Work Day on Thursday, April 26, 2018. This is a nationally recognized event that is celebrated at MSU in a very unique way. Participants have the opportunity to tour various departments and/or career exploration activities throughout the day on campus. Some of the tours this year include bowling at the Union Building, visiting the horse farm, going behind the scenes at the Wharton Center, and much more! If you’d like to participate, please note the activities are intended for kids ages 8-14, with a supervising adult. The full list of tours will be published by April 20 on the WorkLife Office website.

Summer can also present unique challenges for caring for kids and finding activities to keep them entertained and continuing to learn. Luckily, there are dozens of summer camps for youth of all ages! Check out this extensive list of programs available in the local area here. You can also use the searchable Spartan Youth Programs web page to discover different opportunities to keep your kids engaged and learning over the summer.

And of course, if you need in-home dependent care, you have free access to Care.com as an MSU faculty/staff member. Just sign-up with your MSU Net-ID and you can browse hundreds of local care providers to find the one that is right for you and your family.

Playmakers wants you to kick off the holiday by staying active and healthy. The Playmakers 5^th Annual Holiday Classic 5k Fun Run/Walk will be held Christmas Eve morning Sunday, December 24 at Jenison Field House.

A portion of all race entries will be divided between two local charities, the Greater Lansing Food Bank and the Playmakers Fitness Foundation. Registration is $30 until December 20; registration after December 20 will be $35. This year, family and friends pricing is being offered; save $5 per person when registering four or more 5k participants at the same time.

All participants will receive a custom pair of New Balance socks and a finisher Holiday . Sponsors of this event include Whole Foods, Starbucks, Keen, New Balance, Eagle Eye and Playmakers.

To learn more and to register for the event visit https://runsignup.com/holidayclassic if you have any questions about the race please contact the race director at andy@playmakers.com

This holiday season, give back to the MSU student community by purchasing your gifts from the Student Marketplace! The MSU Entrepreneurship and Innovation Student Marketplace  was developed to showcase businesses run by MSU students who are beginning their journeys as young entrepreneurs. The idea behind the Marketplace was to create an online space where products made by students can be featured, with new products being added all the time!

The mission within Undergraduate Entrepreneurship is to create an integrative culture of entrepreneurial thinking and pursuits that are university-wide and student-centered. This mission engages a broad spectrum of faculty and staff.

Each student run business is promoted and showcased through the Student Marketplace section of the Entrepreneurship website. Currently, there are seven student run businesses available on the site. Each business operates out of its own independent website, and transactions are done directly with the business.

The Marketplace is available for any student to feature their items regardless if they are undergraduate or graduate level, and the Marketplace is open to all students, regardless of major, to list their products. If a student is interested, they can submit a business to the Marketplace here.

See what else student entrepreneurs are up to by checking out their Twitter, Instagram and blog. This is fantastic way to invest in Spartans and live out the #SpartansWill Brand while shopping for that special someone in your life this holiday season!

CATA has paired with Transit, an international mobile app, to bring trip planning and bus tracking technology to the Lansing area.

This free app will allow MSU faculty, staff and students to access CATA’s bus routes, ride-sharing options, walking directions, bike path options and Uber all at their fingertips. The app is available for download on iOS and Android.

Basketball season is already here, and soon so will be the snow! Avoid walking to the Breslin in a storm by finding available Ubers or bus routes from where you park. Are you a faculty member with a class in one building and your office in another? Plan how to get from Brody to Natural Sciences by mapping bus routes and walking paths before you leave!