May Events Round-Up

May Events Round-Up 

It is warming up this spring in East Lansing, and that means it is time for May events! This month holds many virtual and in-person opportunities in the Greater Lansing area for you to check out to celebrate the start of the new season.

Campus Events

Various dates in May: Abrams Planetarium: Black Holes: Discover the fascinating world of black holes and galaxy evolution in this engaging planetarium experience, where cutting-edge science meets stunning visuals. Learn how researchers combine observations, simulations, and innovative tools to explore black hole formation, presented in a way that’s both impressive and easy to understand. 

Various Dates in May: Home Baseball and Softball Games: Come cheer on the Michigan State Spartans Baseball and Softball teams at a home game this May! 

May 16 and 17: Annual Spring Arts & Crafts Show: Join UAB at the Annual Spring Arts and Crafts Show at the MSU Union Grounds (49 Abbot Rd). Enjoy one-of-a-kind, handmade products from hundreds of local artists and small businesses. 

May 27 Beal Footprints: Beal as a Living Landscape: Join a guided tour of W. J. Beal Botanical Garden and explore its evolving landscape from pre-settlement days to its future vision. Led by Alan Prather, this talk highlights 150 years of changing relationships with the land and the garden’s enduring mission to serve the community. 

Learning Opportunities 

May 7: TIAA More Psychology: Beyond the Numbers: Money decisions are often driven less by logic and more by emotions, habits, and personal experiences. This webinar explores how mindset shapes financial behavior and offers practical insights to help you build confidence, understand spending patterns, and align your choices with long-term goals.

May 7Taming the Email Beast: Take control of your inbox in this virtual workshop designed to help professionals manage overwhelming email with a proven system for organization, prioritization, and reducing clutter. Learn strategies that work across platforms like Outlook and Gmail to boost productivity, improve communication, and feel more in control of your daily workflow.

May 12The Power of Habit: Learn how habits are created and how to replace undesirable habits with productive ones. You will learn how to spot your habit loop, turn bad days into good data, and create habits that get the results you want.

May 13: Women Talk Money: 6 steps to help maximize your retirement savings: Saving for retirement can be especially important for women due to unique financial challenges and longer life expectancies. This session provides a clear six-step approach to help you understand your options, build confidence, and maximize your retirement savings.

May 19Trauma Informed Leadership: Join the Trauma Services Training Network to learn the definitions of trauma, the signs and symptoms of trauma, and the ways that trauma may manifest in the workplace. Review the principles of trauma informed practices, with an emphasis on approaches for leadership, including practical, trauma-informed strategies for supervisors managing difficult situations.

May 19: TIAA Finance for New Grads: Starting your career is exciting, but building a strong financial foundation early is key to long-term success. This session covers essential skills like understanding job benefits, managing spending, choosing between pre-tax and Roth contributions, and building an emergency fund. 

May 19 and 20 Spartan Excellence Learning Series: This two-day program equips employees with practical skills to improve processes, solve problems, and build a culture of continuous improvement aligned with the university’s mission and strategic goals. Through hands-on modules, learn Lean principles, structured problem-solving, and strategies to implement sustainable, collaborative changes that enhance efficiency and the overall Spartan experience.

(4 Day Program) May 20, May 27 June 3, and June 10Breaking Free From Stress: This course explores how thoughts and perceptions shape our experiences of stress, anxiety, and life challenges, both at work and at home. Participants learn practical principles for becoming less reactive, breaking unhelpful thought patterns, and building greater resilience, self-awareness, and steadiness through change.

May 21 Everything DiSC Behavior Styles at Work: This course introduces Everything DiSC as a simple tool for understanding different behavioral styles and improving communication and working relationships. Participants complete required pre-work before attending the virtual session.

May 27: How a 529 can fit into your education savings strategy: This webinar explains how 529 plans work, who they’re for, and how they can support your education savings goals at any stage. It also covers investment options, contribution strategies, updated qualified expenses, and how a 529 fits into your broader plan for saving and investing for your children’s future.

Family-Friendly Events

Recurring weekly on Sunday, Friday, SaturdayToddler Time at Launch Lansing: Visit Launch Lansing Trampoline Park during select times to enjoy children’s music, visits from Joey the kangaroo, and a special toddler section with your little ones.

May 2: Family Day: Imagine:  First Saturday means Family Day at the MSU Broad Art Museum! Make creative connections with exhibitions through free hands-on and interactive family fun throughout the museum. 

May 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31Abrams Planetarium Family Show: What are Stars? Discover what we’re made of and where it all began in this immersive show at the Abrams Planetarium. Journey through our cosmic origins, from the formation of hydrogen to the creation of carbon and life’s essential molecules, narrated by Andy Serkis.

May 24World Turtle Day at the Potter Park Zoo: Celebrate World Turtle Day at Potter Park Zoo with a fun, family-friendly event featuring educational stations, interactive activities, and hands-on learning about turtles. Included with standard admission, this special day highlights the importance of protecting turtles and their role in our ecosystems.

Greater Lansing Area Events

Various Dates in May – Lansing Lugnuts Home Game: Head to Jackson Field and “Go Nuts” cheering on the Lansing Lugnuts, where every game brings a fun and lively atmosphere. There’s always something exciting happening at the ballpark for fans of all ages.

May 16 and 17 East Lansing Art Festival: The East Lansing Art Festival celebrates over 60 years of bringing high-quality art to the streets of East Lansing. Its mission is to foster community while promoting appreciation for art, culture, and creativity throughout the greater Lansing region.

Recurring SaturdaysHolt Farmers Market: Visit the Delhi Township Fire Department for one of Michigan’s premiere indoor farmers markets. The Holt Farmers market serves as a space to support local farmers and food growers, local artisans, and provide locals the opportunity to purchase wholesome, locally produced foods. 

Saturdays in May Meridian Farmers’ Market: The summer schedule is here for the Meridian Farmers Market! Stop by every Saturday in May for farm-fresh ingredients, specialty foods ,handmade crafts and more.

Recurring WednesdaysThe Allen Farmer’s Market: Visit the Allen Farmers Market in Lansing for seasonal produce, artisan baked goods, gluten-free baked goods, pasture raised eggs, dry beans, fresh, delectable cheeses, hot and ready-to-eat foods, local meat and fish and fun activities. 

May Events Round-up

Are you looking for activities for you and your family in the upcoming month? There are events (in-person and virtual) on campus and in the Greater Lansing community. Many events require registration, so be sure to click the links to learn more.

Campus Events

May 14Piano Monster: Enjoy a musical performance from four grand piano players at the Fairchild Theatre.

May 18 Eat at State – Dining at Brody Hall: The International Employee Resource Group is hosting this opportunity for Spartans to connect on issues related to the international community.  

May 21Museum Tour: The Nightly News (free): Experience and contribute to this interactive installation at the Broad Art Museum.

May 21Red Cedar Organ Recital: Hear from New York-based organist, Renee Anne Louprette, on MSU’s custom made organ. 

Learning Opportunities

Starts May 10 Crucial Conversations For Accountability: Learn nine powerful skills for resolving performance problems.

May 17 Understanding And Navigating Shame In The Workplace: Learn how to be less susceptible to efforts by others to use shame triggering to diminish the leader’s effectiveness, sustainability and efforts to develop inclusive, diverse and healthy work team cultures.

May 17 Records Management And Retention At MSU (free): Learn the rules, regulations and strategies to help manage university records. 

May 18 Strategic Planning: Learn how to move from ideas to action in this workshop.

May 25 Managing Challenging Geriatric Behaviors: The Adult Caregivers Employee Resource Group is hosting this session to teach others how to identify and manage challenging new behaviors.

Starts May 30 Building Awareness And Understanding Using The Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory (free): Join a group of your peers in attending this workshop to increase cultural self-understanding of communication and conflict resolution approach.

Health and Wellness

Starts May 1 Food and Nutrition Counseling (free): Schedule an appointment with a registered dietitian for advice on how to improve your lifestyle and eating habits. 

Starts May 2Chair Yoga (free): Learn stretching and strengthening concepts that can be applied at home or in the workplace.

May 15 Rest with Music (free): Regenerate your mind, body and spirit at the Abrams Planetarium. 

May 17 Zumba Session with Rachel Perez: Enjoy a lunch hour of Zumba from the Women’s Networking Association.

Family-Friendly Activities

Starts May 5Wayfinders: Waves, Winds and Stars: Explore Hawai’i and the Pacific at the Abrams Planetarium. 

May 6 Family Day: OPEN (free): Make creative connections through free hands-on and interactive family fun throughout the Broad Art Museum.

May 6 Parent/Caregiver and Tot Music and Movement Class: The Family Employee Resource Group is offering the chance to explore the transformative nature of music and movement! This class is open to children 18-36 months old and siblings are welcome. 

Starts May 7 One World, One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure: Take an adventure with some familiar faces from Sesame Street at the Abrams Planetarium. 

May 8 Monday Night Open House (free): View insects from all over the world at the MSU Bug House.