Pre-nursing freshman Dairy Moton brought her 11-year-old brother Khalil for the weekend of fun. Moton said she received a text from her parents that he had been signed up for registration, and would be coming to visit. 

“We liked bowling and he liked the Bug House," Moton said. "He got to hold a tarantula and he liked that. We got to do a whole bunch of stuff.” 

The ground floor of the Union included bowling, balloon animals and pictures with the bronze Sparty. Kids could jump on inflatables and play board games on the second floor, and on the third floor there were crafts and tattoos. 

On Saturday, families had the chance to explore MSU's campus. Admission to the MSU Museum, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum and the Abrams Planetarium were free. Participants also were able to play basketball and swim in IM-Sports Circle, visit the MSU Bug House and attend Wells Halls movie night. 

“It was a little bit hard because we had to figure out age gaps,” UAB Volunteer Claudia Andre said. “We had to think about the correct prizes ... the games to play and wanted to make sure everybody like the crafts we had." 

Another challenge UAB faced was the fear of not having enough participants. Registration opened up Nov. 25 and closed Jan. 21, leaving potential participants over a month to complete it. 

“At first, when we were looking at registration, we got scared because not a lot of people were registering,” Andre said. “At the end, a lot of people ended up registering ... I say we had a good turn out.” 

Moton said she and her little brother want to see a couple improvements for next year's event.  

“Our only challenge was the snow and walking,” Moton said. “They should have a shuttle bus maybe next year and they should make food for children free.”