Christmas Events for Kids in Rochester Hills (2026)

Christmas Events for Kids
Written by Kelsey Cecil

Updated 4 min read

Rally the corgi has sniffed out the best Christmas events for kids in Rochester Hills for 2026, and here is what he found: 2 family events. They are Cocoa & Crafts: Holiday Ornament Workshop (November 29) and Holiday Ornament Workshop with Santa: Session 1 (December 6). We check every date on the host’s own website, and each listing links straight there. For the rest of the state, see our Michigan Christmas events for kids guide.

What Rally found in Rochester Hills

  • 2 Christmas events for kids in Rochester Hills
  • Meet Santa: Holiday Ornament Workshop with Santa: Session 1 (December 6)
  • Season: November 29 (Cocoa & Crafts: Holiday Ornament Workshop) to December 6 (Holiday Ornament Workshop with Santa: Session 1)
  • Every date checked on the host’s own site on Nov 10

Ticketed and paid Christmas events for kids in Rochester Hills

Admission, tickets or a fee apply. Where a host has not posted a price yet, the listing says so.

Holiday crafts

Cocoa & Crafts: Holiday Ornament Workshop

Expand to see the parent tip

At this family workshop every registered guest makes a set of six wood slice ornaments to take home. Cookies and hot cocoa are part of the afternoon, and the studio's holiday decor, jewelry and gift items are out to browse.

The workshop is on Sunday, November 29, 2026, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm at AR Workshop Rochester, 882 S. Rochester Road. It starts at $29 per person for the set of six, and extra ornaments may be sold a la carte during the session. Each person taking part needs a registration, and the studio has policies on class minimums, cancellations and rescheduling.

Parent tip: Ornament sets cannot be shared, so sign up every child who wants to make their own instead of planning for siblings to split one. Seats are limited, with 16 showing as open on the registration page, so book ahead.

Host
AR Workshop Rochester (opens in a new tab)
Address
AR Workshop Rochester, 882 S Rochester Rd, Rochester Hills, MI 48307 (opens in maps)
Confirmed
On the host’s page, checked
See dates and detailsfrom AR Workshop Rochester (opens in a new tab)

New Rochester Hills events every week

Rally researches Christmas events in Rochester Hills daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Rochester Hills.

Free. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy (opens in a new tab)

Rally’s Christmas research

Rally the corgi has 1 more Rochester Hills event researched for you.

  • New events every week We research new events daily and send you one email a week with the new ones we find in Rochester Hills.
  • Exclusive access to free events Find the free Christmas events in Rochester Hills before they fill up.
  • Unlock the filters Find Santa visits, free events and weekend plans in one tap.
  • Rally’s Christmas Eve Express and a free advent calendar Get early access to Rally the corgi’s Christmas Eve tracker, plus a free digital advent calendar to count down to Christmas.
  • One-tap add to calendar Save any event to your Google, Apple or Outlook calendar so you never miss it.

Coming up on this page

  • 2 Crafts
  • 2 Breakfast and treats
  • 1 Santa

Enter your email to get new Christmas events in Rochester Hills every week.

Free. One email a week with new events in Rochester Hills. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy

Holiday crafts

Holiday Ornament Workshop with Santa: Session 1

Expand to see the parent tip

Santa is the special guest at this family ornament workshop, and you can take pictures with him during the session. Each registered guest makes three wood ornaments, choosing the designs in person, with cookies and hot cocoa on hand.

Session 1 is on Sunday, December 6, 2026, from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm at AR Workshop Rochester, 882 S. Rochester Road. Tickets are $25 and every guest has to be registered because of seating and capacity limits. Sales are final, with no refunds or reschedules for this event.

Parent tip: Tickets cannot be refunded or moved, so check the family calendar before you book. The session lasts one hour and covers both the craft and the Santa pictures, so arrive on time, and give each child their own seat since ornaments cannot be shared.

Host
AR Workshop Rochester (opens in a new tab)
Address
AR Workshop Rochester, 882 S Rochester Rd, Rochester Hills, MI 48307 (opens in maps)
Confirmed
On the host’s page, checked
See dates and detailsfrom AR Workshop Rochester (opens in a new tab)

New Rochester Hills events every week

Rally researches Christmas events in Rochester Hills daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Rochester Hills.

Free. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy (opens in a new tab)

We check every event above on the host’s own page for the date, time and cost, plus the things parents ask about, like sign-ups and ages. Looking for a Santa train instead? Those are on our Michigan Christmas train rides page.

See every event on a December calendar

Plan your December

When each Rochester Hills Christmas event for kids happens

The first is Cocoa & Crafts: Holiday Ornament Workshop in Rochester Hills on November 29; the last runs to December 6. Each bar spans an event’s dates, not every hour in them, so check the host’s page for times.

Looking further afield? Our Michigan Christmas events for kids guide lists every event we have found in the state, and we have city guides for Rochester, MI, Village of Clarkston, Ortonville and Grosse Pointe Farms. The national search sorts every event by distance from your town.

A story for the drive home

A morning with Santa or an evening of holiday stories tends to end the same way: tired kids, a long drive and one more book before bed. Our picture book follows Rally the corgi on his first train ride to see his grand-paw-rents, and every page is painted by hand. If your family is spending December missing someone, it was written for that too. For the car, print our free corgi and train coloring pages.

Rally Takes the Train book cover: a watercolor corgi peeking from a red train

A bedtime story after seeing SantaRally Takes the Train is a five-minute rhyming picture book about a corgi’s first ride on a California train, hand-painted in watercolor. $16.99 on Amazon, ages 0 to 8.

Buy on Amazon (opens in a new tab)

2026 Christmas events are coming in late November

More Christmas events arrive in late November. We add them here as soon as we confirm them.

The story of Christmas in Rochester Hills

Rochester Hills got its name by ballot: when Avon Township became a city in 1984, voters chose Rochester Hills over Avon Hills by a landslide. At Christmas, families here can sit down together at a craft studio on South Rochester Road for ornament making, hot cocoa and a visit from Santa.

How Rochester Hills celebrates

The organizer pages found for Rochester Hills this season come from one place, AR Workshop Rochester at 882 S. Rochester Road. The studio runs holiday family workshops where each guest makes wood ornaments, with cookies and hot cocoa served and holiday decor and gifts on display. Cocoa & Crafts on November 29, 2026, sends each guest home with six wood slice ornaments. On December 6, Santa joins a one-hour ornament session and poses for pictures. Both workshops need a paid registration for every guest. This is a short picture of the season, drawn from a single organizer.

Fun facts about Christmas in Rochester Hills

European Americans first settled the area in 1817, when James Graham and his family arrived by following trails made by the Sauk. It was organized as Avon Township in 1835 and became the City of Rochester Hills on November 20, 1984. The city lies about 25 miles north of downtown Detroit and had 76,300 residents at the 2020 census.

Traditions today

  • Cocoa & Crafts: At AR Workshop Rochester on November 29, 2026, each registered guest makes a set of six wood slice ornaments.
  • Ornament making with Santa: On December 6, 2026, Santa is the special guest at a one-hour ornament workshop where families can take pictures with him.
  • Cookies and hot cocoa: Both studio workshops serve cookies and hot cocoa while guests work on their ornaments.
  • The rolling hills: The hills that helped give the city its name rise from about 690 feet above sea level in the southeast to 1,032 feet in the northwest.
  • Rochester Hills Public Library: The city's public library also serves residents of neighboring Rochester and Oakland Township under contract.

A fact for kids

People here got to vote on what their city would be called. Rochester Hills beat Avon Hills by a landslide, helped by the rolling hills all around.

Questions about Christmas in Rochester Hills

When was Rochester Hills founded?

The area was first settled by European Americans in 1817 and organized as Avon Township in 1835. Township voters approved a city charter in May 1984, and on November 20, 1984, Avon Township became the City of Rochester Hills. Township Supervisor Earl E. Borden became its first mayor.

How did Rochester Hills get its name?

The name was put to a vote when the township became a city in 1984. The other choice was Avon Hills. Rochester Hills won by a landslide, based on the area's historical ties to neighboring Rochester and on the rolling hills found across the area.

Who lived in the Rochester Hills area first?

Before European settlement the area was home to Native Americans, namely the Potawatomi. They relied on water sources such as the Clinton River and Paint Creek to grow crops, fish and travel. They lived here until the 1807 Treaty of Detroit forced them to cede their land.

Who was the first European settler in Rochester Hills?

James Graham arrived in 1817 and is recorded as the first European settler. He and his family reached the area by following trails created by the Sauk. Avon Township was organized in 1835, and Rochester incorporated as a village within the township in 1869.

Is Rochester Hills the same place as Rochester?

No. Rochester was a village inside Avon Township and became its own city in February 1967. The rest of the township became the City of Rochester Hills in 1984. Two attempts to join them, a 1974 consolidation vote and an annexation request, did not succeed in merging the two.

What happens at Christmas in Rochester Hills for kids?

The events found for 2026 are family craft workshops at AR Workshop Rochester. Cocoa & Crafts on November 29 has guests make six wood slice ornaments, and a December 6 workshop adds Santa as a special guest for pictures. Cookies and hot cocoa are served at both.

Where are the Rochester Hills holiday workshops held?

Both are at AR Workshop Rochester, 882 S. Rochester Road in Rochester Hills. The studio's event pages list the same address for the November 29 Cocoa & Crafts workshop and the December 6 Holiday Ornament Workshop with Santa, and give a studio phone number for questions.

Who organizes the holiday ornament workshops?

AR Workshop Rochester runs them as special family workshops in its own studio. Registration is handled on the studio's event pages, one for each session, and every guest who takes part needs to be registered because seating is limited and ornament sets cannot be shared.

Are the Rochester Hills holiday workshops free?

No. Cocoa & Crafts on November 29, 2026, starts at $29 per person for a set of six ornaments, with extra ornaments possibly available a la carte. The December 6 workshop with Santa costs $25 per guest, and those tickets are final sale.

How many people live in Rochester Hills?

The 2020 census counted 76,300 residents, up from 70,995 in 2010. Rochester Hills is a northern suburb of Detroit in Oakland County, about 25 miles north of downtown Detroit, and covers roughly 33 square miles bordered by Troy, Auburn Hills, Shelby Township and Oakland Charter Township.

Sources

  1. Rochester Hills, Michigan, Wikipedia
  2. Cocoa & Crafts - Holiday Ornament Workshop, AR Workshop Rochester
  3. Holiday Ornament Workshop with Special Guest Santa - Session 1, AR Workshop Rochester

Keep the Christmas magic going: track Rally the corgi on Christmas Eve, print free Christmas coloring pages, learn how to say Merry Christmas in 100+ languages, find train museums to visit with kids, or browse Christmas events in every Michigan city.

Rochester Hills Christmas events for kids: questions parents ask

What are the best Christmas events for kids in Rochester Hills?

Two hands-on workshops at AR Workshop Rochester on South Rochester Road are a good place to start. Cocoa & Crafts on Sunday, November 29, 2026, has each guest make six wood slice ornaments, and the Holiday Ornament Workshop with Santa on Sunday, December 6 adds pictures with Santa.

Where can kids meet Santa in Rochester Hills?

Santa is the special guest at the Holiday Ornament Workshop at AR Workshop Rochester on Sunday, December 6, 2026, from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. Families can take pictures with him while each registered guest makes three wood ornaments. Tickets are $25 per guest and sales are final.

Are there free Christmas events for kids in Rochester Hills?

The two events listed here both charge. Cocoa & Crafts on November 29, 2026, starts at $29 per person for a set of six ornaments, and the workshop with Santa on December 6 is $25 per guest. Cookies and hot cocoa are served at both.

Do I need to sign up for holiday workshops in Rochester Hills?

Yes. Both AR Workshop Rochester events require registration for every guest who takes part, and seats are limited. The November 29 workshop has policies on class minimums and cancellations, while the December 6 Santa session is final sale with no refunds or reschedules.

What do kids make at the holiday ornament workshops?

They make wood ornaments. At Cocoa & Crafts on November 29, 2026, each registered guest makes a set of six wood slice ornaments. At the Santa workshop on December 6, each guest makes three ornaments and picks the designs in person. Sharing a set is not allowed at either.

How long do the Rochester Hills holiday workshops last?

Cocoa & Crafts on November 29, 2026, runs 90 minutes, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm. The Holiday Ornament Workshop with Santa on December 6 is shorter, one hour from 11:00 am to noon. Both take place at AR Workshop Rochester, 882 S. Rochester Road.

Are there Christmas train rides for kids near Rochester Hills?

Santa trains and holiday train rides have their own guide: Rally Takes the Train’s Michigan Christmas train rides guide. This Rochester Hills guide covers Santa visits, story times, light shows and other events off the rails.

How do you confirm these events?

We list an event only after we find this season’s date on the host’s own website or an official city or tourism calendar. We last checked every listing on November 10, 2026. Hosts change details, so always confirm on the host’s page before you go.

Event names belong to their hosts. Rally Takes the Train is a family picture book and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any host listed here. Confirm dates, times and prices on each host’s own site before you go.

Kelsey Cecil
Previous

Christmas Events for Kids in Rochester, MI (2026)
Next

Christmas Events for Kids in Ridgedale (2026)