Things to Do in Des Moines
Des Moines Things To Do Guide
Things to Do Deals
Blank Park Zoo
- Des Moines
Visitors over 21 enjoy access to the zoo during weekly Zoo Brew evenings that combine drinks with live music
Toad Valley Golf Course
- Pleasant Hill
Mini-golf course is designed after a full-size golf course's putting greens with contoured planes, roughs, sand traps, and water hazards
Iowa Helicopter
- Ankeny
Up to three passengers soar above Saylorville Lake reservoir’s glistening water in a chopper helmed by a licensed pilot
Rusty Wallace Racing Experience
- Newton
Professional drivers sate passengers' need for speed in stock cars during exciting ride-alongs and racing experiences
Recommended Things to Do by Groupon Customers
Sticks sprung from humble origins when, in 1992, Sarah Grant began carving ornaments and candlesticks from birch, poplar, and driftwood in a small studio in Des Moines. As her work began to attract national interest and demand for it grew, Sarah enlisted the aid of other local artists and expanded her inventory to include handcrafted heirloom-quality furniture, whimsical sculptures, and intricate keepsakes.
Today, the artists’ work is showcased in more than 100 galleries across the country. Their installation projects have even decorated the walls of Blank Children’s Hospital, the Animal Rescue League of Central Iowa, and the student center at Iowa State University.
Sticks artists can often be spotted by the shores of local rivers, gathering driftwood for their work. They assemble the wood into custom-designed tables, beds, and armoires within their spacious, light-filled studio before painting them with colorful, whimsical designs, from smiling suns and moons to lush landscapes. The versatile artists even take their tools and paintbrushes to homes, businesses, and underground mad-scientist labs to craft custom art installations and interiors.
"This is an art party—not an art class," cautions Glazed Expressions on its canvas-class page. The classes' genial atmosphere, upbeat music, and frequent BYOB options aren't the only things that turn these educational courses into rollicking celebrations, either. Rather than teaching the dry topics of theory and composition, instructors at each art-filled get-together simply guide painters through the steps required to re-create the image chosen for the session. Though all of the paintings end up looking essentially the same, each painter's individual creativity still comes through, whether in the shape of a tree branch, the hue of an ocean wave, or the size of Anne Boleyn's neck tattoo.
Things to Do Deals - Recently Expired
Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad & Museum
- Boone
Explore Des Moines River Valley from a 1920s locomotive before delving into Iowa’s railway history through the museum’s train exhibits
