Fun | Our Kids Blog

International Women’s Day Reads: Be Inspired!

08/03/2011 By Stacey MacNevin Leave a Comment

March 8th is International Women’s Day. A day to celebrate the social, economic, political, humanistic and family role that women play in all of our lives and to celebrate the achievements of women and girls everywhere. Women’s Day has been celebrated from the 1900s and is a national holiday in many countries around the world. In celebration of this day I have chosen three amazing titles that not only showcase the power, strength and contributions of women have made to our society, but the great lengths some of them had to go through to live their lives in a manner of their choosing.

Filed Under: Activities, Blog, Events, Family Life, Grade School Age, High School Age, Parents Tagged With: activities, advice, books, Canada, children, family, female, fun, history, inspirational, International Women's Day, kids, novels, Parents, stories, tips, women

Failsafe Cross-Country March Break 2011 Activities

Carly Maga

24/02/2011 By Carly Maga Leave a Comment

Hockey Camp at Upper Canada College, 2006

February is the shortest month of the year, and it sure felt like it this time around. But while parents are still occupied with the day-today bustle, kids have been patiently awaiting the month of March and what it will bring: plenty of puddles to splash in, green cookies on St. Patrick’s Day, and the Holy Grail – March Break! A whole week off school to frolic, play, and burn off all that energy built up since the Winter Holidays with a fun-filled schedule that their parents haven planned for them weeks in advance. Right? Unfortunately many parents across Canada aren’t usually as diligent at counting down the days as their kids, so March Break can sneak up suddenly. But hopefully we can help. Here are our picks for fun activities for kids and the family during the March Break in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.

Filed Under: Activities, Blog, Clubs & Groups, Dance, Arts, Music, Events, Family Life, Parents, School's Out, Sports, Summer Programs Tagged With: 2011, activities, advice, Arts, children, family, fun, kids, March Break, March Break Camps, Montreal, outside, recommendations, Sports, Spring Break, tips, Toronto, Vancouver

Looking for Something to Do this Family Day? Try These Titles!

Stacey MacNevin

21/02/2011 By Stacey MacNevin Leave a Comment

A Pioneer Family: The Daily Life of a Canadian Family in 1840 by Barbara Greenwood

Family Day is a relatively new (at least to the Province of Ontario) but much-needed holiday to break up the monotony of winter. It’s also a great time to reconnect with your family and loved ones and re-establish some family traditions. Along with other great Family Day activities like cooking as a family and enjoying the outdoors, books are a great way of exploring how your family feels about their own values and dynamics or just be the cause for some great fun! Here are some of my Family Day recommendations:

Filed Under: Activities, Blog, Events, Family Life, Parents, School's Out Tagged With: advice, bonding, books, children, family, Family Day, fun, kids, reading, recommendations, teens, tips, tweens

Make the Most of Family Day

Carly Maga

16/02/2011 By Carly Maga 2 Comments

In 2008 the Ontario government instituted our newest holiday, Family Day, to give parents and children a day to reconnect and share some quality time. It was a drastic, but positive step, as well as a welcome break from the dreary stretch between New Year’s and Easter. Ontario’s third annual Family Day falls on Monday, February 21st, and Our Kids is here to offer our advice on how to make the most of this unique day.

Filed Under: Activities, Blog, Events, Family Life, Parents, School's Out, Summer Programs Tagged With: 2011, activities, advice, camps, cheap, children, cooking, exercise, family, Family Day, fun, heritage, interest, kids, March Break, museums, Ontario, passion, tips

Fun and Easy Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Kids

Guest Author

14/02/2011 By Guest Author Leave a Comment

Fun and Easy Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Kids

Valentine’s Day is generally considered a holiday for adults. And yet, so many couples have a family to contend with (whether it’s the traditional mother, father, and kids or some kind of blending situation). While there are certainly times when two adults might want to leave the kids with a sitter and spend a little quality time alone, more couples are looking for ways to incorporate their whole family into the holiday. So if you want to skip all the lovey-dovey hoopla and headaches of this holiday for two, here are a few ways to have some fun with the whole family and celebrate the love that you feel for them every day!

Filed Under: Activities, Blog, Events, Family Life, Parents Tagged With: activities, advice, celebrate, cheap, children, easy, family, fun, holiday, kids, Sarah Danielson, tips, valentines day

Get Reading! It’s Family Literacy Day!

Stacey MacNevin

26/01/2011 By Stacey MacNevin 2 Comments

January 27 is Family Literacy Day®, a chance to celebrate parents and children leaning and reading together for the day and for life. This is a movement I can get behind and would encourage all parents to unplug the electronics and set aside at least 15 minutes to foster reading. This year ABC Life Literacy for Canada is encouraging Play for Literacy using card games, board games and even invented games as a way of encouraging family learning. While I am crazy about any new ways of sparking the learning bug I still love the old fashioned notion of snuggling up with your favourite book and child and reading aloud.