Like many families, we always find money to be a little bit tight at the beginning of the year. The kids and I start to get cabin fever if we don’t get out though, so I try to find inexpensive activities for us to do. Here are some suggestions for fun things to do with your kids in the winter that are easy on your pocketbook:
1. Go to the park. Parks and warm weather seem to go hand in hand but there are a lot of free activities that you can do in Calgary parks in the winter.
• Take your toboggan to one of Calgary’s 17 official toboggan hills.
• Grab your skates and go to one of the numerous outdoor community rinks. Or lace up for some old-
fashioned pond skating at the rinks maintained on Bowness Park and Prince’s Island Park’s lagoons.
• Go for a walk in the park and look for animals and their tracks in the snow.
• Play on the playground. The snow can make playing on your neighborhood playground into a whole new
experience.
2. Play in the yard. You don’t have to leave your house to have a new outdoor adventure in the snow, just bundle the kids up (and you too!) and get ready to create.
• Tired of snowmen? Try making a snow caterpillar or snow spider.
• Keep the mess outside and paint the snow. Fill up some spray bottles with water and food coloring.
• Pull out the sand toys and build snow castles.
• Fill up old milk cartons with water and make an igloo out of snow bricks.
• Take some baking tins outside and make snow cakes and snow pies.
3. Free indoor play areas. Although less elaborate than the dedicated indoor play centres, there are a number of smaller play areas that you can take your kids to play for free.
• Go to the mall. Nearly all of the major malls in Calgary have an indoor play area for preschoolers.
Eau Claire has full-sized outdoor play equipment that older kids will enjoy, too, and cheap parking in their
underground parkade evenings and weekends.
• Check out the Calgary Farmers’ Market. Open all year (Thursday to Sunday), the Calgary Farmers’
Market has a surprisingly good 2-story mini indoor play centre with a cute farm theme.
4. Go downtown. Although parking downtown is pricey, taking the C-Train is relatively inexpensive and kids under six ride for free. There is a good chance that the train ride itself will be the highlight of the trip for your kids being in amongst the skyscrapers can seem like a whole new world and there’s a few low cost options for your destination, too.
• Pack a picnic lunch and go to the newly reopened Devonian Gardens. See the fish and play on their
indoor playground.
• Get a map and explore the plus 15 system. Much of downtown is connected by above ground walkways.
It can be endlessly entertaining to stand above the street and watch the cars drive by underneath.
• Take your skates and go skating at Olympic Plaza. Olympic Plaza has a refrigerated ice surface and on-
site washrooms, making it a great place for kids.
Calgary’s Child Magazine © 2024 Calgary’s Child
