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Alberta |
Winterfest: www.calgarywinterfest.com Jasper
in January: (http://www.jasperadventures.com)
The
following activities for kids are adapted from the list of events
taking place during the 1999 "Jasper in January"
Festival
- Snow Sculpture Contest
- Ski Competitions --try an obstacle course; or build some
'buddy walkers' where more than one person in on the skis
- Parades: build floats on toboggans or sleds and parade through
the neighbourhood or just the playground
- Pool Carnival: head to a pool and create some challenges and
games
- Mascot Challenge: find out what the area's mascots are
(schools and other organizations); create mini mascots; create
your own; organization a mascot day
- Skating Party; bring the families together and don't forget
the hot chocolate
- Mountain to Valley Relay: create your own challenge, where
kids pretend to: downhill ski, drive, cycle, cross-country
ski, and run a relay race
- Full Moon Hike: have a family hike under the month's full
moon, or create a full-room diorama display with black
silhouettes
- Chili Cook-off: get out those beans!!! What can you throw in
the pot to make the best darned chili you ever 'et??
- Omelette Cook-off: what ingredients can stuff the inside of a
rolled omelette? be creative
- Scavenger Hunts: can you afford one camera per group of kids??
send them out with the list and the camera
- Senior's Tea: create an atmosphere of a lodge with a fireplace
mural in the corner; invite the grandparents over for a cozy
afternoon by the fire
- Restaurant Samplings: been on a fieldtrip lately? Many
restaurants are very supportive of showing kids around their
restaurant -- and maybe even let them make their own food!
- Avalanche Awareness Seminar: there's lots to know about snow!!
Create an avalanche of icing -- see what it takes to get the
icing to slide down a 'ramp' or cake
- Canyon Ice Walks: create a world of icicles, chasms, and
snowdrifts. Make it into an obstacle course
- Sleigh rides: know anyone with a horse and wagon???
- Snow shoeing: have you ever tried this?? It takes some getting
used to. Perhaps the kids could make some cardboard ones to walk
around on
- Wildlife Search: have the children find out what kind of
animals are in their area during the winter; have them create a
picture, puppet, or paper mache creation and hide them around
the room, yard, etc. Play "hot/cold"
- Dogsledding: well we wouldn't want to traumatize our pets, but
perhaps a cardboard box "sled" and teams of kids
pulling their creation??
|
British Columbia |
Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival: www.whistler-blackcomb.com Trumpeter
Swan Festival: http://www.vquest.com/swan/fest.html
The following activities are adapted from events listed on the
above webpage.
- Get with the theme and wear black and white
- Wear swan jewelry: or what about
making the jewellery!!
- Place white feathers in your hair
- Guided naturalist walking tours, guided bus tours, mall displays:
create a museum about trumpeter swans, or birds in your area,
make models, photos, brochures, guided tours etc.
- Bird Watching: using paper rolls,
make binoculars or purchase some cheap ones for the kids; draw
pictures of birds and attach to the ends of the paper binoculars
and as you go on your 'guided tour' look at the birds
- Arts: research the behaviours of a
swan and write about it, dance it, music it
|
Manitoba |
Festival du Voyageur: www.festivalvoyageur.mb.ca This
festival celebrates the amazing French-Canadian fur traders.
- Maple Sugar Taffy: have a taffy pull -- that is very
entertaining and good for the muscles!!
- Bannock: Make Bannock
- Crafts: create a old-time wooden puppet dancer.
- Rawhide: decorate a stretched cloth with red paint or berry
juice (these hides demonstrated feelings and triumphs
- Bartering: create some necklaces and trade for other precious
commodities
- Music: try playing the spoons -- following a rhythm and
kicking up your heels
- Talking Sticks: make your own and use it to have a group
discussion
|
From:
Elma marion@sprint.ca
|
One
of the greatest times we have during the winter is to celebrate The
Festival du Voyageur. This is a week long festivities [in February]
of snow sculpture, snowshoe races, dog sleds... This festival is in
honour of the French explorers or the Voyageurs who ventured into
the west to trade furs with the "Indians" They also
developed many of the first maps of this region. The students also
make many arts and crafts and learn to sing many French voyageur
songs. For
more information on this festival see:
http://www.festivalvoyageur.mb.ca/Anglais/index.htm
|
|
Lee-Anne
killerwhale1999@hotmail.com
|
1.
Games kids play in the winter:
-ice hockey (both in a local stadium and on ponds); ice skating
(both in a local stadium and on ponds); snowball fights; making
snowmen; making snow angels' king of the mountain (on huge piles of
snow, who ever makes it to the top is "king"...the others
have to try to overtake the "king", by pulling him off the
"mountain of snow".2.
What makes Newfoundland unique in the winter?
-We have a marine type climate which results in cool, mild winters.
This is due to the cool Labrador Current in the Atlantic Ocean.
- We have great ice flows from the Arctic in late winter. This
results in beautiful icebergs which many visitors seek to observe
when they visit our province.
-We have a sealing industry (It's on a much smaller scale than in
the past, though).
-We have extreme wind storms in winter. Cape Bonavista is known as
one of the most windiest areas in all of North America. (I'm
actually from Bonavista). Winds can exceed 95 miles per hour at
times.
3. Are their special sports,
games, festivals in your area?
-ice hockey ( both in a local stadium and in ponds); -broomball
(high school team); -ice skating (both in a local stadium and on
ponds); -curling; -ice fishing; -ski-dooing; -winter carnivlas;
-skiing; - Santa Claude parade
4. What do families do to pass away the winter?
-Numerous outdoor activities; hunting, cutting wood, ice fishing, "boil
up" in the woods, skating, skiing, spending time at cabins,
ski-dooing, etc.
-Families get together to play card/board games
-Making crafts/knitting/cross-stitch
-Men usually repair fishing gear (I'm from a fishing town)
5.What do little children like to do?
-make snow forts/snowmen; -have snowball fights; -play
"king of the mountain"; -skate/ski-doo
6. Other Information
-moose/caribou; -polar bears; -seals; -whales; -puffins; -fishing
boats (main industries are crab and shrimp-- in the past it was
cod);-evergreen trees; -picture plant; -icebergs; -bakeapples |
What is 'BOIL
UP" ?? " Here I'm just
referring to cooking over an open fire when going in the woods. The
usual items to eat would include toast with partridge berry jam,
salt fish, beans; not all at the same time though! :)
And of course I cannot forget the tea!"
...Lee-Anne and
what is partridge berry jam???
We have a special type of berry in Newfoundland called the partridge
berry that becomes ripe in early fall. This type of berry is usually
found on barren type land and is very similar to a cranberry. The
berry is red in colour and it's quite sharp/bitter in taste. But
when you add lots of sugar and boil the berries until the sugar
dissolves, you end up with a wonderful delicious jam.
|
Northwest Territories |
Caribou Carnival This is actually a "spring
event" held in late March. But, since the average temperature
is -25c I think it meets the criteria to be a winter' festival.
The following activities for kids are adapted from the list of
events listed for Caribou Carnival ( http://www.nationalpost.com/features/bestofwinter/carns.html
)
- Dog Sledding: See Alberta
- Aboriginal Sports Demonstrations: I'll have to do some more
research on this. These activities test flexibility and
strength
- Tea Boiling Competition: I have no idea what this is, but it
sounds interesting. My guess is you have to race to build a
fire, boil a pot of water and make tea
- Ice-Sculpting: create some blocks of ice, and (if age
appropriate) create some works of art --you can scrape it with
files, chip it with blunt instruments/tools, melt it with...
with... hands??
- Note: most the events take place on a frozen lake: Now
doesn't that conger up some activities?? !!
|
Nova Scotia |
Winterfest: www.downtownhalifx.ns.ca The
following activities for kids are adapted from the list of events
listed at
( http://www.nationalpost.com/features/bestofwinter/carns.html
)
- snow bath ---brrrrrr r r r rrr
- toboggan relay
- ice sculptures
- snow volleyball
|
Nunavut Territory |
Toonik Tyme: www.arctic-travel.com This
Festival celebrates the return of the sun.
The following activities for kids are adapted from the list of
events listed at
( http://www.nationalpost.com/features/bestofwinter/carns.html
)
- Cultural events
- outdoor games
- igloo building competition
- dog sledding
- seal hunt
- community feast
- concerts
- Inuit games
- harpoon throwing contest
- whip cracking
- golf tournament on ice
I have some more research to do on this Festival!! |
Ontario |
Winterfest: www.city.toronto.on.ca
- street party
- cultural performances
- ice shows/sculptures
Winterlude:
- skate on the Canal
- ice/snow sculptures
Festival of Lights: Niagara Falls: http://www.iaw.com/~falls/lights.html
- Parades: using glow-in-the-dark
chalk, on black paper, draw people, animals, shapes, designs and
then in the dark have your own little parade of lights!
|
Prince Edward Island |
Winter Carnival: The following activities for kids
are adapted from the list of events listed at
( http://www.nationalpost.com/features/bestofwinter/carns.html
)
- skating show: can't you see some great actors, miming a
skating show?
- ice sculpting
- seniors' jamboree: contact a seniors' centre and ask if they'd
put on a performance for the kids. Perhaps the kdis could return
the favour at a later date--or even at the same date!
- lip sync competition: oh wouldn't the children love this
one!!!
|
Quebec |
Quebec Winter Carnival: www.carnaval.qc.ca The
following activities for kids are adapted from the list of events
listed at
( http://www.nationalpost.com/features/bestofwinter/carns.html
)
- "Bonhomme": build a GIANT snowman!!
- Pranksters: Knuks
- bathing suite snow-dive: tooooo harsh!!
- canoe race
- night parades and fireworks: turn off the lights and hand out
little flashlights (or better yet, hand out the flashlights
first!!) play a game of follow the leader and watch the lights
dip and dive
- snow sculptures
|
Saskatchewan |
Winterfest: www.city.saskatoon.sk.ca/tourism/festival2htm The
following was adapted from the information listed at:
( http://www.nationalpost.com/features/bestofwinter/carns.html
)
- snow sculptures
- sleigh rides
- skating
- Bonfire
|
Yukon Territory |
Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race: www.yukonquest.yk.ca Sourdough
Rendezvous Festival: http://www.rendezvous.yukon.net/
- Trans North Helicopter Rides: what
a view that must be up there!!
- Annual Sourdough Pancake Breakfast: find
a recipe for sourdough and make up a whole pile of 'jacks'
- Robin Hood Flour Packing Contest: I
don't know what this is but a couple ideas spring to mind:
provide flour, bags, scoops, and an obstacle course and run a
competition against the clock to pack those flour bags; OR do a
relay race to load a sled up with some sacks of
"flour"
- Better Bodies Snowshoe Obstacle / Pack Relay: make
some cardboard snowshoes and have a relay race
- Heart Health Fair: have a
guest speaker in, or have the children talk about living healthy
lifestyles
- Tropical Treasurers Pet Parade: show
off your pets, stuffed animals, or handmade creatures
- Frozen Tooche Push: what's this?? tobogganing
without a toboggan?
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