The London Beat London, Ontario’s stream of consciousness
Tomorrow is Kids 1st Day, a celebration of all the wonderful opportunities available in the community to London families. Arranged by Investing in Children, and sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Forest City-London, it also spotlights some of the committed people, businesses and organizations that make London great.
The event is always chosen to be held on an elementary school PA Day that is shared by the London school boards, and serves to remind the community what a great place London is for families, while also giving children the opportunity to try new things. More than fifty businesses and organizations across the city, offer free or low-cost activities to children and families.
Often times, PA Days can be a bit of a gong show for parents. Somehow finding something for the kids to do on a weekday always seems infinitely more difficult, than finding something on the weekend.
That won’t be true of tomorrow’s PA day though, thanks to the 14th Annual Kids 1st Day.
In fact, there is so much going on that you can actually tailor your kids’ day around things that they like, and all at little or no cost. Investing in Children have a great PDF of all of the day’s activities on their website that you can download and print off. It is broken up into five London regions – North, South, East, West, and Central. The program is also colour-coded by event time, to tell parents wether the event is in the morning, afternoon, evening or all day. The bulk of the events are during the day obviously, but there are a few great evening events like free admission to the Children’s Museum from 5pm until 8pm, free admission to Adventures On Wonderland from 4pm until 7pm, and a great ball hockey tournament for ages 5-plus at the Glen Cairn Community Resource Centre. The hockey games will only run from 4pm until 6pm, but there will be a BBQ, carnival style games and an outdoor evening movie that will take the event all the way until 10p.m.
In the North end, kids can visit the Aikido Network and enjoy a class and learn non-aggressive self-defense techniques, or visit the ArtVenture Art Studio for a free 45 minute session, or take a dip at the Canada Games Aquatic Centre for $2 swimming. There are free crafts and scavenger hunts in the reconstructed village at the Museum of Ontario Archaeology, or visit Scholar’s Choice to try some fun science experiments.
In the East, Londoners can hit East Park Golf Gardens, where kids 12 and younger play Mini Golf for free, or visit Fanshawe Pioneer Village for free. They can also visit the Jet Aircraft Museum and sit in the cockpit of a real jet, or try a 25 minute lesson and flight on a flight simulator for just $5 (kids over 10 only).
In the South, families can visit Mad Science of London for a Dry Ice Demo, Slime Making, and Cotton, or go to the South London Community Pool for a $2 recreational swim, or to Families First CAPC South London for outdoor play day.
The West has toonie admission day at Storybrook Gardens, free drop-in activities like Wheelchair Basketball, and Sledge Hockey at Easter Seals Camp Woodeden, or arts and crafts at Michael’s. Sobeys is also hosting Healthy Food Fun, where kids get to make and then eat healthy, delicious smoothies and food “art”.
Lastly, in the Central region Londoners can check out the Boys & Girls Club of London for free access to a variety of activity rooms, including the swimming pool and gym; the Carling Heights Optimists are having $2 recreational swim from 1:30-3:30p.m. at the Community Centre Pool; there is free admission to the The Royal Canadian Regiment; and Growing Chefs! Ontario has a free vegetable garden scavenger hunt, salad harvesting, and a salad making competition!
You can also visit all of the libraries tomorrow – Beacock, Byron, Carson, Central, Cherryhill, Crouch, East London, Jalna, Lambeth, Landon, Masonville, Pond Mills, Sherwood, Stoney Creek, and Westmount Branch Libraries – to learn how to make transplanting pots out of recycled newspaper and plant a seed for a garden or window box.
There are even more activities in every region, so be sure to visit the website and download the program to find out all of the great activities available to you.
Kids can also pick up a Kids 1st Day Passport during their adventure, and if they visit three different venues, submit it to be entered in a draw for all kinds of great prizes – a one year family admission to Children’s Museum, a Palasad Bowling Party, a bag of science stuff from Mad Science, Grand Theatre tickets, 5 passes to Play Away indoor Park, and much, much, more.
Kids 1st Day started in response to a report focusing on problems facing children and families in London, with the goal being to highlight the many wonderful organizations and unique attractions that do exist in London, and can help children thrive.
On Friday more than 1,500 children and their families will participate and enjoy their PA days thanks to Investing in Children, the Kiwanis Club of Forest City-London, and all of the businesses that have supported or sponsored the event.
Grab your kids, grab a program, and get out there tomorrow and try new things and visit new places!
More Information
Investing in Children provides opportunities for children to grow, to learn and to thrive. Their programs focus on literacy and numeracy, leadership, proper nutrition and other keys to future success. The lives of thousands of children and their families are enriched through their efforts.
