Fun staycation activities for families this spring break

Credit to Author: Gu Zhenzhen| Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2023 16:39:28 +0000

It’s March Break 2023 in provinces including Ontario and British Columbia! (The timing does vary in different provinces — for instance, Alberta and Manitoba will have their March Break later this month). While some families may choose to travel, others may decide on a staycation.  Here are some enjoyable activities parents and children may like to do together during this time. 

Create your family tree  

Create a personalized family tree that includes children, grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters and cousins. Ask questions such as: parents have green eyes, but their children may have blue eyes. How does this happen? Or parents are right-handed, but their child is left-handed. Where does left-handedness come from? What is the blood type? Does the family share any medical conditions?  

As you find answers to the questions, you will discover which physical characteristics are passed from one generation to the next. Since Canada is a country of immigrants, one more question needs to be asked: Where is your family from? Where do your relatives live? Through this activity, your children not only get to know genes and heredity, but also learn about their heritage. 

 Various websites like Canva allow you to create a visual map of your family tree.  

Learn science through play 

You can find plenty of fun experiments to do right at home. Treat your kitchen like a science lab. For instance, here’s a colourful experiment: cut a red cabbage into small pieces. Add the chopped cabbage to a glass jar with boiling water. Leave it to cool for ten minutes. Add cold water until the liquid turns purple. Pour the cabbage water into six glass jars. Add white vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, soapy water, toothpaste and shampoo, respectively. Watch the colour change before your eyes! Kids learn the science behind it: the red cabbage juice contains anthocyanin, which turns a different colour depending on the amount of acid in the liquid. 

Here is another super-fun, hands-on science experiment: add a different amount of water to each of six glass jars (60 ml, 120 ml, 180 ml, 240 ml, 300 ml and 360 ml). Tap each jar with a metal spoon. Does it sound like music? To play a different tune, tap the jars in a different order. Add a little more water to each jar. What is going to happen?  This experiment is about sound waves and pitch.

Want to do more spectacular science experiments? I suggest three books: Science is Magic by Steve Mould; Amazing Science by Aubre Andrus with Rachel Rothman; and Steam Lab for Kids by Liz Lee Heinecke.

Have some paper-folding fun 

How about some origami? This Japanese art of paper folding does relax the the mind and nurture the soul. Through this, you can transform a flat square sheet of paper into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques. All you need is beautiful folding paper and then follow step-by-step folding instructions for amazing origami models, such as a crane, a basket, a balloon, a piano and a jewelry box. 

I recommend these four books to learn about origami: Easy origami by Dokuohtei Nakano; Fun and Easy Origami by Deborah Schecter; and The Joy of Origami by Margaret Van Sicklen.

Go on a journey into mathematics 

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