by Sarah W of HRM Parent 

Who doesn’t love a good snow day?  Growing up in Newfoundland, my childhood was blessed with more than few of them. I still remember anxiously waiting in my bed for the radio announcer to include my school in the list of closures, then snuggling back in for a little extra sleep.  It was even better if it landed on the day of a big test! 

To the working parent of course, snow days aren’t always met with as much excitement. Having to re-juggle the day, move meetings and keep the kids occupied.  But why not make the most of it and treat snow days like power outages?  Take a little break from the normal weekday routine and enjoy some unexpected family time to brighten up the week. 

To help you out, here a few ways to make your next snow day a little more fun: 

A backyard canvas: Snowmen are always fun but why not brighten up the backyard a little more?  Mix a few drops of food coloring to containers of water then give your little Picasso a big paintbrush and let him go.   There’s no better canvas than a yard full of bright white snow to let the imagination run wild. 

Snow Castles: Since you’re probably dreaming about the beach…try pretending you are for a moment, and create a snow castle. If  the beach toys aren’t handy, a quick search around the kitchen for plastic containers, an empty milk carton (with the tops cut off) and metal bowls will all do the trick to help build a castle fit for any little prince or princess.  For even more beach time fun, pull out the lawn chairs and kick back to enjoy your hot chocolate or blow up the beach balls for a game of catch in the snow! 

Ready Set, Snow: Stir up a little friendly family competition and create a backyard obstacle course for everyone to race through.  Pile mounds of snow around the yard to jump, crawl or slide over.  Making them different sizes and shapes, only adds to the fun.

The Classics: Don’t let the snow stop you from enjoying some of the good ‘ol fashioned outdoor games like tug-o-war, three legged race, potato sack, tag or a balloon toss…they will be harder in the snow but that’s what will make it all the more fun!  

So, when another snow days hit – bundle up the kids and enjoy!

This guest blog post is from Alex Smith of PlayGround Chronicles - thanks Alex for this wonderful post! What's your favourite playground or piece of playground equipment? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

This top ten list of fun playground equipment is a result of flipping through photos and memories of trips to over 30 playgrounds in the last two summers. It’s heavily influenced by the fact that our kids are in the under 5 age bracket. I’m sure a list made in three or four years time will look considerably different.

With Earl’s big blow behind us, there’s still plenty of time to get out and explore our local playgrounds and test some of these top ten pieces before the north winds have their chill effect. We’ll be getting a few more reviews in before shutting down until next summer. Next on deck are the Portland Estates playgrounds.

If you have a suggestion of a playground we should visit, we’d love to hear from you. Send us a note at – playground.chronicles@gmail.com.

For the list below, click on the photos to link to more photos from the same playground and click on the bolded playground name to go to the google map location. (Note from HRM Parent: Also check out our Playground Directory for more info.)

10.

This is the eggbeater at Caudle Park Elementary School. We haven’t come across anything similar. In case you’re wondering an adult can fit and give it a twirl.

9.

See-saws are few and far between in the playgrounds we’ve had an opportunity to visit. These ones located at Ocean View Elementary School, provide a vista on the harbour entrance and the Atlantic beyond – up and down with the waves.

8.

This is the Seussian covered bridge and bubble bay (on the flip side) at John W. MacLeod Fleming Tower Elementary School. A great little spot for an improptu disappearance followed by a back again taa-da in a bubble seconds later.

7.

Twin blue whale spring riders at Tallahassee Community School 1. When you’re taking two under fives to the playground, this is the perfect play piece – no ‘me first’, no quarrels, just fun.

6.

This is the fruitalicious climbing board at the toddler section of the DJ Butler Playground. This is a nicely designed spot for the toddlers that makes them feel like big kids.

5.

This is the beam me up Scotty tire climb at the DeWolfe Park Playground in Bedford. Adults – don’t try and climb up here unless you’re on the slim side.

4.

This is the retro monkey head slide-climber combo – a relic from the 60s or 70s at the St. Mary’s Boat Club Playground. I think it’s safe to say that this is a one of kind find in Halifax.

3.

This rollicking X-Wave² at Oxford Street Public School is a ride ‘em bronco treat that will leave you sproingin’ an achin’ for more.

2.

For small ones with a love for space this shuttle at the Morris Lake Road Playground with the Shearwater base on the horizon is a must. There was a time back in the 1960s when the space motif was a colossal presence in North American playgrounds. Now, not so much.

1.

Rounding off the list in the number 1 spot is a more familiar means of transportation. We’ve dubbed this one, located at Oxford Street Public School, the magic school bus. Our first time here it was a cracking hot day and the playground was chock-a-block full of kids and the bus was getting put through its paces. That day, we made the low, low budget short below. Our son Noah wanted to replicate on a subsequent visit. On that occasion we were alone but he had just as much of a blast on the bus.

Happy playgrounding….

All materials, unless otherwise attributed or credited, copyright ⓒ 2010 Alex Smith.

Registration is now open for Take Me Outside Week in Nova Scotia from September 20 to 26 at www.takemeoutsideweek.ca (available in both French and English). Take Me Outside Week is coordinated by Recreation Nova Scotia to support a growing "back to nature" movement as they invite more children and youth and their families out into the great outdoors.

Families and small groups can register the activities they plan to do during the event week. There are lots of ideas for activities on the website available here - good ideas that will no doubt be useful even if your family cannot participate in this week's activities. As well, there are lots of organized events to take part in across the province - check out the full list here.

By registering you qualify to win one of many great prizes, such as an annual family pass to Kejimkujik, an annual family pass to the Museum of Natural History, a $50 gift certificate to one of HRM's Adventure Earth Centre programs, plus lots more!

Organizations can also register their activities and events during the event week and access lots of ideas and resources on the website.

Follow Take Me Outside Week developments on: Facebook and Twitter.

I was one of about 30 lucky local blogging-type people invited by the Downtown Halifax Business Commission to participate in their new Big Day Downtown promotion. A simple idea - give $100 each to a bunch of bloggers, set them free on downtown to spend as they like, and ask them to blog about their experiences. A lovely idea. And $100 for me to spend! Yay!

I wasn't sure quite how to spend it at first - a problem of too many ideas, not too little. I was quite tempted to spend it on a night out with friends - mommy friends unite! Then I thought of a romantic evening out with my husband - not too many of those coming our way after baby arrives in a few months, after all. Or perhaps I should stock up on Christmas presents? I already shop at DeSerres and the Discovery Shop on Barrington for a fair amount for presents for kids. Maybe I should explore downtown for other kid-friendly Christmas presents? Or take an afternoon by myself and spend the $100 on me me me?! Trust me, it was tempting. *Very* tempting. In the end, I opted for a family day with Richard and Alex. Yes, I really do deserve my good mom medal now, don't you think?

The afternoon started with us getting off the bus downtown and Alex immediately announcing he had to use the bathroom. Ah, the joys of kids. So I sent Richard and Alex off to Scotia Square for their handy bathroom facilities while I took my time to browse in Biscuit. It's definitely one of my favourite stores downtown - lots of fun browsing through all the unique items! I almost bought Alex a collection of stick-on moustaches, but decided to hold off buying anything at that point. (I think I need to go back and get them - they'd be a great stocking stuffer!) After bathroom break, we headed to Strange Adventures for Alex to get a comic book. He picked out a Spiderman comic - a real treasure, from his perspective. Next on our agenda was a quick trip to the Discovery Shop to search for Lego, but sadly they didn't have any in stock. (I say 'sadly' but I don't actually mean it - I think Alex has enough Lego at the moment and the next purchase would make a good Christmas gift, so it suited me just fine that we couldn't find any. I mean, when did this day turn into a 'buy Alex anything he wants downtown' day? Jeez. Whoops. Did I just lose my good mom medal?!)

We headed down to the waterfront to find Maps and Ducks, which seems to be called Maps & More now (or did I just make up their old name?), and they'd also moved to Summit Place - a bit confusing for a moment, but we found it. We splurged on a big 40"x57" laminated world map, which came to a bit more than $40. I love it. I've been wanting a big map for ages, and I'm justifying it by calling it part of Alex's homeschool education, heh. That's geography sorted for the year then, right?

Next up, time to cool off with an ice-cream from Cows. Technically Alex and I had sorbet - he's allergic to dairy, so finding a non-dairy cold treat for him when out and about always makes for a happy boy. The line-up was long, but it moved pretty quickly, and it was definitely worth the wait.

To spend what was left of the $100 we decided to go crazy and take a ride on Theodore Tugboat. It's not cheap, that's for sure, but at least we had our handy ABC Family Card to get 25% off a family pass - yay! (Hey, I like to get deals even when it's not my own money I'm spending!) Theodore took us on a nice tour of the harbour and it was an enjoyable way to spend an hour. I do hope the tour guide gets paid well - there was only one child other than Alex but still she went all out acting as if the boat was filled with kids, instead of mildly amused adults. I suspect we were a bit of a tough crowd.

After Theodore we headed to the pirate playground outside the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic for some free downtown family fun. Alex played with a few other kids while Richard and I sat back and relaxed. I had heard months ago that this playground was going to be replaced but so far it's still there and the kids still love it. Works for me!

All in all, a great family day downtown. Thanks to the Downtown Halifax Business Commission for the opportunity! If you'd like your own Big Day Downtown, follow Downtown Halifax on Twitter and Facebook to find out how you can win one. Good luck!