Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

The Playground - Week 31

Welcome to The Playground, a place for Vancouver families. Every Wednesday I post a roundup of upcoming family-friendly events and activities.

Welcome to The Playground, a place for Vancouver families. Every Wednesday I post a roundup of upcoming family-friendly events and activities. I’m always on the lookout for fun stuff to do, so if there’s something happening that you think I should know about, contact me.

In The Playground for the week of December 8-14: Spot Santa on Seymour, A Holiday Celebration with Bobs & Lolo, Fred Penner and Norman Foote and, well, not much else.

Starting Saturday and continuing for the next two weekends, Mount Seymour is hosting Spot Santa on Seymour. Santa will be up on the moutain and kids will have an opportunity to have their photo taken with Santa (with a donation to the Food Bank).

On Sunday, the Vancouver Playhouse is hosting A Holiday Celebration with Fred Penner, Charlotte Diamond, Bobs & Lolo and Norman Foote. "Featuring favourite tunes along with plenty of holiday fare, A Holiday Celebration is a special concert for the Vancouver International Children’s Festival." There are two shows, the first at 1PM and the second at 4PM.

There isn't much else new going on this week but, so you make want to go back and take a look at the events featured last week. Failing that, I have some ideas of things you can do to celebrate the holiday season.

One idea is to get the kids in the kitchen and teach them how to make shortbread cookies. The ingredients are simple, they taste great and the kids will have fun decorating them. If you make enough, you and the kids can share some with friends in your neighbourhood.

Another idea (inspired by my son and his love of the snow) is to take the kids up to one of the North Shore mountains and go for a snowshoe/sled ride? On Seymour Mountain, you can easily find the Dog Mountain trail and take your kids for a stroll. My guess is that you wont make it very far before the kids want to stop and play in the white stuff. Dress wisely and be safe.

Finally, visit your local supermarket, buy a bunch of non-perishable food items and give them to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. It's never too early to teach your kids to help others in need. Also, the Food Banks says that up to 40% of the recipients are children, so the food you give could be helping a child you know.

Here’s your map, see you next week.