BC Family Day in Victoria, BC

Lego fun in Sidney © Susie Henderson

From free skating to Lego building to cartoons in your PJs, there's plenty to keep your kids happy in and around Victoria over the 2014 BC Family Day weekend. And it needn't cost the earth either.

February Fox Fair, Fernwood
Kids and parents alike can rummage for locally designed and produced clothing, jewellery, pottery and children's stuff from over 30 vendors at this early spring craft fair. Snacks are on hand to keep tummies happy. $2 admission.

When: Friday 7 February, 5-9pm and Saturday 8 February, 10am-4pm at the Fernwood Community Centre, 1240 Gladstone Avenue
More info: facebook.com/februaryfoxfair

Family Fun Gym Time, Henderson Recreation Centre
Kick, whack or throw a ball at this action-packed gym evening. Challenge your kids to soccer, floor hockey or basketball and watch them burn off steam on the bouncy castle.

When: Friday 7 February, 5.15-7pm
More info: www.oakbay.ca/parks-recreation

Sidney Family Day Lego Weekend
This year's Lego extravaganza stretches to three days and promises to be a blockbuster (get it?) festival including Lego-building at the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre, a professionally constructed Lego firetruck and mosaic, a treasure hunt, and Sidney Museum’s annual Lego exhibition. Most activities are free; usual admission applies to the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre; museum entry is by donation.

When: Saturday 8 February - Monday 10 February
More info: www.sidneyfamilyday.ca

Royal BC Museum
Tuck your dollars away: admission is free at the Royal BC Museum this Family Day. Pop into the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition or take part in special nature-themed activities including bookmark-making, sketching and dressing up. Say cheese and gather your children around a mounted golden eagle for a family snap.
When: Monday 10 February, 10am-5pm
More info: royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/events/family-day-at-the-royal-bc-museum

Free Family Skate, Oak Bay Recreation Centre
Wobble or whizz your way round the ice at this afternoon skate session, another family freebie (rentals extra). Preschoolers can avoid being wiped out in a coned-off corner and weary kids can take a break at the colouring and craft station.

When: Monday 10 February, 1.30-3pm
More info: www.oakbay.ca/parks-recreation

Family Day, Cedar Hill Recreation Centre
At Cedar Hill, kids can fling themselves around inflatables, transform into tigers and princesses with face painting, and take home a balloon animal.

When: Monday 10 February, 1-3pm
More info: www.saanich.ca/parkrec

Family Day, Cedar Hill Golf Course
Shh, snow is in the forecast, but if it holds off, grab your clubs and tee off with your teens. After 12pm, children aged 11-16 can golf free with a paying adult at Cedar Hill.

When: Monday 10 February, 12-4pm
More info: www.saanich.ca

Jammies and Toons: Victoria Film Festival Family Day at the Vic Theatre
Slip into your favourite jim-jams, cosy up with your kids and settle back with a bowl of cereal to enjoy retro Loonie Tunes and oldies like The Cat Came Back. $7 admission.

When: Monday 10 February, 10am
More info: www.victoriafilmfestival.com

The Robert Bateman Centre
Head down to the Inner Harbour and check out Victoria's waterside gallery with a fun scavenger hunt. Admission is free for kids under 18 on Family Day. Fill hungry bellies at the new Steamship Grill and Taphouse on the ground floor. (Top tip: if you don't have time to visit on Family Day, the Robert Bateman Centre is offering free admission to everyone on Wednesdays 5-9pm until 26 March 2014).

When: Monday 10 February
More info: batemancentre.org

Halloween in Victoria, BC

Hmm, which one to choose? © Susie Henderson

From pumpkin art, picking and carving to train rides and trick or treating, Victoria, BC is jampacked with Halloween activities.



Galey Farms

Halloween happenings at Galey Farms range from the toddler friendly to the truly terrifying. Youngsters love clambering aboard covered wagons for a hayride out to the pumpkin patch, where you can pick your own, including quirky-looking pink and tricoloured pumpkins. On October weekends from Thanksgiving onwards, Pumpkinfest includes facepainting, train rides, a kids’ haunted house, live entertainment and a corn maze. Return after dark to the Festival of Fear and dare yourself to enter the adults-only Carnevil haunted house (complete with three ‘chicken’ exits) or the Cornfield of Horror.



When: The final weekend of Pumpkinfest takes place from 10-4pm, 26-27 October 2013. The Festival of Fear runs nightly from 6-10pm until 31 October.

More info: www.galeyfarms.net



Enchanted Halloween at Heritage Acres

After a year off, Heritage Acres is opening its doors once more for an eerie experience of art installations, costumed characters, live music, crafts and yummy food. You can take a train ride, explore the decorated trick or treat trail, spy eye-catching illuminated giant puppets, and enjoy performances by magicians, musicians, stilt-walkers and storytellers.



When: The final weekend of Enchanted Halloween takes place from 5-9pm, 25-26 October and 12-5pm, 27 October 2013.

More info: www.enchantedhalloween.com



Pumpkin Art on Oak Bay Avenue

During the last week of October, familiar faces shine through hundreds of carved pumpkins in an illuminated pumpkin parade behind the Oak Bay municipal hall. Spot glowing TV and cartoon characters, the royal family, prime ministers and famous Canucks past and present. On 31 October, kids can trick or treat in Oak Bay Village businesses – look out for pumpkin posters in shop windows. At 6pm, Halloween revellers gather round the bonfire in Fireman’s Park on Monterey Avenue.



When: 25-31 October 2013.

More info: www.pumpkinart.ca



Pumpkin carving at Victoria Public Market

Use your kids as an excuse to hone your pumpkin-carving skills in the new Victoria Public Market at the Hudson. Pumpkins are free until they run out. While you’re there, check out the market’s terrific food vendors and stock up on homemade apple pie from the Victoria Pie Co, handmade goat’s cheese from Salt Spring Island Cheese or fresh Dungeness crabs from Cowichan Bay Seafood.



When: 12-3pm, 26 October 2013.

More info: www.victoriapublicmarket.com



Royal BC Museum – Wonder Sunday: Halloween

Old Town at the museum is transformed into a spooky street of Halloweens past. Kids can discover how Halloween was celebrated a century ago and indulge in a spot of old-fashioned trick or treating. Don’t forget to dress up in costume for the afternoon.



When: 1-3pm, 27 October 2013.

More info: www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Hotel review: The Blackcomb Lodge, Whistler

If you're looking for an affordable, family friendly hotel in the centre of Whistler, The Blackcomb Lodge ticks these boxes. Located in the Village Square, the hotel is about five minutes' walk along the pedestrianised Village Stroll to the main lift base. Make that 10 minutes if you have young kids carrying skis.

Our family of four (kids aged 4 and 2) checked in for four nights in December 2012. It was the week before the Christmas holidays, so we found a reduced early-season deal on Tourism Whistler's website for around C$114 per night (including tax). We booked a studio room, which included a super comfy huge king-size bed (with ample room for a moany 2-year-old on the second night), a sofa bed and a kitchen along one wall (comprising full cooker/oven, fridge, dishwasher and microwave plus all utensils, crockery and pans).

Our room was at the back of the hotel and was quiet, but I imagine it could be noisy if your room is at the front, as the lodge overlooks Whistler's main thoroughfare with various bars and restaurants close by. (Speaking of which, if you do fancy treating yourself, fine-dining restaurant Araxi is in the same building.)

The kids loved hanging out in the hotel room and made good use of Whistler's only indoor hotel pool in the basement. However, if you're not keen on reading in the bathroom while your kids are dropping off to sleep (or not, as the case may be), a studio might not be the best choice for you. It would also be on the small side if you have older kids. The hotel has loft suites available too if you need more space. Downstairs, there's a handy on-site ski hire shop, which stores skis for all guests.

A fourth dining-room chair would have been handy and the housekeeping service was a bit hit and miss (they didn't clean our room at all one day after we'd asked them to come back in 10 minutes), but in terms of location and value, The Blackcomb Lodge is a good budget option for a family trip to Whistler.

South London: five rainy day activities for kids

Orange fin anemone fish © Horniman Museum

It's tipping it down, parks are saturated and playgrounds are off limits. Tiny Tots Travel has lined up five things to do with kids in South London on a rainy day.

1. Escape to the tropics and gaze at kaleidoscopic anemone fish in the Horniman Museum's Fijian coral reef.

2. Discover what life was like for the Allpress family during the Second World War at the new 'A Family in Wartime' exhibition, which runs until 31 December 2012 at the Imperial War Museum.

3. Hop on a bus, boat, train or DLR to Greenwich and climb aboard the beautifully restored Cutty Sark (opens 26 April), then battle pirates in the newly renovated Children's Gallery at the National Maritime Museum. (OK, you might get a little wet on the Cutty Sark, but there's a fantastic indoor gallery beneath the ship itself.)

4. Rummage for favourite books in snazzy libraries: Peckham Library won the Stirling Prize in 2000, and the eye-catching Canada Water Library and striking Deptford Lounge opened in late 2011 and early 2012 respectively.

5. Run like loons up and down the Tate Modern's sloping Turbine Hall, take the lift up to the under 5s play zone on the fifth floor, and choose cool and arty pocket-money toys in the gallery shops.

Victoria, BC for kids

Market Square, Victoria

British Columbia's capital city, Victoria, lies on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island. Downtown is compact and easy to explore on foot, with plenty of child-friendly attractions. Kids will love pottering around the harbour, peeking into shops in Chinatown's narrow Fan Tan Alley or munching snacks in historic Market Square. Here are a few highlights:

Royal BC Museum
This outstanding museum offers an intriguing insight into British Columbia's people, history and nature. You can step inside a First Nations house, wander along a turn-of-the-century street, or find yourself face-to-face with a grizzly bear. There's a fun kids' zone with magnifying glasses, books and dressing-up outfits. Outside, gaze up at a collection of intricately carved totem poles in Thunderbird Park. The museum boasts an IMAX cinema too.

Cost: C$16 for adults; C$10.15 for children aged 6 to 18; free for children under 6.
More info: www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Victoria Bug Zoo
Encounter the world of insects and spiders in probably the smallest zoo you've ever visited. Specialist and genuinely passionate bug guides divulge the secrets of the zoo's residents, introducing you to millipedes, scorpions and cockroaches as well as Canada's largest ant farm. If you're feeling brave, you can allow a stick insect to saunter up your arm or a tarantula to tickle your palm.

Cost: C$9 for adults; C$7 for children aged 12 to 18; C$6 for children aged 3 to 11; free for children under 3.
More info: www.bugzoo.bc.ca

Beacon Hill Children's Farm

Beacon Hill Children's Farm
The wonderful Beacon Hill Park is a short walk from Victoria's harbour and a great spot for little travellers to run off steam. The park's petting zoo is a toddler's dream, with goats, pigs, miniature horses, alpacas and hens among its inhabitants. The baby animals in particular are a big hit - on our visit, our kids could barely contain their excitement when they spotted 11-day-old piglets.

Cost: By donation.
More info: www.beaconhillchildrensfarm.ca

Whale watching
Float on the ocean with resident orcas J-pod, K-pod and L-pod. The Prince of Whales Ocean Magic Cruiser boat travels as fast as a zodiac, but offers a nice heated indoor cabin to keep your kids toasty (and safe). On-board naturalists fill you in on who's who, including a 100-year-old granny whale. We spotted J-pod and L-pod splashing along the shore of San Juan Island, across the water in the USA.

Cost: C$100 for adults; C$90 for children aged 13 to 17; C$80 for children aged 5 to 12; free for children under 5.
More info: www.princeofwhales.com

Victoria International Buskers Festival

Victoria International Buskers Festival
Over 10 days in July, Victoria welcomes a quirky selection of the world's best busking acts, including contortionists, comedians, acrobats and jugglers. Performers rotate across multiple stages dotted around the harbour and Downtown. Our kids were entranced and especially loved it when Daddy was roped in as an assistant during one show. The next festival takes place from 20-29 July 2012.

Cost: Free, but buskers welcome tips.
More info: www.victoriabuskers.com

Where to stay: The Parkside Victoria Resort & Spa has modern, stylish suites with full kitchens, plus indoor pool, spa, rooftop gardens and its own cinema showing kids' films.

Galiano Island kayaking

British Columbia's beautiful coastline and multitude of islands make it ideal for sea kayaking. I left the kids with Daddy and took to the water in the summer. Read my article on the World Travel Guide.

Review: Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Vancouver

Bedroom at Rosewood Hotel Georgia © Rosewood Hotels & Resorts

In early August, I spent four nights at the gorgeous Rosewood Hotel Georgia in Vancouver with the kids. The hotel has just reopened following a four-and-a-half-year renovation. We thought we better check it out. Read my review on the World Travel Guide.