10 Things to do with Your Teens this Family Day Weekend

 

By Julyanna Trickey

Stuck on what to do this Family Day weekend? Whether you’re looking for some outdoor activities or indoor fun, we have ideas to keep the family busy and entertained, while staying safe from Covid-19.

Bundle Up and Hit the Trails

Enjoy some outside winter activity in your local provincial parks and conservation areas that offer snowshoeing and hiking trails! Snowshoeing is a safe and inclusive activity for all ages and skill levels, plus it’s fun to do as a family! Get some fresh air and maybe even work up a sweat trying something new this weekend!

Check out some of these great Ontario Parks that offer snowshoeing:

• Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area – Kingston, ON
• Guindon Park – Cornwall, ON
• Summerstown Trails– Stormont, Dundas, & Glengarry Counties, ON
• Quinte Conservation Area– Bay of Quinte, ON

Get the Skates Out!

Take advantage of the outdoor rinks and skating trails! Lace up the skates and meander through forested skate trails or head over to the nearest skating rink. Many venues require you to book ahead to control the number of guests, so make sure you don’t miss out!

If you live in Southern Ontario – check out some of the following places:

• Rideau Canal – the world’s largest skating rink at 7.8km long
• Countryside Adventures – a family-friendly winter destination with a 3km skating trail located 45 minutes outside of Ottawa and 30 minutes from Cornwall
• RiverOak Skating Trail – a three-km skating trail through the forest located 30 minutes outside of Ottawa
• Arrowhead Provincial Park – a 1.3 km skating path through the forest in Huntsville
• Johnston’s Cranberry Marsh Skating Trail – a 1.2 km loop around 12 acres of cranberries in the Muskoka Lakes region

See Some Family and Friends (safely of course)

Well, it is called Family Day weekend after all so why not enjoy some family or friend time with a socially distanced walk or a group Zoom call. A friendly face may be just what we need this weekend to chase away those winter (and pandemic) blues!

Make Brunch

Since we can’t go out to have brunch this weekend, plan your own at home! Get the whole family involved by giving everyone a task, like flipping the pancakes or cutting up the strawberries. You can make it as simple or as fancy as you like!

Stay in to Get Out

If you like puzzles, mysteries and problem-solving, book an online escape room. Get the whole family involved while staying indoors and out of the cold! Immerse yourselves in the adventure of finding hidden secrets and solving puzzles.

Check out these three escape room companies:

• Sherlock’s Escapes – four different virtual escape rooms including The Old Dublin House, Breaching the Boss’s Office, The Lair, and Surviving Summer Camp. All bookings are in Eastern Standard Time (EST).
• Improbable Escapes – currently offering five different online escape rooms including The Hot Chocolate Incident which will be closing by the end of the winter season

Take a Trip Down Memory Lane

You know those old family photo albums you haven’t looked at in a while? Now is the perfect time to get them out and reminisce about those fun family trips and vacations. Look and laugh at the days gone by with your whole family. If photo albums aren’t your thing, set up a slide show from your phone’s photo library! For something quicker, go to your Memories on your iPhone and press play to see an already put together slide show!

Have a Family Movie Marathon

Grab some popcorn and your favourite snacks for a movie night at home! Hunker down to binge your favourite movie trilogies or series as a family. Warm blankets and fuzzy socks are encouraged.

Enjoy an Online Concert

Missing live music and going to concerts? Relive some of that live music magic by bringing the concert to you! Use YouTube to queue up some favourite live music tunes from bands and artists you love and stream it through your TV. You’ll (almost) feel like you’re in the crowd again!

Have a Dance Party

In a similar vein to the live concert night, have a dance party! Get everyone to contribute their favourite songs and be the DJ. Pump the music and let loose on your homemade dancefloor.

Challenge your family to some Indoor Olympics

Come up with various competitions around the house and compete for gold (and family bragging rights). Almost anything can be turned into a competition. The key is to be creative and use your imaginations!

Here are some examples to get the creative juices flowing:

• Scavenger hunt – make a list of random objects around the house like a gum wrapper, a dime, a pen that doesn’t work, etc… and whoever can find the most items on the list wins.
• Social Distance Challenge: Use a tape measure held between two people. Turn the tape measure upside down. One person holds the end while the other walks backwards and stops at where they think 6ft it. Turn it over to see how close you got. Closest one to 6ft wins.
• Mini Putt – use something as a putter if you don’t have the golf club and a yoga mat. Any type of small ball will work! Place objects strategically underneath the yoga mat to make the surface uneven (like a mini-putt course) and place a cup at the end.