Vancouver Island offers a range of recreational activities for your family. It has lots of museums, parks, gardens and animal tours to keep your kids enthralled. If you want your kids to learn a bit about the culture and history of the place in a fun way, you will have various options of doing so in Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada.
Outdoor Education and Adventure trips
Take your kids along with certified naturalists on a whale tour. Whales are one of nature’s most majestic creations and a glimpse of them in their natural surroundings is sure to capture your kids’ interests. There are a total of more than 80 whales in Vancouver Island’s waters and you are sure to spot one.
A nature trip in Vancouver Island will include a visit to Race Rocks Ecological Reserve near the southern part of Vancouver Island. Plan a trip to the ecological reserve and show your kids the entrancing marine world of colourful fish, sea lions, and gray, humpback and mink whales.
Next, give your children a glimpse of the city of gardens. Vancouver Island has a bloom count of over two billion flowers and the hanging flower baskets make an absolutely beautiful sight, aside from being an educational experience in biology and plant life. Take your kids to the famous Beacon Hill Park, which has a multitude of exotic flowers, manicured grounds and wonderful fauna like wild peacocks. Point out the special features and characteristics of the animals at the petting Zoo
and give your kids a nature lesson they won’t forget.
You can then get a wonderful view of Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic mountains. If you are visiting in the summer, don’t forget to take your family to the Luminara Lantern Festival.
Wild Play amusement park is your next destination where your kids are going to experience the wonders of deep forests while learning about ecology and environmental sciences. The Shaw Discovery Centre will give them a taste of local marine life, complete with microscopes and other educational instruments.
Don’t forget the famous bug zoo specially designed for kids with all kinds of creepy crawly bugs designed to enrapture kids.
History, culture and local cuisine to educate children in Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
After the invigorating outdoors, it’s time to explore Vancouver Island’s rich culture. The first place to take your kids is the B.C. Royal Museum. The extensive and interesting history of B.C is depicted in this museum with detail. There is an interesting interactive area for kids to help give them a tutoring lesson on history that is much more fun than text book learning.
The Oak Bay and Panorama recreation centers have activities and facilities designed to capture the interest of kids with a range of interactive games. If your kids are slightly older, take them on one of the guided Architectural tours and watch them take in the structural beauty of the place while the guides explain the building types and architectural features. This would be great for boys who like to build with Lego and blocks, and may spark educational interest in building.
Lastly, don’t forget to round off your visit with a trip to Vancouver Island’s local food market. This food market is teeming with fresh produce especially in the winters. Take your pick of the brightest tomatoes, juiciest oranges and the creamiest cheeses and take out your kids to a delightful picnic lunch or treat them to the famous food harvest festival. But be sure to sneak in a science tutoring lesson on nutrition, explaining vitamins, minerals and perhaps even why these foods are good for human digestion.
