Spring break is upon us and many organizations and communities have activities planned for students on their time off. 

Cassandra Falk is a recreation programming coordinator for the Town of Niverville. She says they have a full slate of day camps running from Monday to Friday.  

“Monday, we have the Creative Arts Camp, Tuesday, we have the Science and Space Camp, Wednesday is Games Camp, Thursday is Sports Camp and Friday is Nature Camp. We are very excited about that, registration is going very well.” 

A number of days are booked up, but Falk says there are still a few spots remaining. 

Ian Dickey is the Leisure Services Programmer for the RM of La Broquerie. He notes they too are running day camps all week long. 

“We are planning on Monday to get one last skate in before the ice comes out in our arena, we have Colleen Watchorn coming on Thursday to do some cool art projects with the kids and lots of other fun games and crafts and activities throughout the rest of the week.” 

Dickey says they still have a handful of spots open on each day and interested parents can register online. 

Meanwhile, though they are running their annual Spring Breakout Camps at the Steinbach Arts Council, Executive Director David Klassen says they are all sold out. He notes it is going to be an incredibly busy, vibrant week at the arts centre. 

“The whole atmosphere changes. We turn it into a space that is free and exciting for kids to explore, we give them lots of opportunities to get their hands messy with art projects and really experience what it is to be a part of a group, learning all sorts of cool new skills.”

Kids with homemade paper crownsPhoto credit: Niverville Parks and Recreation

In the Town of Ste. Anne, Recreation Programmer Sarah Normandeau says they are running a number of workshops throughout spring break. 

“We have a two-day artistic Seriously Awesome, spelt with Cereal, arts workshop coming to town where kids can create their own cereal box with their own slogan and everything and we’re pretty excited about that. He is coming in on the 29th and the 30th and then we have our babysitter's course is going to be here on the 28th and I think they still have room as well." 

Normandeau adds “I am hearing from the community that they want more opportunity to be able to create and do arts and all of those types of things so I have been trying to bring in some one-off workshops for kids to be able to participate in.” 

The Jake Epp Library in Steinbach also has many special, spring break activities for kids including drop-in craft times, readings with local children's authors, a boardgame club, a Harry Potter book club, a story corner, and an after-hours family movie night on Friday. She says they’ll be watching Spirit. 

This is all, of course, in addition to the library’s regular services. 

“Spring break is always hopping, we have lots of people coming in. We are open Tuesday through Thursday, we open at 10 AM and we are open until 8 PM and then Friday and Saturday we are open from 10 AM to 4:30 PM. If you are in town, feel free to stop by the library, it will be busy but it will be good busy.” 

The Steinbach Aquatic Centre will also be a busy place during spring break. Pool Manager Jane Hansen says it is important for parents to book online as soon as they can to guarantee their spots. 

“Well during the weekdays, we have four different swims, we have from 10 AM to 12 PM, we have from 1 PM to 3 PM, from 4 PM to 6 PM and from 7 PM to 9 PM. Then during the weekends, our hours are 10 AM to 12 PM, 1 PM to 3 PM, and 4 PM to 6 PM. Yes, during all of those swim times, we are anticipating full capacity.” 

Hansen says it really is a great week at the pool. 

“It is absolutely fun. It is so great to see everybody here, the staff enjoy it, everybody that comes enjoys it I think, yeah, it is lots of fun!” 

And, of course, this is not an exhaustive list. There are plenty of other activities planned throughout the southeast to give students something to do during their week away from school.