Bytown Museum
The BYTOWN MUSEUM offers plenty of interactive activities for our young and young at heart visitors! While visiting the BYTOWN MUSEUM become a History Explorerwith our Scavenger Hunt through all three floors of the Museum. Collect postcards about Ottawa’s history and end your visit in our Children’s Play Space on the third floor.
Have you ever wanted to be an Explorer? Here’s your chance to become a History Explorer! Discover what treasures the BYTOWN MUSEUM contains with ourInteractive Scavenger Hunt. Go back in time and answer questions about Ottawa’s history, its beginnings to 1918, through all three floors of exhibitions.
On the second & third floor, keep your eyes open for mailboxes with postcards about Ottawa’s past! Complete with activities, quizzes and stickers, these postcards are popular with our young and young at heart visitors. Best of all, you can take these postcards home with you!
Visit the third floor of the Museum to visit our Children’s Play Space complete with victorian toys, costumes and seasonal activities! Dress up as Col By, a victorian Lady, lumberjack or canal worker, while you play with victorian toys and draw us a picture of your favourite artefact!
Canada Agriculture and Food Museum
All about Milk (11:30 a.m.)
Visitors are invited to discover how a modern milking machine works as well as how this technology has evolved. Using the demonstration milk house along with Millie, our fiberglass cow, a knowledgeable guide will explain where the milk that Canadians drink comes from. Does a milking machine require a great deal of suction? Visitors can see for themselves if they’re curious enough to put their fingers in a functioning teat cup.
Cow Care (1:30 p.m.)
Most people have a pretty good idea of how to care for a dog or a cat but do many know what it takes to care for a cow? Or for that matter, an entire herd of them? Join a guide to learn about how the cows are cared for at the Museum from the time they are calves until well into their milking lives. Discover new and interesting objects and see if you can figure out how they are used in caring for the dairy cows.
Afternoon Milking (4:00 p.m.)
The milking of the Museum’s dairy cows takes place twice daily. Over the course of this demonstration, visitors will be impressed by the technologies used in modern dairying as they see the herdspeople milk the entire herd. A Museum guide will be on site to explain the process and to answer questions.
Rabbit Care (9:30 a.m.)
Even though rabbits are usually considered to be pets, they are often raised on farms for their meat and pelts. Visitors will be able to learn interesting details about the life cycle of rabbits and how they are cared for. Additionally, there will be the opportunity to meet and pet one of the Museum’s resident rabbits.
Meet the Sheep and Goats (10:30 a.m.)
Ewes, does, rams, bucks, lambs and kids. Which are the sheep and which are the goats? Visitors are invited to learn more about these farm “cousins” and all the products they provide for us from milk to meat to fibres.
Check out the Chickens (2:30 p.m.)
Come meet the Museum’s chickens and learn about their differences, similarities and why they are raised on a farm. The opportunity to see one up-close and pet one of them may even present itself…
Pulse Power! (10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.)
Come to the demonstration kitchen and meet some of the food superheroes you might not have known were hiding in your pantry – pulses! Lentils, chickpeas, and dried beans and peas pack a lot protein and fibre and they’re versatile enough to include in recipes from soups and dips to desserts and sweets. Visitors may also be surprised to learn that Canada is a significant producer of pulses and that these seemingly exotic foods are grown in many places throughout the country
Butter Making 101 (12:00 p.m.)
High school chemistry gets a tasty twist with this interactive demonstration. Do you think you could turn a homogenous mixture into a heterogeneous one? How about inverting an emulsion? By making butter, you are actually doing both! Who knew! All this learning will likely make you hungry, so we’ll be serving samples too…
The Science of Maple Taffy (10:15 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 3:00 p.m.)
There are very few things that mark this time of year quite as sweetly as maple taffy. Visitors will be able to discover the science behind transforming maple sap into syrup and syrup into taffy, taste a sample, and take in a variety of maple sugaring equipment and historical photos that will be on display in the classroom.
Children’s Craft (11:00 a.m. and 2:15 p.m.)
Children will enjoy making a maple-themed craft.
Canada Aviation and Space Museum
24th Annual LEGO Contest –Bring your space-inspired LEGO creation to the museum on March 6 and March 20 for a chance to win great prizes. Pre-registration is required.
Design an Astronaut Suit - 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m
Using large sheets of paper and your imagination, draw and design your very own astronaut suit!
Astronaut Training - 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Have you ever wondered what it takes to be an astronaut? In order to complete the many tasks involved in living and working in space, astronauts must physically prepare themselves by regularly performing activities such as lifting weights, running, swimming, and working on their hand-eye coordination. Join us for this astronaut training exercise and see if you have what it takes to become an astronaut.
You’re in Space Demonstration - 11:30am in the Bush Theatre
Learn about the technology behind recycling wastewater in Space.
Ejection Seat Demonstrations - 12:30 p.m. and 3:15 p.m.
Learn how an ejection seat can save a pilot’s life. Have a blast while listening to our enthusiastic guides as they describe the ups and downs of ejecting from a fighter jet! Sit in an authentic ejection seat and learn how pilots use this essential piece of equipment.
Canadian Museum of History (formerly the Canadian Museum of Civilization), Children’s Museum
Tool Trek with Bob the Builder and Wendy - Until March 22, visit the Canadian Children’s Museum (at the Canadian Museum of History) to participate in Bob the Builder activities. In this Tool Trek, look for clues that lead to tools hidden in the Children’s Museum.
Canadian Museum of Nature
Arctic Food Fair – Step in from the cold and savour a special selection of Arctic-themed delicacies such as bannock, Arctic berry tea and much more! Kids can also decorate reindeer-shaped cookies. (Running Feb. 28 to March 8 and March 14 to 22, 2015)
Tiny Giants 3D – Take in this 3D movie that looks at one of our planet’s smallest creatures, the chipmunk. Presentations are available in English and French. (Running daily Feb. 28 to March 8, March 14 to 22, on weekends from March 28 to May 24, 2015 and on certain holidays)
Arctic Floor Map – Enjoy a walk across the Arctic on a large-scale floor map where kids can learn about geography and the natural history of Canada’s Arctic. Map activities will be available at 2:15 p.m., 2:45 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. daily throughout March Break.
Canadian War Museum
Strategy board games - Luck and skill play a role as you try to defeat your opponent and claim victory. With a variety of classic games available, there is something for everyone.
Diefenbunker, Canada’s Cold War Museum
National Gallery of Canada
Artissimo - This weekend series of hands-on workshops has kids making their own creative artworks in the museum.
