BC Parent News

Spring Break is literally just around the corner. In most districts in BC it will be from March 13-26. These two weeks can sometimes be challenging to fill with fun. They can also be a great opportunity. What have you go planned for your kiddos? Are they aspiring artists, evolving entertainers, or conscious coders? Check out these great, local camps to find one that suites your child!

As a child, I remember the gift box of little colored hearts my father would...

Winter Holidays are in less than 2 weeks! Luckily there are some Winter Camps that are a great opportunity for kids to learn a new skill and have some fun. Here are a couple opportunities for kids to get excited about. There are also some great Winter activities that start in January.

Children everywhere love traditions (parents, too), and traditions make memories. Celebrating Giving Tuesday (November 29) is a tradition in our family, too. It marks the largest global movement of generosity and signals the start of the holiday season. This year, while writing up your family’s wish list, consider including some unique ‘gifts for good’ that will make a lasting difference for vulnerable children worldwide—and create a new tradition for your own.

Playing video games is a mentally engaging task. Depending on the game, it requires fast decision making, real-time problem solving, coordination of fine motor skills and more.

The Maker Movement is a quickly growing culture that embraces the idea that learning is done best through doing. It includes do-it-yourself individuals and groups that create things, and its members are producers more than consumers, says Irm Diorio, executive director of a maker space. While some makers work in maker spaces, others tinker in their homes and garages.

We had the pleasure of interviewing Daniel Ingram, an award-winning, five-time Emmy nominated songwriter and...

Does your child love to sing? Love plunking on the piano or pounding on the drum? Do you think you might have a future musician in your home?
Let’s look at some short and long term benefits of music lessons.

There are seemingly endless options for after-school activities that your children can get involved in, from soccer to swimming, piano lessons to STEM. But what do your children really get out of these activities? Here are some reasons why your kids should participate in extracurricular activities, beyond the standard 'it’s something to do.’

Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Kicks Off April 2 with the Big Picnic at David Lam...

most, actually every, day, where will you go to fill the remaining days of Spring Break? We've put together a couple of activities that are fun and educational rain or shine!

Conversing with your children can be hard at times. This is especially true for young children who may have only recently learned how to speak in full sentences. Thinking about meaningful questions to ask kids, is important for their development.

Outer space has always sparked a sense of wonder and fascination in the human mind. If you and your child are interested in learning more about astronomy, it’s a great time to do some exploring together from home. Whether you go outside and look up at the stars to identify constellations or explore the planets through a telescope, it’s inspiring to learn more about our universe. This guide will show you some fun ways to teach your kids about astronomy, how to do some stargazing, identify planets, and more.

As parents, we all want what’s best for our children. We want them to be thoughtful, kind, confident, compassionate people, and we do all we can to teach them these skills. What if there was another way to help your child build character, learn new skills, and increase their strength and confidence?
Tri-Cities Gracie Jiu-Jitsu owners Ray Lee and Bethany MacGillivray and their team of instructors have that magic touch to help your child develop all these qualities while having fun and being active in their Gracie Bullyproof program.

Have you started thinking about what activities they will join in the new year? Camps and extracurricular activities are a fantastic opportunity for children to learn things they wouldn't learn in a school environment.

Research by the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) last year noted a significant impact on students from remote learning, including interrupted learning, increased child stress, decreased connection, increased loneliness, and mental and emotional health effects. Children need to be learning in person and participating in extracurricular activities is another important necessity.

A busy life and a bustling household can make it tough to keep clutter under control. While some disorganization in your home is simply a sign of living a normal life, being surrounded by clutter can cause feelings of anxiety and inhibit productivity and creativity. If you want to transform your home — and your life — now is a great time to get organized. These tips and tricks will help you create a tidy home so you can enjoy your space stress-free.

I am sure we have all heard of learning through play, or that play is the work of children. But what does that really mean? What exactly are they learning? Isn’t play supposed to be child directed? If so, how can we support that learning? When you start to think about what learning through play really means, it can easily start to feel overwhelming; but with a basic understanding of what can happen during play, you can quickly begin to see that learning with your own two eyes. There are many different ways children play, and in this article, I will focus on the dramatic play, where children take on different roles and act them out.

Whether your kids were in-person, virtual or homeschool learning this year, once summer begins, their regular schedule typically goes out the window! Entertaining kids becomes part of your full time job and, let’s face it – it’s tough.

We have all heard about being mindful but if we are honest with ourselves we do not practice it enough. Mindfulness is very simple, we set aside time to sit and do nothing for several minutes. That's it! It's so simple, so why do we not do it? We know it's good for us, we know it helps our concentration, improves our mental health, and is key to controlling our reactions. For the majority of us, it is harder to sit in stillness than it is to have a full schedule all day every day. This is what we need to change for our children. We need to encourage moments of stillness, reflections, and pause. We need to work on it for ourselves but more importantly for our children.

For many parents, concern over kids being glued to screens is not a new phenomenon. However, with the pandemic causing a 500% spike of digital media usage amongst younger generations, the issue has become a new kind of monster. Our current reality is forcing families to rethink screen time limits and come up with solutions that take into account both the harmful effects of excessive digital media use and the need for kids to engage in online school and socialization. The pandemic has had a detrimental impact on many kids, and an unhealthy dependence on technology could be a long-lasting side effect of a full year away from school and friends.

Here we are again, planning another 8 weeks of Summer vacation! Fortunately, even with COVID-19...

A model for arts education across North America, the new facility significantly expands Arts Umbrella’s capacity to provide transformative experiences for young people in Metro Vancouver, across Canada, and around the world. Arts Umbrella serves 24,000 young people annually, and, within the next three to five years, the new building is expected to support 15,000 children and youth
every year through tuition-based programs and performances, as well as community programs, distance learning, bursaries, and scholarships.

We just learned about an incredible extracurricular program for high school students and wanted to share it with parents in Vancouver. The Knowledge Society (TKS) is a 10-month innovation program for students ages 13-17 who want to solve the world’s biggest problems. The program is modeled after curriculums from Harvard, Stanford, and MIT, and designed to replicate the learning environments of Google and Facebook. They’ve also been recognized by organizations like the World Economic Forum.