The Holidays are just around the corner! We are all looking forward to a well-deserved break from our alarm clocks, our daily commutes, and our desks. More importantly, the Holiday Season is an opportunity to spend time with family.
For outdoor recreation, we recommend a family trip to Mont Royal. The mountain has a free outdoor skating rink, open terrain for snowshoeing or cross-country skiing, and great hills for sledding. You can bring your own recreational equipment or rent anything you need at the Beaver Lake Pavilion. Dress warm!
Speaking of Mont Royal, registration is open for Les Amis de la Montagne’s youth (4+) and adult (16+) cross-country skiing lessons. These programs offer a great way for families to stay active during those cold winter weekends.
Old-Montreal’s Nordic Square will host free family activities from December 21st to 31st. The festival includes musical performances, story-tellers, arts & crafts stations, and fun Nordic challenges like tug-of-war, relay races, and snow Bocce Ball. Be sure to warm up on their outdoor fireplaces!
For families looking to avoid the cold, the Holiday Break is a great time to visit Montreal’s diverse museums. Why not enjoy an array of plants and animals in the Biodome’s tropical climate? The Museum of Fine Arts has a fascinating exhibition on the art and mythology of the Western film genre. The Contemporary Art Museum’s Leonard Cohen exhibit is a must-see for music and poetry-lovers. With dinosaur bones, fossils, Egyptian mummies on display, McGill’s Redpath Museum is another wonderful family outing.
In addition to spending time with family, the Holidays is a great time to give back to our community. We were astonished by the generosity of Laurus campers and families during our Food Drive last summer. With that in mind, we have a few charities to recommend for your support.
Sun Youth is a Montreal charity that provides food, clothing, school supplies, and recreational programs for children from low-income families in Montreal. Right now they are seeking donations for their annual Christmas and Chanukah Food Baskets. The Bell Fund, a charity that Laurus families might remember from our partnership over the summer, relies on donations to provide comfort kits to newly-diagnosed MUHC cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Finally, to find charities that do great work around the world, we recommend GiveWell: a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting effective and outstanding charities.
From the bottom of our hearts, we’d like to wish all our Laurus families a very happy holidays. We can’t wait to see you all again for March Break Camp!
Sincerely,
Your Laurus Team
