Thinking of staying close to home this summer? Hoping to explore Alberta?

Join us for Travel Day 2013 and find out about great Alberta staycations.

Saturday, May 4

10:00 am - 4:00 pm

John Dutton Theatre

Central Library, 2nd Floor

616 Macleod Trail SE

Travel Alberta the Budget Way (10 – 11 a.m.)

Find out about free and inexpensive ways to enjoy travelling around Alberta.

Day Trips from Calgary (11 a.m. – 12 p.m.)

Learn about the amazing landscapes, communities and history of South-Central Alberta, all within a two-hour drive of Calgary! Presented by Day Trips from Calgary author, Bill Corbett.

Brown Bag Lunch and Travel Film (12 – 1 p.m.)

Bring your own bag lunch and watch Long Horizons, a documentary on the intriguing prairie landscapes of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

West on One – History along the Highway (1 – 2 p.m.)

Discover fascinating facts and stories behind the scenery as you travel the Trans-Canada Highway from Calgary to Lake Louise. Presented by author Kathryn Manry.

I Love Parks (2 – 3 p.m.)

Learn about the many parks you can visit close to Calgary, why they are important and the many activities you can enjoy in them. Presented by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

The Hiking Lifestyle (3 – 4 p.m.)

Check out beginner and intermediate level hikes found in Kananaskis country and learn bear and other safety tips to ensure hiking can become a lifestyle for the rest of your life. Presented by Julie Walker, Guide, Full Circle Adventures.

Please register in person, online or by phone at 403-260-2620.

Calgary Public Library

The library is always a wonderful place to take the kids to spend a few hours, looking for great books and movies. What is better than time spent browsing through the children's collection? For information on locations and hours, visit our webpage.

Please join us at Crowfoot Library for variety of fun activities for children ages 6 - 12. Activities take place from 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., Monday, March 25 – Thursday, March 28th. No registration required.

On Thursday, March 28th from 1-3:30 pm, Central Library will be featuring the Easter-themed movie Hop. No registration is required.

Thornhill Library is offering "We've Got Magic to Do - Just for You" on Thursday, March 28 from 2:00 - 2:30 pm. No registration required.

Check out other fun library activities on our program page. Enter the date and the audience and see what is available at a library near you.

City of Calgary Arenas

Various City of Calgary arenas will be offering free public skating on Easter Sunday, March 31.

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

This is an excellent time of year to see the birds at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary as the leaves are not yet out on the trees, and spring is on its way (we hope). The park is open sunrise to sunset, year-round. From October - April, the Nature Centre is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. closed Mondays & statutory holidays.

My co-workers tell me that you often see other wildlife as well as birds.

Not Free, but Fun

Spring Rally in the Alley - Are your kids car-crazy? Visit Gasoline Alley Museum for car-related fun activities. March 22 - April 1, 9:20 a.m. - 4:00 pm.

The Calgary Zoo is always a fun place to visit. Time your visit so you can see the Penguin Walk on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Check out the Zoo's Easter Eggstravaganza on March 29 and 30, free with your zoo admission.

Fort Calgary is open daily from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. except for Good Friday. This is a wonderful place to visit Calgary's past.

Telus Spark has various programs during the spring break, including the travelling exhibit "How to Make a Monster - the Art and Technology of Animatronics".

Out of Town Events

Lake Louise - The Volcom Peanut butter and Rail Jam is Volcom's amateur snowboard contest series. The event is absolutely free, on a first come first serve basis, and boasts tons of free prizes and PB&J sandwiches!

Check out the Easter activities at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, always a fun place to visit.

Christmas holidays provide a wonderful opportunity to have some quality family time. Here are some activities that your family can do that won't break the bank.

Calgary Public Library is offering free programs during the holidays.

Crowfoot is also offering Winter Break Activities. School's out, snow and cold are in, but not at the Library. Join us for a variety of fun indoor activities. Ages 6 to 12 Wednesday, Jan 02, Thursday, Jan 03, Friday, Jan 04 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Main floor - Open Area. No registration required.

Signal Hill is offering Game-a-palooza, an extravaganza of games: giant chess, checkers, Snakes 'n Ladders, and more! Ages 6 to 12 with a parent/caregiver. No registration required.

On Thursdays, December 27^th and January 3^rd from 2:00 - 3:30 pm, Country Hills Library will be offering a Family Wii Party (ages 7 and up with a parent/caregiver). Bring the whole family and enjoy some video game fun with the Nintendo Wii. No registration is required.

Don't forget that your public library is a great place to find books, ebooks audiobooks and DVDs for everyone in the family. I think some of my favourite memories are browsing through the children's books looking for my kids' favourites.

The Olympic Oval’s Christmas Family Skate, invites you and your family to skate with Santa on Sunday December 23^rd, from 12:00- 4:00 pm. The admission is $2:00/person.

City of Calgary is offering a Free Public Skate on Boxing Day at various arenas.

As well, there are many outdoor rinks, run either by the City of Calgary or by the various community associations.

The city also has designated parks for tobogganing and sledding.

Watch a family favourite film each week for only $2.50 at Cineplex, on Saturday mornings at 11 am. A portion of proceeds go towards supporting Starlight Children's Foundation.

If you are looking for Christmas light displays, check out the Airdrie Festival of Lights and the Lion's Festival of Lights.

There is lots to see and do with your family in Calgary without having to spend a lot of money.

Have a Happy Holiday Season!!

As the holiday season approaches, we all look towards the mountains for winter activities such as skiing and snowboarding. Don't forget that there are many other family oriented things to do whether you are going just for a day or have longer to spend.

Banff is always a great place to spend some time. My kids used to love stopping to see the hoodoos, riding up the gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain and, of course, spending time on Banff Avenue visiting the candy store and the rock shop.

Think of dog-sledding and horse-drawn sleigh rides, ice skating, tobogganing and sledding. The Hot Springs are open year round as is the Gondola. Just imagine the snowy vistas you can see from the top of the mountain!! Check the Town of Banff website for information on winter activities.

If you prefer to be indoors, you can visit some of the museums such as the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies (I loved the historic photographs) or the Banff Park Museum National Historic Site of Canada (The kids loved the animals.) One of my personal favorites is a stroll through the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Legend has it that the main stairway is haunted by the ghost of a bride who fell as she descended the stairs.

Jasper is another great place to go. The Maligne Canyon ice walk offers a chance to see frozen waterfalls and fanciful ice formations. The Jasper tourism site lists the tour companies which will guide you through this frozen wonderland. You can find information on both indoor and outdoor activities on this webpage.

Lake Louise and Canmore also offer a host of winter activities. I particularly love skating on Lake Louise with the mountains towering around us.

You can make the most of your visit by checking out some of these great books at Calgary Public Library before you go. Find some hidden corners that you haven't discovered before.

A wonderful way to spend the long weekend is a drive up the Icefields Parkway and a weekend spent in Jasper. We did this in September 2011 and loved every minute. We managed to turn a five-hour drive up the Parkway into an eleven-hour jaunt through the sheer joy of stopping at every lookout, the Columbia Glacier and beautiful Sunwapta Falls. To find out about the places that we saw and loved, visit my blog from last year.

Peyto Lake

Things to do differently? One of the things we somehow missed was the hike into the Peyto Lake Lookout. Also, we unfortunately had only planned to stay in Jasper for one night, which wasn't nearly enough. We ran out of time to visit Maligne Canyon, which has a self-guided interpretive trail with bridges over the canyon and spectacular waterfalls. So obviously we'll have to make a return visit soon, only this time we'll plan a two-night stay.

Maligne Canyon