5 activities to do with kids on Labour Day weekend

Summer’s not over ’til it’s over! Make the most of your Labour Day weekend with these fun end-of-summer family activities.

1. Play lawn games at home or in a park

Break out the ladder ball, bocce, or frisbee for some friendly lawn games, find a hill to go roll down, or keep it simple and just play catch or kick a ball around. If your child is new to throwing or kicking, try these simple activities to help them learn and improve:

• Overhand catch
• Underhand catch
• Instep kick
• Side foot kick
• Soccer dribbling

2. Explore your neighbourhood

If you’re within a couple of kilometres of your children’s school or daycare, practice walking or cycling there and back. Even if your kids are too young to travel around the neighbourhood on their own, learning the route—and road safety rules—will give you reassurance when the day comes that they want to walk on their own or with friends.

If school is too far away for your child’s little legs, spend time exploring your neighbourhood on foot. Walking, cycling, scootering, or skateboarding to a playground, a local creek or hiking trail, or just over to a friend’s house will build your child’s confidence and help your family feel more connected to your neighbourhood too.

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Related read: 10 ways to make family cycling more fun this fall

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3. Go camping (even if it’s only in your backyard)

For many families, Labour Day marks the end of camping season. If you can’t get away for the whole weekend, why not try putting up a tent in your backyard? You can enjoy much of the fun of camping without leaving home. If you don’t have a backyard, why not allow the kids to set up a tent or build a blanket fort to sleep in?

4. Go for a family hike

Take a day trip to a provincial park, or just go for a walk on a nearby nature trail. Bring snacks, and challenge the kids to see how many birds and bugs they can spot, or how many plants they can name along the way!

More ways to make hiking fun:

• Try geocaching with kids
• Download apps to help identify plants and animals, map out new routes, or identify constellations on night hikes
• 8 tips for hiking with kids
• Try these nature activities

5. Go paddling

If you can run, hop, throw, catch, jump, and swim, then you can play in the water, dive, do scuba, play water polo, kayak, canoe, sail, surf, SUP, and more! The best way to help your child develop physical literacy in and on the water is to make sure they get lots of safe (and always supervised) opportunities to play in and around water from a young age. Why not take the opportunity to try a kayak, canoe, or stand-up paddleboard?

What to do if it rains on Labour Day?

Sadly, long weekends aren’t always sunny! Here are some ideas for things to do on a rainy Labour Day weekend.

Play indoor games

Grab some plastic containers, wooden spoons, and pots and pans and have a family drum circle, put on some tunes and have a family dance party, or hand your kids a roll of painter’s tape and challenge them to make an indoor hopscotch grid.

Here are a few more ideas for active indoor fun:

• Six games to play with a pair of socks
• Play balloon soccer inside or juggle balloons together
• Let your child swim in the bathtub

Go play in the rain!

Put on your rubber boots and raincoats and play outside anyway! Not sure what to do? Wet weather can be a lot of fun for kids: float boats in puddles, make mud pies, or go looking for worms. Just say “yes” to puddle play!