Virtual Camps for April Break in Ottawa

Although March Break was postponed, many families in the Ottawa area will instead participate in an April Break where teachers and students will be off from April 12 until April 16. During this time, the City remains vigilant about rising Covid numbers, and all-person day camps have been cancelled. But don’t dispair! There are still plenty of ways to keep the kids busy and hopefully take advantage of nicer April weather (if we are lucky!)

Here are some ideas on how your kids can spend April Break this year.

Old Ottawa South: Virtual Camp

At the Firehall (the Old Ottawa South Community Centre) is offering a virtual camp (ages 9-14) focused on conservation, learning about nature in your own backyard and how to help preserve it. Registration is available on their website, although some programs may have a waitlist only.

The Ottawa Public Library

The OPL is offering an amazing selection of online programming over the course of the entire week. For younger students, there will be virtual events offered daily, at multiple times during the day. Encourage your little ones to sing along with musical performances, relax with some yoga, create imaginative puppets, engage in conversations about popular books, get artistic and draw, dance and other inviting, interactive events. For teens, there’s also a variety of activities available all week long via Zoom. There’s no way anyone will declare boredom! Students aged 13-18 can learn how to do cosplay makeup, doodle, write a song, write poetry and more. Pre-registration is required, and events take place on Zoom.

City of Ottawa

The City of Ottawa is welcoming students during the April Break for virtual sessions. Various community centres across the City are creating engaging and fun activities involving games and crafts. For students who want to participate online, half day online camps like drawing and painting, coding, dancing, animation, LEGO building and more are available. Registration is available on the City of Ottawa website in advance.

Pawsitively Pets

Pawsitively Pets is offering a variety of virtual programming during April Break. From ‘Camp-in-a-Box’ for younger kids (4-8) to Virtual Junior Dog Trainer camps for kids 8-14, you’re sure to find the right camp for your little pet lover.

RoboGeeks

While not techically located in Ottawa, RoboGeeks is offering virtual STEM camps for kids 8-10 and teens 13-19 from 9 am to noon daily. Students will work from home with their own PC or laptop and need a Windows 10 operating system to participate.

Still thinking about other activities you can do together as a family over the break? Go for a nature hike together, load up on some fun reading material from a local bookstore or bond over your favourite take out pizza.