For the 12th year in a row, The Canadian Ecology Centre in Mattawa-Bonfield is hosting a weekend event, Christmas in the Forest. Because of the popularity of the event, they recently added a second weekend of fun. The first event runs December 4 - 6, and the second weekend is December 11-13. Click here for registration information. Laura Kielpinski at The Canadian Ecology Centre says that this event has become a tradition for many families, both local and out of town.
So what is Christmas in the Forest?
There is also a Saturday Day Rate which includes the daytime activities, park fees, and spaghetti lunch.
The fun starts Friday evening with a movie presentation and coffee house to sit back and relax. The weekend also includes a large offering of indoor and outdoor activities, many of which are self-guided so you can choose your own and never feel rushed. Indoors are games, cookie decorating, Christmas tree decorating, a hula-hoop workshop, countless Christmas crafts, and fun programming for children.
Outdoor activities include snowshoeing and tobogganing (snow-dependant), marshmallow roasting around a campfire while sipping on hot chocolate and signing along to classics. If you were lucky enough to visit the Canadian Ecology Centre as a child with your school, you’ve likely participated in a wildly fun outdoor scavenger hunt, which is another activity on the roster for Christmas in the Forest – and it’s one that your kids are guaranteed to love, along with other outdoor games. When the sun sinks below the trees, night time activities include a moonlit walk with night vision, and wolf howling to burn off the last of that excited energy.
So if you’re looking to start a great family tradition, and maybe make a full-out family reunion out of it, be sure to visit the full run-down of the weekend’s events here and register soon before this popular event is sold out!
