There’s lots going on in the city for Monday’s Family Day.
Family Day at the Art Gallery of Guelph will be all about the sense of wonder.
The gallery at 358 Gordon St. opens its doors at noon Monday for an afternoon of activities that promise to be “wonderific” for children of all ages, and bigger people as well. All activities are free.
The themes of silence, sound and sight explored in the gallery’s current exhibitions will drive a series of organized and self-guided activities from noon to 5 p.m.
For those leaning more towards the self-guided side, a “passport to art” will be available at the information desk that will act as a kind of map for a search-and-find scavenger hunt. Of course, as you search you can also look at the art that is currently on the walls and floors.
Organized activities start at 1 p.m., with an eight-minute screening of the video “All Together Now,” which is all about teaching viewers the basics of sign language.
Starting at 2 p.m. there will be guided tours of the current exhibition every 30 minutes. The shows include A Sense of Wonder, Colin Carney: Presence, and Contrarieties and Counterpoints: Recent Paintings by Melanie Authier.
The Guelph YMCA-YWCA will hold a variety of activities from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with fun names like “wiggles and giggles,” and “family zumba.” There will be youth cycling, family curling, fun things for youth all morning, and lane swims and preschool swims in the pool.
The Royal City Cooperative Preschool is hosting its annual skating party from 4-5 p.m. on Monday at the Gryphon Centre Arena on the University of Guelph campus. The family-friendly event is an opportunity to get little ones on the ice with other little ones. It’s $5 per person or $20 per family.
There will be two opportunities for pickleball fun at the Evergreen Seniors Community Centre at 683 Woolwich, the first from 10 a.m. to noon, and then from 1-3 p.m. in the centre’s gymnasium. Pickleball is a racquet sport similar to badminton or tennis. Players use solid paddles to hit a perforated ball, similar to a wiffle ball, over a net.
The West End Community Centre at 21 Imperial Road S. will be open starting at 10 a.m. on Family Day. A series of activities will run until about 3:30 p.m., including swimming, public skating, family shinny, family yoga, arts and crafts, and an open gym. There will be live music, and a magical Quidditch match. The cost is $5 per person, or $20 for a family pass.
After Monday’s Guelph Storm game there’s the free Family Day Skate and Star Performance, hosted by Olympic silver medalist Elizabeth Manley and featuring some of the country’s top figure skaters. It should get underway at around 6 p.m. at the Sleeman Centre.
Monday’s weather forecast calls for sun and cloud, with a high of 5C during the day.
