U of L’s Play Day offers variety
By Bobinec, Greg on February 18, 2020.
Herald photo by Greg BobinecYoung minds get creative as they build with different materials as part of some of the activities at the University of Lethbridge ninth annual Play Day, Family Day Monday. @GBobinecHerald
Greg Bobinec
Lethbridge Herald
The University of Lethbridge welcomed hundreds of families and their young children into the 1st Choice Savings Centre Monday afternoon for a day full of fun activities for their ninth annual Play Day.
Presented in partnership with North & Company LLP, Play Day is a free day of family fun featuring all of the amenities of the 1st Choice Savings Centre. With Family Day being a holiday, many families are left wondering what to do and the University of Lethbridge thought it would be a good day for the community to be welcomed back onto the campus.
“We have Play Day 2020, it is our ninth year that we have had Play Day, so it is a free event for families and kids, we typically gear towards the 12 and under zone,” says Abigail Shakespeare, Manager of Constituent Engagement, University of Lethbridge.
“There isn’t a lot going on throughout Lethbridge on Family Day because everything is closed, so we started producing this event a few years ago, totally free for families to come. We have 14 different activities plus food and tons of things going on for kids of all ages.”
Throughout the day, families were able to take in all of the different activities offered, from the pool, climbing wall, crafts, floor hockey, basketball, fort building and many other interactive activities.
“We have a science zone which features Destination Exploration run out of the university, we have a couple of our biology professors doing a couple of things. There is one called ‘Let’s Talk Science’ which is geared towards middle-aged kids, we have an arts and crafts zone run by our Art Department,” says Shakespeare.
“There is a ‘try your hand at something new’ zone which features hackie-sacks and hula hoops, we have a photo booth, and downstairs we have our pool and climbing wall open, along with a free ‘build where they are’ taking tons of cardboard and they follow this year’s theme of farms, so they are building barns.”
Pronghorn Athletics throughout Monday was offering 15 per cent off of their summer camps for people who registered on site, along with drawing free summer camps to many of the participants at Play Day. The University of Lethbridge enjoys bringing the young families to campus as many of them are not sure about how the university can benefit their family throughout the year.
“The university really is seen as a leader in the community and we want to continue leading the community. I think by offering something like this, it makes the university more accessible to families in ways they maybe wouldn’t know how to communicate with us,” says Shakespeare.
“And a lot of families don’t know that they can come here but they can, and we would also like to give back and provide this day free of charge. This community supports us so much and we want to give back.”
As many families headed out of the house to have a fun and memorable Family Day together, the University of Lethbridge welcomed all corners of the community to join together in a day of celebrating each other.
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