4 Calgary-area activities for kids who love to learn

By Shane Flug

The sun, our star that makes life possible on this fragile celestial body we call Earth, is only one out of an estimated septillion that inhabit this 13.8-billion year-old observable universe. While that fact may stir existential crises in us grown-ups, it also provides near-infinite opportunity for curious kids – and kids-at-heart – to explore our tiny area of this cosmic playground, discovering how it all works. Here are 4 ways for kids in Calgary and area to start exploring. [Photo credit: iStock]

When it comes to LEGO, your imagination is the limit – and the people at Bricks4Kidz know this. From architectural to robotic build models, this organization nurtures kids’ budding STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) minds, starting as young as three years old, through birthday parties, camps, workshops and after-school and Saturday programs. Check their schedule for upcoming courses.

While making a baking soda-vinegar volcano in class never gets old, the fun doesn’t have to start (or stop) there. August marks some last chances to sign up your child for a summer camp at local post-secondary campuses and other institutions that serve a variety of STEM interests.

At the University of Calgary, kids entering Grades 1 and 2 can get their hands dirty dissecting an owl pellet and building a simple electrical circuit at their hands-on Early Minds camp. Try your waitlist luck for this camp and also browse all other camps for any last-minute available spots.

At SAIT, count down to August 21 to 25 and sign up your 4th to 6th grader for the weeklong Math Explorers camp where campers will explore the endlessness of Pi and learn to decipher pictograms. Junior-high students can delve into the virtual world in their two-week 3D Modelling… to the MAX! camp August 14 to 25, where campers will create 3D animations, models and games. See their calendar for the full camp schedule.

Girls ages eight to 10 can dare to engineer and test a chair that can hold a tiny human’s weight made with only cardboard at the Spark Girls – Engineer It! camp at TELUS Spark August 21 to 25.

Too late? No problem! Over the school year, enrichment providers such as Mad Science of Southern Alberta offer in- and out-of-school programs. Check their website for coming opportunities.

Some extinct species just had astronomically bad luck. Around 66 million years ago, the dinosaurs were wiped out when an asteroid collided with Earth – triggering the start of the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction event, leaving their remains waiting to be uncovered.

The Royal Tyrell Museum of Palaeontology in Alberta’s Badlands is abundant with skeletons and fossils from that distant past. Take the family on a day trip to Drumheller and check out Dinosaur Hall. See dumb-luck discoveries we’ve made simply by digging holes at work at the new Grounds for Discovery exhibit. Also see fossils in the ground on their Dinosite hikes.

_________________________________________________________________

More ways to have family fun in Calgary in August:

• The best of Calgary this August
• Your guide to family fun on a budget in Calgary
• 7 free ways to have fun in Calgary this summer

_________________________________________________________________

On August 21, the continental U.S. will see a total solar eclipse and Calgary will be close to this lack-of-light show with the moon covering around 80 per cent of the sun’s disk at 11:33 a.m.

Both the University of Calgary and TELUS Spark will be throwing viewing events where you can view through proper protective eyewear and telescopes (no, sunglasses aren’t enough). At TELUS Spark, keep the solar show going during their planetarium show on our sun.

Plan a late bedtime before the big day by viewing Saturn and summer constellations like Perseus during the U of C Faculty of Physics and Astronomy’s Milky Way Days August 18 to 20 at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory in Priddis.

If it’s in the stars, your little stargazer may just continue this family pastime and tell their future children to look up when it’s Alberta’s turn to be in a totality zone August 23, 2044!

It can be intimidating to wrap our heads around the universe's sheer size, not to mention how it all works. But like any grand voyage, discoveries made along the way are what make the ventures fun – so take your child to play in Calgary’s microscopic part of this galactic sandbox!