Our summer program is designed to provide families the chance to spend quality time together in a safe and fun environment. The daily activities planned are engaging, recreational and educational for all ages.
Thank you to our sponsors and donors for their generosity. Without your support, our summer program would not be successful.
On June 29, 2015, our summer program kicked off with a trip out to the Motherwell National Historic Park located by Abernethy, SK. We enjoyed a picnic at the site before beginning out tour. The people at Motherwell were awesome in providing us with a true farm experience with their acting and storytelling. The kids got to pull red wagons from each point as we went through the clues on the scavenger hunt. The children enjoyed pumping water from the well into their buckets, visiting goats, pigs and baby roosters, and a wagon ride behind two majestic horses. If you haven’t visited Motherwell, I suggest that you should! It is a great experience and fun for the whole family!
Motherwell National Historic Park
Week 1, our families also enjoyed an outing to the Golden Mile Bowling Lanes, the Northwest YMCA Leisure Center and Play Structure and Candy Cane Park.
Week 2 started off with a trip to the RCMP Heritage Centre – admission passes and driving tour of the grounds were free of charge for our families thanks to the RCMP Heritage Centre. Our families enjoyed an afternoon at the new Soaked! Waterpark at Regina Travelodge. On July 9, I took the families to Wascana Marsh. We had an unexpected visitor from the University of Regina – Dr. Christopher Somers. He brought a variety of live snakes to show off to the kids! They were so excited – the moms, including myself, were a bit hesitant! After a quick picnic, we were introduced to a turtle who lives in the marsh and we got to hear how close some of the turtles were to us by using radio transmitters. Thank you to Kelsey for gearing up and treading into the marsh to retrieve a turtle, and to Sarah for the unique pond-dipping experience! On the other days of this hot July week, we spent the afternoons cooling off at the spray park and Massey Pool!
Soaked! Waterpark
Dr. Somers from the University of Regina
Kelsey treading into Wascana Marsh to retrieve a turtle!
Wascana Marsh
Week 3 we enjoyed a trip out to Echo Valley Beach, Dino Bouncers, the Glen Elm library branch for a afternoon movie, and on those hot days we cooled off in the afternoon at the Massey Pool and spray parks!
Week 4 started off great with a full day adventure at the Saskatchewan Science Center! Thank you to our sponsors:
Your generosity made this special day possible!
This week we also enjoyed a hot dog in the Victoria Park downtown, visited the farmer’s market, had gym time with instructors at Amazing Adventures and went to the Minion movie at Galaxy Cinemas!
We finished off July with Dino Bouncers, entertainment and lunch in the Victoria Park downtown and the Queen City Exhibition! A special thank you to Sherwood Co-op and EVRAZ Place for providing admission and ride passes to our families! You sure made all the children at SOFIA House smile!
Sherwood Co-op
EVRAZ Place
Our 6th week of summer program began after the August long weekend. During this week, our families cooled off with visits to the pools and spray parks and enjoyed ice cream treats from Milky Way and spent another afternoon bouncing off some energy at Dino Bouncers (a big hit with all the children!)!!
Week 7 was a scorcher in the Queen City! Record high temperatures found us cooling off at the spray parks and outdoor pools. One afternoon I took the families for a tour at the Government House. The children had fun searching for Jocko, Lieutenant Governor Amédée Forget‘s (1898-1910) pet monkey as we toured the house.
Our final week, Week 8, was a busy week. We started the week off quiet with a swim at Massey Pool and the next day I took families to Regina Beach, and we had a GREAT day! The weather was perfect – not too hot and not too cold. When we arrived, we had lunch at the Bluebird Cafe. The children displayed their best manners and I thank the staff at the cafe for their patience! After lunch we enjoyed the beach – swimming, building sandcastles and burying each other in the sand! Before we headed home, we stopped at Sundae Times for a special, yummy and cold ice cream snack! I planned a tour at the Mackenzie Art Gallery. Our guide was very knowledgeable and planned a great tour geared to the children who came and their moms! Throughout the galleries we had 2 stops to create a piece of artwork related to the gallery. The art on display is from David Thauberger‘s collection. At the end, we had a final ink project in the studio and got to take our masterpieces home! Our second last day, I invited Ashuna Mithal to SOFIA House to create some SandArt pieces that the kids and moms got to keep. The results are stunning as you can see below! I saved her information for SOFIA House’s Children’s Coordinator – hopefully she will be invited again in the future to do some more pieces in the future! I know I will be keeping in touch with her as my kids will love this simple, yet entertaining and creative form of art! Our final day of summer programming came too quickly. We celebrated by going to Chuck E Cheese for a pizza party and entertainment. The families had a blast!
Art Project – Mackenzie Art Gallery
Ink Art – Mackenzie Art Gallery
SandArt with Anusha Mithal from Regina, SK
SandArt
SandArt – Final piece!
SandArt – final piece!
Chuck E Cheese – summer-end party!
On a final note, I had a fantastic summer with the families from SOFIA House and I am sure I will cross paths with these wonderful women and children in the future once I complete my degree in Elementary Education and start teaching in Regina. xoxo
I would like to acknowledge the City of Regina in cooperation with Saskatchewan Lotteries for the money SOFIA House receives through the community grant program each summer for the Children’s Summer Program.
