The New Year starts with new beginnings and resolutions for families. Chicago’s winters are known to be cold and snowy. It can be difficult to find a fun and healthy activity to do with the whole family. Urban areas such as downtown Chicago can have stunning urban parks for exercise and entertainment.
The Millennium Park in downtown Chicago has a wonderful ice rink open to the public for free. It is open from mid November to March 10, 2013 with 11,000 visitors each year to the rink. Forgot your skates don’t worry they are $10 each. The current skate hours are Monday thru Thursday 12pm-8pm, Fridays 12pm-10pm. Saturdays and Sundays 10am-9pm. Children are able to refresh their appetites and quick their thirsts at the Park Grill and Café. Stop by the Park Café for sandwiches, hot chicken soup, or hot chocolate.
The Millennium Park was started as an idea in 1997 by Chicago former mayor Richard Daley. The original plan included 16 acre park and outdoor music venue in the traditional Beaux Arts style of Grant Park. The plan turned into 24.5 acre which is a stunning piece of architecture in Chicago.
Once skating is complete and you have filled your tummies with great food take a walk through this world class of park. Take a look at all of the amazing art sculptures throughout the park. After enjoying a day of ice skating one can make a wonderful art scene to secure this memory, whether it’s your child’s first time skating or their 100th time it serves as a great keepsake.
Objective: To show the strength of a family to conquer any new activity that may seem a little scary such as ice skating for the first time and creating a new tradition.
Materials
1. Textured blue or silver paper to serve as the ice rink.
2. Construction paper cut outs of family members, trees, and art sculptures
3. Glitter Glue/ Glue
Procedure:
1. Start a discussion on what you did during the ice skating event and what you saw on the walk through the park.
2. The child can take the blue or grey textured paper and use as your ice skating rink; glue the cut outs of family members, greenery, and sculptures to the blue paper. Use glitter glue to decorate the scene. Frame for a keepsake once dry.
3. Have children discuss what their favorite part of the day was and how they were able to conquer their fear of falling on ice. Discussion on how one can be strong to conquer their fears. Share experiences of conquering your own fears.
http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/ice_skating_at_...
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