Fun for Families in Nova Scotia

Fun for Families in Nova Scotia

Fundy Geological Museum

The road that winds from Truro to Parrsboro passes farms, fields and spectacular ocean vistas. It is also a trip through time. The 16-meter tides of the Minas Basin have cut away the 200 million-year-old rocks, leaving giant sea stacks and caves, semi-precious minerals and Canada's oldest dinosaur bones exposed to the elements.

The Fundy Geological Museum is the perfect place to see those ancient geological riches. Fossilized dinosaur footprints, the world's first reptiles, giant insects and some of the oldest dinosaur bones on earth are all on display here. But the centrepiece of the museum is Project Prosauropod. Visiting families can play paleontologist and watch lab technicians as a the bones of a prosauropod dinosaur are painstakingly removed from their rocky tomb and assembled for display. "We package activities for families," says museum director/curator Ken Adams. "That could be a trip to look for fossils on the beach, a gallery tour or an exploration of a particular time period in Nova Scotia's geological history."

Joggins Fossil Cliffs

Three hundred million years ago the area around Joggins was a humid tropical forest filled with giant salamanders, the world's first lizards and two-meter long sow bugs crawling along the forest floor. Each year the massive Bay of Fundy tides expose a little more of the cliff face at Joggins, revealing ancient fossilized animals and plants from the Upper Carboniferous or Pennsylvanian Period. "This is the most important Carboniferous fossil field in the world," says John Calder, a geologist with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources. Today visitors can touch fossils as they walk the beaches at Joggins, or arrange for a guided tour at the local fossil museum.

Hiking in Highlands National Park

Ever walked 1000 kilometres in a day? In effect, that's what you are doing on some of the steepest trails in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The windswept taiga on the tops of the highland mountains duplicates a landscape that is usually found many hundreds of kilometres north of Cape Breton, while the lush Acadian forests predominate at the bottom of the trails. Some of the park's trails feature interpretive signs outlining historical and natural information about the area. At Corner Brooke a miniature waterfall offers great photo opportunities while Warren Lake is a haven for Cape Breton wildlife. But the real payoff on most trails is the view-spectacular vistas of Cape Smokey, Ingonish Island and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. You might even see a whale breach far off in the distance. For more information go to www.parkscanada.gc.ca

Fortress Louisbourg

When Louis XIV received a bill for the construction of Fortress Louisbourg, he reportedly said that he expected to see its towers rising about the Atlantic from his palace window. In the 1960's the government of Canada duplicated Louis' fiscal feat by painstakingly restoring the fortress on the Cape Breton coast to its original grandeur-creating the largest historical reconstruction in North America in the process. Today families can step back in time to the year 1744 and into one of the busiest seaports in the New World, meet fishermen, soldiers, servants and merchants and take part in a hands-on history lesson. Children can enjoy games and craft activities at the Children's Interpretive Centre while parents take their time and explore the fortress. The whole family can even sit down for a traditional 18th century meal at one of three period restaurants on the site.

World Circus at the Museum of Natural History

Who doesn't love the circus? All summer long the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History will magically transform itself into the Big Top as it plays host to The World Circus Exhibit. Billed as a child-sized multicultural circus, the exhibit is a production of the Canadian Children's Museum of the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Children can check out the trapeze, become a clown or design their own circus poster. Throughout the summer months, the museum will also host demonstrations by the artists and performers of the Atlantic Cirque Agency and School, including acrobatics, balancing acts and contortion moves. And on June 22, juggler Michael Hirschbach will present an illustrated talk on the life of a circus performer.

Sherbrooke Village

Who wouldn't jump at a chance to step back in time-back to the days of the fictional town of Avonlea, when the pace was slow and uncomplicated. At Sherbrooke Village a whole village has been restored to the way it was before the First World War. Sherbrooke was a boom town in the 1860s after large gold deposits were discovered along the St. Mary's River. Today, Sherbrooke Village features more than 25 fully restored buildings, including a doctor's office with turn-of-the-century medical instruments, a saw mill, a church and a print shop. Local crafts can be purchased at the Company Store Emporium and visitors can have their picture taken in period costume at the Ambrotype Studio or dine at the Sherbrooke Hotel. The courthouse even holds real court cases. And the village is filled with interpretive guides and craftspeople in 19th century costumes. There are plenty of regularly scheduled family activities throughout the summer months.

Upper Clements Park

Since it first opened its doors in 1988, Upper Clements Park has become one of Nova Scotia's favourite family attractions. The Tree Topper, Atlantic Canada's largest roller coaster travels 75 kilometers per hour through a natural stand of trees. A little closer to earth, the Sissiboo Sizzler lets thrill seekers ride a log flume. Kids can sample their favourite form of transportation , including The Evangeline Train, modeled after the first train to run throughout Nova Scotia, the Rock-O-Plane, the Red Baron Airplanes, Convoy Trucks and Antique Autos. For traditional ride lovers, there's the beautiful Carousel, a exquisitely restored turn-of-the-century showpiece that has become the park's official symbol.

Other popular attractions include indoor and outdoor mini golf courses, pulley swings, climbing towers, a playground, and performing buskers, musicians and other entertainers. A day at Upper Clements Park can also include a trip to the Upper Clements Wildlife Park, an excellent facility with more than 200 animals, large enclosures, hiking trails and a quiet, relaxing atmosphere.

The Discovery Centre

Turning science into easy-to-understand concepts is something the Discovery Centre does very well. The centre has always focused on high quality graphics and simple, hands-on demonstrations to explain scientific processes, rather than relying on lots of text. Over the years, young and old alike have stepped inside giant soap bubbles, navigated rooms distorted by optical illusions and rotated in chairs similar to those used to train astronauts.

Ross Farm Living Museum of Agriculture

Ross Farm was originally built in 1816 by Captain William Ross, a British soldier in the Napoleonic War who left the military to carve out a life in the highlands of Lunenburg County. Five generations of his descendants worked his farm in New Ross before the Nova Scotia Museum took it over in the 1960's. History lives in more than just a figurative sense here. The working farm preserves a number of heritage breeds of livestock, including a variety of chickens, sheep, hogs and even the small breed of horse that was originally brought to Nova Scotia by the Acadians. All are breeds that would otherwise die out if places like Ross Farm did not continue to raise them. At Ross Farm museum, families can get up close and personal with their favourite barnyard animals. Kids can even plant their own pumpkin and come back and harvest it in time for Halloween.

For more information on the Museums go to:

Nova Scotia Museum, A Family of Provincial Museums
1747 Summer St. Halifax, NS B3H 3A6
museum.gov.ns.ca
Contact: Heather Capstick
Tel:(902)424-0125 Fax:(902)424-0560

Area Beaches/Sand Castle Festival

Nova Scotia is Canada's Ocean Playground after all, and what better place to jumpstart a family vacation but at one of the province's myriad of beaches. Grab a surfboard and hang ten at Lawrencetown Beach, splash in the warmest water north of Virginia at Gulf Shore or Fox Harbour, or build a sand castle at Queensland, Melmerby or Martinique. While you're at it, you might want to check out how the experts do it at the Clam Harbour Sand Castle Festival in August that draws some of the best sand castle builders from around the world.

To view the listing for family attraction go to Nova Scotia Family Attractions.