Family Day will be spent hiking trails to breathtaking waterfalls in the Kananaskis for one Okotoks family.
Susan Kleinsasser said it’s not uncommon for her family to spend the statutory holiday outdoors and away from electronics. Last year was spent at the zoo. This year the Kananaskis.
It’s her family’s way of putting away electronic distractions and spending quality time together.
For the last four years, the Town has challenged families to disconnect from electronics and connect with nature. The Town is also offering free activities for its Family Day Unplugged event at the Okotoks Recreation Centre Feb. 15 in partnership with Family Community Support Services.
Kleinsasser said she gets her four boys away from electronics and into the great outdoors whenever she can.
“It’s not really a challenge for my family,” she said. “We do it all the time. Every summer I unplug everything.”
With the recent warm weather, her boys spend more time building forts near the river with their friends than playing video games.
“When it’s nice like this in the winter I’m like, ‘Go outside,’” she said. “Sure enough, all weekend the guys were at the river building forts.”
The Town of Okotoks is prepared for any type of weather on Monday with a variety of indoor and outdoor activities in its effort to get citizens disconnected from computers, cell phones, iPads and television screens and connected with each other.
“The rec centre offers all these free activities from swimming to skating,” said Mark Doherty, community events coordinator. “All of the activities are to get out and get active.”
The free activities include swimming, shinny hockey, aquafit classes, gym time, indoor skating, outdoor skating with fire pits, free hot chocolate and popcorn, cross country ski lessons and waxing demonstrations and an Okotoks Hockeyville photo booth.
“The Town offers that at the rec centre, but we certainly encourage kids and parents to get out for a walk, read a book and just connect with the family,” he said.
In addition, Okotoks’ elementary and junior high schools have accepted the Town’s challenge to accumulate as many unplugged hours on Family Day as possible and the class with the most unplugged hours in each school wins a pizza party.
“We’re trying to create an awareness both with kids and parents, just how much time is actually spent on electronics these days,” Doherty said. “Hopefully we can reduce the time the kids and parents spend on electronics.”
Doherty said feedback from past years’ Family Day Unplugged has shown it hasn’t been easy for youngsters to disconnect from their electronics and that many parents haven’t given much thought as to how much time is spent on them.
For Kleinsasser, it was while taking her younger son’s iPad away one day that she realized how attached he was to his electronics.
“He thought the world was going to end,” she said. “That was it for me. Timers came on and we completely unplugged all summer.”
Thanksgivings are often spent at a cabin with no Wi-Fi, with the family playing board games and going hiking, said Kleinsasser.
“It’s important to do that every once in a while to reconnect as families,” she said. “Things start coming out that’s going on that wasn’t so easily discussed before like problems in school or someone likes a girl, then having fun and telling jokes and reminiscing about past trips that we’ve taken. Just being out in nature really centres us.”
Kleinsasser is glad the Town is pushing the same values.
“I think it’s wonderful,” she said. “It helps remind people that your kids don’t need to be attached to electronics.”
Once families plug back in on Feb. 16, they are encouraged to visit the Town’s Facebook page to explain how their family unplugged on Family Day.
One will be randomly selected on Feb. 17 to win a 10-visit family pass to the recreation centre.
Activities at the recreation centre are free, yet the Town is accepting donations for the Recreation Free Assistance program, which supports families unable to afford recreation activities.
For more details about Family Day Unplugged or for ideas on how to spend the day unplugged go to www.okotoks.ca
