With March Break happening this month from March 13-17, plan out an exciting week for the entire family! There are lots of activities for everyone in and around the Ottawa area, both indoors and outdoors.
Indoor Fun
Seven National Museums
There are seven incredible national museums in our capital to explore, with many offering specialized March Break activities and camps for children of various ages.
Choose from the Canadian Museum of History, the Canadian War Museum, The Canadian Museum of Nature, Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, the National Gallery of Canada and the Canada Science and Technology Museum.
The Canadian Museum of Nature is even hosting hands-on activities during March Break from March 4-19. Kids get to make their own paw print using modelling clay, partake in a scavenger hunt through the various galleries and play games.
NAC
The National Arts Centre in downtown Ottawa presents a variety of live programming including the Broadway musical Disney’s Aladdin (March 21-26).
Disney on Ice at the Canadian Tire Centre
Head just west of downtown to the Canadian Tire Centre to see Disney On Ice Presents Find Your Hero (March 9-12).
Hockey Games
There are two ways to see live ice hockey in Ottawa, and multiple games to choose from during the Ontario March Break! See the Ottawa Senators play a National Hockey League (NHL) game at the Canadian Tire Centre, or see young stars from the Ottawa 67’s play in the junior-level Ontario Hockey League (OHL) at TD Place at Lansdowne, in the Glebe neighbourhood near downtown.
City of Ottawa March Break Camps
March Break camps include a wide variety of activities, offered in English and French for children aged 4-14 years old. You can choose from both in-person and virtual camp options where children can learn new or enhance existing skills in activities such as skating, swimming, basketball, hockey, painting, drawing, junior science, cooking and babysitting.
With City of Ottawa Camp Energy and Camp Adventure, kids can get creative with crafts, sing songs, play interactive games and make new friends. Inclusive programming for all ages is also available. Through the new registration system, you can explore these camps and more by using filters for activity, time and day, age group, and location.
ACE Art Studio March Break Camp
Do your kids love getting crafty? Send them to an art camp this March Break! The ACE Arte Studio will be holding a Kids Art Camp from March 13-17 for kids ages 5-12. All supplies are included and your kids will get to display their creations from the week at the art show held on the last day of the camp.
Ottawa School of Art March Break Camp
Both the downtown Ottawa and Orleans locations of the Ottawa School of Art will be hosting March Break Camps for ages 7-17 with a variety of mediums. Keep your kids creative this March Break!
Outdoor Fun
Maple! Maple! Maple!
Olde Maple Lane Sugarbush
Visit the sugar shack, and watch the sap to syrup process unfold while enjoying taffy on the snow. Come take a walk, or snowshoe through over 2km worth of trails that will lead you through our beautiful property. Our sugar shack is an age-old log cabin, with a wood-burning evaporator, go inside and learn how maple sap becomes syrup. The sugar shack has been used to make maple syrup for over 200 years. Details
March 4th to April 16th
Stanley’s Olde Maple Lane Farm, 2452 York’s Corners Road, Edwards
$10.00 per person
Maple Fest
Proulx Maple & Berry Farm, a 3rd generation in the production of the real maple syrup and farm entertainment! Come for a fun day in the country… just minutes from the city!! – Enjoy the outdoor with 4-loops to choose from for walking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing – Fire pits – Play structures, maze, petting zoo and more – Visit the farm store and shop all of our local vendors and maple products. Details
March 13th to March 17th
Farms & Sugar bush hours: 9 am -4 pm Wednesday to Friday (Closed Monday-Tuesday)
Brunch & pancakes house: 9 am-3pm last seating 2 pm. No reservations accepted.
Proulx Maple & Berry Farm, 1865 O’Toole Rd, Ottawa
$13.30 per person
Fulton’s Pancake House and Sugar Bush
Fulton’s Pancake House and Sugar Bush is one of Lanark County’s best-loved and well-known sugar camps. Enjoy the quiet solitude and fresh air of our 400-acre sugarbush filled with young and decades-old maple, pine, spruce, cedar, white birch trees. Details
February 18-April 16, 2023
Fulton’s Pancake House – 399 Sugar Bush Rd., Pakenham
$10.00 per vehicle
Wheelers Pancake House
Come enjoy a meal, browse our Maple Heritage Museum and Forest & Farm Museum, look around our sugar camp, hike/snowshoe/cross country ski our nature trails, and buy our beautiful organic Maple Syrup! Details
Tuesday – Sunday, March 6 – April 30 + Apr 10
Wheelers Maple Products, 1001 Highland Line, McDonalds Corners
Hiking! Yes, even in the Winter!
Pinhey Forest
This is one of my favourite trails in the city regardless of the season!
Jack Pine Trail
- Trail 26, P9
- 3.1 km, Easy
This is a great family-friendly trail which boardwalks and marshes to go through. Beautiful towering trees and you can bring some seeds to feed the chickadees too.
Mer Bleue
There’s over 21km of trails at Mer Bleue, making it a great destination for winter hikes in Ottawa. Mer Bleue is the largest big and natural area in the capital and the second-largest bog in southern Ontario.
Gatineau Park- Try Snow Shoeing
Just a few minutes from downtown Ottawa, Gatineau Park offers one of the largest networks of trails in North America.
There is a fee to access the cross-country ski, snowshoe and snow biking trails in Gatineau Park. You can purchase a daily pass, or save with a season pass. Be sure to wear your pass in plain view.
The Log Farm
Step back in time at the Log Farm, a pioneer-style working farm located in the Nepean area just west of downtown Ottawa. Meet the farm animals, enjoy taffy on snow, take a wagon ride, collect maple sap, and see how syrup is made. There are also play areas for kids, self-guided tours of the farmhouse and a farm shop.
The Log Farm hosts its sugar bush season on weekends from March 4 to April 10, plus select days during the Ontario March Break. Capacity is limited by time slot; reservations recommended.
Ski and Snowboarding Camps
The Ottawa-Gatineau region has several downhill skiing and snowboarding centres within a short driving distance of the city—the closest is a 15-minute drive from Parliament Hill! Hit the hills for a few hours with the family, or sign up for special programming over the school breaks, including multi-day camps, as well as private and group lessons for different ages and levels.
