The Bushplane Kids Club officially launched Sunday afternoon, bringing parents and children to the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre for an afternoon of family-friendly activities.
“We want to get more local people to come down and realize that this is the place, this is the hub where we can, as a community, do stuff together and really enjoy it,” said Robert Downes, merchandise and customer care manager for the bushplane museum. “Even in the time of COVID, there’s enough room that nobody’s on top of each other, and we have a place where kids can come and actually do stuff and touch stuff and try stuff and learn things - and explore.”
Downes says the kids club will feature a new craft each week.
“We’ll always have things like colouring, we’ll always have the Makedo stuff - but we’re going to try to do a different sort of craft each week, just so there’s something different to come back for,” he said.
Sunday also marked the launch of the Ace Academy Flight Experience, a traveling exhibition that’s on loan from the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum for at least the next six weeks.
“You get to be a World War One fighting ace, and you control the plane with your arms and you try to shoot down the enemy,” Downes said.
The Bushplane Kids Club will run every Sunday from 2-4 p.m., with a costumed Halloween parade for the kids slated for Oct. 31. The club will then go on a two-week hiatus due to the upcoming craft show, but will return in mid-November.
“We thought we want to be able to create a safe, accessible, open environment in which everyone can have a good time, learn something and really see what’s changed and grown at the bushplane museum over the last 10 years. This is not the bushplane of my childhood, this is a completely different place,” said Downes’ wife Sarah Whalen, who volunteers her time to the Bushplane Kids Club. “We want it to be a community hub that is providing education, true local community and a safe, fun space for kids to connect.”
More information can be found on the Bushplane Kids Club Facebook page.