Activities

Order any Entertainment Book today and get $15 off all books plus free shipping. These are great to get you out trying new restaurants and activities, and it might even be worth grabbing one for your next travel destination (Florida, Hawaii, New York, Toronto!).

It's Home Depots' FREE Kids Workshop weekend this Saturday, January 14th from 10am - 12pm. This is a favorite for our kids with all the banging, glueing, project pin and Home Depot kids' sized apron, it's very cute and FREE. The projects are set up for kids ages 4 - 12 and this weekend they list online that the project is building a savings shed and you must pre-register online now as well, check here for details. NOTE: After attempting to preregister at several stores, it appeared as though every location was full. I called ahead to a couple of stores and they both said not to worry about pre-registering and to just come on by and there would be a project for our kids to build (might not be the exact same one as described on the website, but you're never guaranteed to get that one any way).

On now, till January 16th, get any 2012 Entertainment Book at 35% off plus $1.99 shipping. These are a great way to save your family money on eating out and family friendly activities, plus it's always worth looking at a book for any destinations you may be planning on travelling to as well!

If you're a family of skiers or belong to a ski club, the Canadian Ski Council's Discount Lift Pass Program might offer you some significant savings this season. You buy tickets in groups of 20 at a big discount depending on the ski hill and they can be used with a group. Check out the details here. Ski hills with discount passes are all across Canada. Act quick if you're interested as they have limited amounts and when they're gone, they're gone!

This was a huge hit with our kids last year, and it looks as though they've changed it up a bit again. Sympatico.ca's Magic Santa creates very personalized emails from Santa to your kids. Get ready to video your kids watching their email video from Santa, it really is a priceless Christmas memory. You can also send more humorous ones to your friends, collegues and spouse. Click here to start this fun Christmas magic!

If you're looking to add a little magic (courtesy of Canada Post) to your little ones holiday experience, have them write or email a letter to Santa (via Canada Post) and they'll send a note back (from Santa of course!). This is the first year our guys will be doing this and we're pretty excited. You can get all the details at Santa's Corner on Canada Post. Thanks Canada Post for this fun, FREE service.

If you're buying for a movie buff this holiday season, you might want to check out Empire Theatres' holiday duo offering. Buy $30 in gift cards and get $30 in coupons, including; buy one admission, get one FREE, $4 off general admission and lots more. We're about to get an Empire Theatre near us soon so this might show up in a few stockings around here!

If you've got kids who love to ski or are just learning to, check out the Canadian Ski Council's FREE SnowPass for grades 4 & 5 students (9 and 10 year olds, born 2001 or 2002). You can apply for up to 3 FREE ski passes at places across Canada ($22 administrative fee).

If your kids (or you) love your video games, but not the cost associated with buying new versions / games each year, you might want to look into the various game trade-in programs at electronic stores in Canada. Future Shop, EB Games, Best Buy, Rogers Plus, Blockbuster and probably others all have trade-in programs for instore credit or upgrading to newer versions. Many have special offer days (bonus trade-in values), or FREE items for trade-ins. We came across this site, www.tivs.ca which lists the trade-in value of games at each store so you know what kind of value you're looking at. Having said all this, there are obviously lots of used games to enjoy out there as well, something to consider when you're looking for something different to play.

Toys R Us is hosting a big Thomas Playdate this Saturday, October 8th from 11am - 1pm. The website says there will be stories, colouring and a small giveaway (100 per store). Excludes Express and Quebec locations (sorry!). Contact your local Toys R Us store to confirm.