By ALAN SHACKLETON
On a cool and grey Thursday morning, a small group of youngsters rode their bikes, skateboards and scooters in the Ashbridges Bay Skatepark while their parents looked on.
As the COVID-19 crisis shut down virtually all organized March Break activities, and social distancing becomes vitally important, spending time outside is one of the few activities still available to local families.
Beach area resident Derek Prinsloo was at the park with his sons ages seven and 10 on March 19 morning.
“We’ve been doing lots of bike riding and playing outside,” he said in explaining how he has been keeping the boys busy this March Break.
“We had been going to playgrounds earlier but decided there were too many places to touch on the structures so we’re not doing that anymore. We’ve had some Nerf gun battles, and some Nerf sword fights. We ordered some of those on Amazon.”
Prinsloo said living by the parks, bike trails and the Boardwalk are a help during the measures being taken to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
“At least we’re living here in a beautiful area in Leslieville and the Beach where there are lots of places to go outside and some great bike trails,” he said.
However, he admitted it was getting a bit tough to find things to do as all the normal type of March Break activities such as visiting with friends and extended family, going the movies, a museum or the zoo were not available.
“It’s hard for the kids as they can’t go and visit their friends and the other things they’d usually do on March Break,” said Prinsloo.
Movies pm television have also been a help, he said.
“We’ve been working our way through the Marvel movies at home, and we’re making it a special movie night for each movie. We’re trying to focus on making it a fun time together, and not a scary thing.”
Once March Break ends this week, schools will remain closed for at least the next two weeks in Ontario as a measure to stop the spread of COVID-19.
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