Families which often like to visit museums over the Christmas holidays will not have access to the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa this year but will be able to access activities and tours online. The museum will close on December 26, 2020 and reopen January 23, 2021 because of a lock down required by the government of the province of Ontario because of the pandemic.
While the public has only today and tomorrow, December 22 and 23, to visit its special exhibition Planet Ice: Mysteries of the Ices Ages, that exhibition will appear again at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto in the early part of 2021.
The skeleton of a blue whale is one of the specimens featured in a virtual tour of the Canadian Museum of Nature. (Pierre Poirier/Canadian Museum of Nature)
Virtual tours, activities on offer
While the Canadian Museum of Nature is closed, the public can visit Nature.ca/explore for nature-themed activities that include games, colouring pages and crafts. People can also go on virtual tours of the galleries and find out interesting facts about nature. They can also visit nature.ca/snowflakes to make digital snowflakes or a traditional paper ones, and to find out why no two snowflakes are ever the same.
While the Canadian Museum of Nature is closed, the museum offers online videos, games and activities like making a virtual snowflake. (Canadian Museum of Nature)
Research, exhibition development ongoing
While public activities and exhibitions will be closed to the public, the Canadian Museum of Nature will continue its other operations such as research, exhibition development and essential services such as animal care. These activities will continue throughout the time the museum is closed to the public in keeping with recommendations from the provincial government and public health officials.
Skeletons are among the treasures to see and learn about during the museum’s Virtual Open House tours. (Canadian Museum of Nature.)
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