Plenty of ways to keep cool this summer

Elmwood-East Kildonan

It’s summer, the kids are out of school, and everyone needs to keep cool.

The City of Winnipeg offers many wonderful free ways to have fun and connect with your community during July and August, and for this month’s ward report, I want to highlight some of the great free recreation options in and nearby the Elmwood-East Kildonan ward.

First up, spray pads are open, seven days a week from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., making them a great spot to spend time, almost any time. Our closest spray pads are Valley Gardens Community Centre and Bronx Park, but there are many others throughout the city.

Wading pools are also open, and kids aged 12 and under and their parents/guardians are invited to use them. In our ward, you’ll find wading pools in many parks, including Braeside Park, Elmwood Park, Elmwood Winter Club, Keenleyside Park, King Edward Park, Morse Place Community Centre and Tomlinson Park. As wading pools have shorter operating hours and are more susceptible to weather- and maintenance-related closures, it’s a good idea to check the wading pools website for hours and any unexpected closures before you attend.

Elmwood Kildonans Pool also offers two free swim times per week from now until Sept. 5. On Friday evenings, there’s free youth swim and waterslide (ages nine to 19) swim from 7 to 9 p.m., and Saturday afternoons, there’s a free public swim for all ages, 3:30 to 5 p.m.

Regardless of the weather, any day is a great day to visit the library. There are tons of free programs happening at Winnipeg Public Library’s 20 branches, like summer dance party story time, multilingual story times, Manitoba Underground Opera and much more. Many youth programs are geared at capturing kids’ attention with themes they already love, like LEGO, Minecraft, Magformers, and the Babysitters Club. There’s truly something for everyone. Some programs require registration and others are drop-in. Check out the library’s website to learn more.

Also happening at WPL this summer is the TD Summer Reading Club, which runs until Sept. 5. Kids can pick up a free reading kit from any branch, which includes stickers, an activity notebook and reading tracker. Special Summer Reading Club programming is also scheduled.

The city also runs free children’s and youth drop-in programming over the summer. At East Elmwood Community Centre and Prince Edward School, Children’s Free Play will offer drop-in arts, crafts, games, sports, outdoor activities and more for kids ages six to 12 years old. East Elmwood CC also hosts the Youth Action Centre for teens ages 13 to 17. Come for sports, crafts, board & video games and special events. Check out the Summer 2026 issue of Priceless Fun at Winnipeg.ca, or call 311 for the most up-to-date info.

There are also many great community events happening throughout Elmwood-East Kildonan this summer. I keep a list of upcoming events on my website at emmadurandwood.ca/events/. Know of one I’ve missed? Please give my office a call at 204-986-5195.

Have a safe, healthy and happy summer!