There are so many museums in Ottawa I feel that we are very lucky. It’s so nice to be able to take the kids to different museums, explore nature, science, history and more, and while they have fun we sneak in some learning. We haven’t been to all of the museums in Ottawa yet, which seems silly considering how many years I’ve been a parent, and how many times a year we go to a museum.
On Canada Day, we decided to skip the crowds and went to the Billings Estate Museum, a place we had never been. The Billings Estate was home to 5 generations and tells the story of the Billings family who lived there. We learned about their participation in the war, family feuds and saw an ice house (that will remind young families of Frozen. Trust me.)
While the Museum itself isn’t huge, it packs a punch in the ‘interesting’ category. It’s a snapshot of Ottawa in days gone by, and my kids were very interested to learn more. They asked questions and participated in games that children their ages would have done hundreds of years ago. One game we played outside was called the Game of Graces which apparently was played by young girls in the early 1800s and was invented in France (thank you Wikipedia). Both my kids had fun with the simple ring and sticks!
The Estate is host to a high tea as well and that was very popular when we were there. While we didn’t participate this time, I think we would make a trip back sometime to try it.
The grounds are lovely and there’s lots of outdoor space for little ones who like to run around. It’s a place we’ll check out again, this family likes their history and the Billings Estate Museum had a lot of that to offer. The Museum is part of the Ottawa Museum Network. While we have been to the Cumberland Museum before, we haven’t been to many others – looks like we have some work to do!
