Family Fun in OntarioFamily fun in Ontario comes in a wide variety of flavours. Here are some top picks from the locals!
Me too! This feeling came over me again while I was researching places that will thrill kids in Ontario. “Research” sounds so official! By that I mainly mean pestering my friends and relations with children to give me their best family-tested recommendations for the top spots for family fun in Ontario (thanks everyone!). These are places Ontario families visit again and again … some buy season passes to save money. During these chats I’ve discovered that Ontario boasts more places catering to kids’ entertainment than I ever imagined. NOTE: I will be adding to the Family Fun section as my kind helpers discover more places they love! Amusement parks + Theme Parks = Family Fun! Canada's Wonderland is the name on everyone’s lips when it comes to amusement parks. My friends’ kids love the rollercoaster rides at Canada’s largest park in Vaughan Ontario, just a 30-minute drive north of Toronto. One of the oldies but goodies, Ontario Place, is easy to reach from downtown Toronto. Same goes for Centreville on Centre Island (fun for the younger kids, according to my pal D who makes this an annual pilgrimage). For more details, see my article on Amusement Parks. Water Parks in Ontario Zoos in Ontario & Animal Sanctuaries Do you love seeing exotic animals up close? Then you’ve got to go to the Toronto Zoo. It’s a bit of a trek out to the east end of Toronto, but it’s well worth it. I didn’t have to ask anyone about this place because it’s one of my all-time favourites too, with or without the kids. This zoo is quite simply spectacular … and huge. Warning: DO NOT ATTEMPT to see the whole place in one day. Pick and chose your priorities or you’ll collapse. Some other animal-themed favourites in Ontario are the Niagara Falls Butterfly Conservatory and the Bird Kingdom in Niagara Falls. For more information about beasties, see my article on Zoos in Ontario. Outdoor activities & sports When I was a kid my parents took us camping every summer and one of our favourite things to do was to go hiking in the woods with my dad. If you’re looking for outdoor adventures then definitely check out Ontario parks, where you can find everything from a sedate stroll along a boardwalk around Crawford Lake to a Wolf Howl in Algonquin Park. Love swimming? Explore our beaches (Sauble Beach and Wasaga Beach are two of the biggies). Or try that great Canadian sport, canoeing. How about kayaking? Or riding a seadoo? You can rent equipment in many Ontario Parks or at adventure outfitters across the province… no need to buy your own. Do your kids love professional sports? Take in a game of hockey, baseball, football, basketball or soccer. Fans MUST visit the hockey shrine, the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. (Little-known fact: I used to work at this great shrine when it was located at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds. I helped the curator write up descriptions of the donated museum pieces for the database. But that’s another story…)
Instead of TELLING your kids about life in the past, you can SHOW them. And you don’t need a time-machine to do this … unless that’s what you call Ontario history museums. I’m not talking dry boring display cases full of carefully-labelled artifacts. I’m talking INTER-ACTIVE LIVING HISTORY MUSEUMS. Here are a few that will catch and keep your kids’ interest: Casa Loma Toronto (How the Rich Lived) Poorhouse Exhibit at Wellington County Museum (How the Poor Lived) Halton County Radial Railway – Ride the Rails Down Memory Rail Be a Pioneer at Black Creek Pioneer Village & Westfield Heritage Village Uncle Tom’s Cabin & other Black history sites Aboriginal village at Crawford Lake Fort Henry in Kingston, or Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake - War in the 19th century Ontario Culture: Arts & Science Is your son or daughter a budding Michelangelo? Take them to the Art Gallery of Ontario for inspiration. If they’re in the dinosaur phase or the Egyptian phase of childhood, a trip to the Royal Ontario Museum will make a huge impression. And for your Little Einstein, how about visiting the Ontario Science Museum, one of the most popular family fun destinations in Toronto? All of these museums have special interactive programs geared to kids. For live entertainment your kids may enjoy a powwow (where they can even join in the dance!), a show at the Lorraine Kisma Theatre for Children, or a black-light theatre production of the wonderfully amusing family theatre Famous People Players. You might also be interested in: Amusement parks
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