Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in toronto, CN

99 Things To Do With My Daughter Before She Grows Up

by Katie

March 02, 2009

Way back when I started blogging for Savvy Source Toronto, I started a list of 100 things to do with my daughter in Toronto before she got too old to want to spend a weekend or evening with me. You just know that any day now she's going to figure out I'm not cool at all and ditch me for her friends.  So before that time comes, I've got to get cracking at this list.  The first thing I've done is update it.

I decided to break the activities into categories like Classes, Touristy, Festivals to be all organized (which for me is a major accomplishment these days).  Some a bit closer to the five and up age categories but it's nice to have this be a reminder.  Maybe I should print this off and put it on the fridge for those days when we are all saying "there's nothing to do."  In Toronto, there is always something to do.  I think my favourite category in here is the Farms for City Kids, we hit a few last year and had a blast.  Gigi loved the hayrides, I loved the fresh produce, and we both loved the animals.  Nothing beats escaping the city, even if it is only for a couple of hours.

1. National Ballet of Canada (Art, Film, & Drama)
2. Art Gallery of Ontario
3. Solar Stage Children's Theatre
4. Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People
5. National Film Board Mediatheque
6. CN Tower (Be a Toronto Tourist)
7. Centre Island
8. Ride the entire subway system
9. Canada's Wonderland
10. Hockey Hall of Fame
11. Medieval Times
12. Ontario Place
13. Honest Ed's
14. Kensington Market
15. Toronto School of Circus Arts (Art/Pottery/Circus Classes)
16. Glitter Pie Art Studio
17. Art Garage Inc.
18. Messy Hands Art Studio
19. Avenue Road Art School
20. Academy of Artisans
21. Cedar Ridge Creative Centre
22. Gardiner Museum Pottery Classes
23. Andrews Scenic Acres (Farms for City Kids)
24. Chudleigh's Apple Farm
25. Downey's Farm Market and Winery
26. Forsythe Family Farms
27. Whittamore's Berry Farm
28. Black Creek Pioneer Village
29. Taste of the Danforth (Festivals and Special Events)
30. Word on the Street
31. Nuit Blanche
32. Festival of South Asia
33. Sleepover at Toronto Zoo Serengeti Bush Camp
34. Sleepover at the ROM
35. Sleepover at the Ontario Science Centre
36. Sprockets TIFF for Children
37. bunch family parties
38. March Break Spring Fling at the Rogers Centre 
39. Royal Ontario Museum (Museums)
40. The Ontario Science Centre
41. Riverdale Farm
42. Todmorden Mills Heritage Museum and Arts Centre
43. Bata Shoe Museum
44. Campbell House Museum
45. Casa Loma
46. Crawford Lake (reconstructed Iroquoian Village)
47. Gibson House Museum
48. Fort York
49. Markham Museum
50. Toronto Botanical Gardens
51. Toronto's First Post Office Museum
52. Blue Jays game (Support the Home Team)
53. Toronto Maple Leafs Game
54. Toronto FC Game
55. Toronto Zoo (Animals and Zoos)
56. Bowmanville Zoo
57. High Park Zoo
58. Humber Arboretum  - Centre for Urban Ecology
59. Jungle Cat World Zoological Park
60. Mountsberg Wildlife Centre
61. Animals with Whimz
62. Richmond Hill Wave Pool
63. YogaBuds (Anything Active)
64. The Yoga Sanctuary
65. Plunge aquatic centre (Collingwood)

Obviously if you have made it down this far, you've figured out that I haven't made it to 99 yet.  I'm still working on it and am totally open to suggestions (help a girl out, would ya?).  Read more...

Inspiring gifts that you can only get in Toronto

by Katie

December 16, 2008

To steal a much abused phrase, the following gift ideas that I'm going to suggest for this holiday season, are the kind of gifts "that keep on giving" ( or at least, they keep on giving for the next year ) and they are also all specific to Toronto. Yes, I'm talking memberships to really interesting, fun, family-friendly or kid-friendly places in Toronto. The Royal Ontario Museum was the first  Read more...

One fish, two (thousand) fish

by Katie

August 19, 2008

I'm pretty sure the first time my daughter saw a live fish, it was one of those tanks in the grocery store - you know, the DOOMED fish. She thought they were cool and got a huge kick out of how they were swimming in the same direction. I don't have the heart to tell her why they are there but she will figure it out. We are full-on in the "WHY?" phase of questions and I know it's coming soon. Oh  Read more...