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...

A strategy is a must

by Katie

January 08, 2009

Honestly, most parenting references and books - health resources aside - turn me off. Some are a bit too preachy and others just aren't my "style" - even though I can't clearly define what exactly that style is called. We are definitely laid back parents but I've been known to suffer from helicopter-mom syndrome. We try not to raise our voices but oh boy that little lady sure does push the  Read more...

Top Five: Storytime in Toronto

by Katie

November 11, 2008

In my research for Toronto Savvy Source, this is probably one of the more difficult top five lists to pull together. Deciding which story times are the best in the city is pretty much impossible.  So I decided the easiest thing to do is to list the first five that I can think of off the top of my head.  Cop out? You bet, and without further ado here it goes (drumroll please): Mabel's Fables  Read more...

International Talk Like a Pirate Day & Applicious

by Katie

September 19, 2008

Did you know today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day ? Arrrrrr mateys, it surely is - arrrrrr. So how does one learn the basics to talk pirate, other than locating an authentic pirate which is not a method I'd recommend because um..... the teacher would be a pirate. So how one can safely learn to speak pirate is by practicing saying " arrrrrrrr " as much as possible, especially when  Read more...

Sibling Rivalry

by Katie

September 11, 2008

Gigi is an only child which makes me happy and sad. Happy because having one child is very manageable, affordable, and we have a lot of fun as a trio. But having one child is also sad for me, because both SB and I grew up in families with three kids and it was cool always having someone to do something with almost any time of day or night. That said, our situation isn't going to change anytime  Read more...

Playing referee

by Katie

September 08, 2008

There isn't one parenting manual / book I've read that completely satisfies me but there are a few that I turn to when stumped and in need of clarification for what is exactly wrong with my preschooler unit. I wish the instruction manual for this girl was easier to read, but apparently I must refer to a multitude of sources to find out exactly how she works, and even then, I'm not guaranteed a  Read more...