Outings with Toddler

Brooks Farms: checking out the animal scene!

Farms :) : one of my favourite spots to bring my toddler to! In a next life I would’ve lived on a farm so when it became much more possible to go visit farms with the family and have things for them to do, I was ALL for it! For toddlers, they get to see animals up close, have open fields to run in, ride on tractors and play on whatever play structure or toys they have available to kids. These are the farms I have been to with my kids and I will explain the perks of each!

Andrews Scenic

Toddler friendly farm with flower picking

Brooks Farms (Mount Albert): One of the first farms I started going regularly with my kids when we lived in Newmarket. They have animals, tractor rides, pick your own (seasonal fruit) and so many diverse options for kids to play - it’s ideal for diverse age group. There is a firetruck, play structures, sand play area, splash pad, trampoline etc. You can easily spend a whole day here. This place is quite spaced out so the only con is it may get tricky if you have to keep track of multiple kids on your own. It’s half price on Tuesdays! And they have events going on for different seasons.
Strawberry Creek Farm (East Gwillimbury): This farm is very simple but perfect for toddler outing. Has seasonal picking, a free playland area with sandpit, animals, pretend play settings etc, with fresh market to buy some groceries. All outdoors and playland is fenced in with lots of area to run, but still easy to keep an eye on your little one!
Earthbound Kids (Stouffville): Have lots of farm animals, pony rides and play structures & tricycle track. They have special toddler times seasonally. Super cute farm and great for parties!
Carl Laidlaw Orchard (Brampton): This one is great seasonally for fall time. Apple & pumpkin picking, baking apple pie on site, sand pit, sunflower fields. Lots of good spots to take some cute-sy pictures!
Downey’s Farm (Caledon): Also very kid friendly with outdoor play structures, wagon rides, trike track, mini golf, giant sandbox etc. Similar feel to Brooks Farm, but on the west end.
Chudleigh (Milton): If you want some insta-worthy spots, this place is it. Their giant slides and outdoor swings are super fun and scenic for pictures. Seasonal apple picking. They have lots of live music on the weekends as well. Lots of yummy goodies at their local shop to bring home.
Andrews Scenic Farm (Milton): Super toddler friendly! It’s big, but not too spread out so you can keep an eye on them. Hay stack, mini village (perfect size for toddlers), animals, sand pit etc. And you get to pick some beautiful flowers for your home! Win Win!
Springridge (Milton): Perfect for the little toddler boy…and girl of course. But it has soooo many trucks and tractors there, it is boy heaven. Huge sand pit with trucks, pedal tractors, tractor rides, tractors to sit on & make noise! And of course farm animals. Coffee stand for the moms with some goodies in their store ;)
Pingle’s farm (Hampton): Lots of pick your own and events occurring seasonally so check out their instagram page. They also have a lovely sunflower trail in August.
Knox family farm (Hampton): Great seasonal farm especially for fall time! They have farm animals, pony rides, wagon rides, super sweet story trail for kids. Cute spot for pumpkin picking and lots for the kids to stay busy and entertained.
Riverdale Farm (Toronto): Only ‘farm’ you will find in the city. Not an open field kind of farm, but they have a little trail with farm animals, barn and lots of nice walking trails if you want to go for more of a hike!

Great indoor space for toddlers to explore

Toronto Ripleys Aquarium

Aquarium: These are great for an indoor space for them to run around, view ocean life up close and see lots of beautiful vibrant colors in the tanks. Ripley’s Aquarium is an awesome choice in Toronto, is very kid friendly and stroller friendly for your visit. They have an indoor play structure for the kids as well as a large water table play area, open tank for the kids to touch the stingrays and various water tubes and structures to press buttons and interact with. Their jellyfish exhibit is a perfect spot for an epic photo along with the moving tunnel to view the sharks and stingrays.

Zoo: Always fun to go see exotic animals they don’t see on a regular basis. Generally zoos are outside with lots of space to run explore and the larger zoos typically have some kid friendly play structures.

Toronto Zoo is an obvious and great choice to visit! It’s quite large and you can easily spend a whole day there. Wagon and stroller friendly (expect for some of the indoor exhibits) and they are open at different times throughout the year even in winter months. They have a huge splash pad for the summer time and an outdoor animal carousel. If you do go visit the Canadian domain get ready for a bit of a hike!
Jungle cat world is outside of the city and you can prebook to interact with some of the animals.
African Lion safari is an all outdoor experience with elephants (if you’re okay with that?!) and can easily spend all day there.
Niagra zoo has an option to feed the giraffes during your visit
Reptilia is an indoor facility for viewing reptiles! Great for a rainy day and not an overwhelmingly large exhibit.

Conservation Park: Take a look in your local area for these conservation areas. These are great for hikes, trails and sometimes have events going on through certain seasons.

Bruce Mill (Stouffville): has nice trails, maple syrup festivals (spring/fall) and tree top trekking. Tree top village is ideal for older toddlers about 3 years and up for climbing, exploring and easy zip lining.
Kortright is another one for trails and maple syrup festivals in vaughan area
Mountsberg (milton) has beautiful walking space with unique background for pictures, outdoor animals like horses, outdoor endangered bird exhibit and a pond for netting tadpoles in the summertime.

Indoor playplace: My favourite indoor playplace in Aurora unfortunately closed down, but there are other good ones in similar area.

Kids cuckoo nest: Lots of climbing structures with giant slides, bouncy pads, soft basketball court, ride on cars, mini arcade games/rides and toddler area. The only con of this place is that it’s so large it’s hard to keep track of the kids and you need to go with your toddler on the larger structures.
LOL (stouffville & aurora): Indoor climbing structures, ball pits and slides in modern colours with toddler areas. Not as large in size.
Tiny town (Vaughan): Not your typical play place. It has more pretend play exhibits like a grocery shopping, hair dresser, vet clinic, plane etc., to get their imagination going and in montessori style in that it uses practical life in their play. Highly recommend!
Smart Moves (Barrie): Indoor climbing structures with some stem learning exhibits. Toddlers can still have fun, but geared toward older kids.
Kidsapia (Missisauga): Trendy play structure vibes with climbing structures, carousel, ball pits etc.
Minido (Markham): This place is definately a more boogie play structure and more pricey. But you get coffee and juice boxes included and a brand new and clean facility with uber modern play kitchen, slide, ball pit, dress up area etc! You pay for the experience.

indoor trampoline

They have toddler times available

Indoor Trampoline: Air riderz and sky zone have multiple locations across the GTA like leaside, missisauga, aurora, vaughan etc. The leaside location has toddler play time on the weekends so they can use the whole facility without fear of getting run over. Otherwise there is usually a designated toddler area for them to play in if going with siblings. Lots of fun jumping around and running! You do have to purchase their inexpensive grip socks when there which can be reused.

Parks, Splash Pad, Open Fields: The easiest places to bring your toddler along to without too much planning involved. Check out your local parks in your neighborhood. Whenever we move to a new area, I always investigate and take note of all the parks close by. Walking distance? Toddler friendly or more for older kids? Older or newer park? Switching up what parks you bring your toddler is added fun and change of scenery for you. If it has a splash pad for the summer months - added bonus! Toddlers love splashing around in the water. I find the more simple the splash pad is the better for a little toddler and not so much crazy water jets and massive buckets to dunk the kids. You can easily make a morning of it by bringing a picnic for you and your toddler:) And you don’t just have to stick to your neighborhood even though it is convenient. Branch out to other neighborhoods that may have better parks. You can also detour to other parks when running errands to break up the day and reward your toddler for being so patient while dragging him along! Open fields like soccer fields, long grass or hay fields always fun for them to be free and run without saying you can’t go here or there. Something so simple, but can be so gratifying!

Science centre or Museums: Indoor space for your littles to roam and explore. Science centre offers more freedom for the kids to touch things, interact and even better when they have a kid section! Museums can be also fun when they showcase dinosaurs, other ancient animals or civilizations.

Ontario Science Centre: Great spot to bring kids of all ages! Lots of space to run, explore and the kids area is huge and can easily spend your whole morning there. Lots of hands on exhibits for your toddler to play. Things like giant water tables, legos, play pretend grocery shopping, etc!
ROM: Beautiful large space and has the cool dinosaur exhibits for your toddlers imagination to roam free. Museums are bit trickier since you have to limit what they can touch. But they will hopefully be distracted by all the things they can look at !
Kids Museum: I see these more in the states, but they are basically like the kids section in the science centre. Lots of hands on learning and toys that are educational - everything kid friendly and usually in an indoor setting. Perfect rainy day activity! We went to one in Colarado when our kids were little and we easily spent a whole morning there when it was quite cold. Kids loved it!

Mall: Good rainy day spot or if you need to get some shopping done in the process (but don’t expect to get too much done!). Lots of space for them to run free and you don’t have to worry about any outdoor traffic. Although you have to keep an extra eye that they won’t run away into a store. Some malls like Upper Canada Mall have some indoor rides and nice food market to get some treats or lunch together. Some have toy & lego shops like Fairview. Woodbine mall has a huge indoor fair with bunch of rides friendly for little kids, but would recommend going first thing in the morning as it can get busy! Vaughan mills has Bass pro which is fun to look at the large fish tank and big boats on display. They also have Legoland which would recommend for older toddlers and Make a Bear store to make your own custom stuffy.

Places with Rides for kids: I would definitely recommend bring your older toddler like 2/3 years old to a kid friendly ride spot. You should always check your local area or neighbouring towns for fairs that pop up especially during the summer time! I would not recommend Wonderland for toddlers, at least 4 and up just because even with their kid section it can get so crazy busy so lots of waiting around in line ups! Same with the Exhibition.

Centreville: Highly recommend for older toddlers and younger kids! All outdoor on Toronto island and the ferry boat ride over is an event in itself! Rides are all younger kid friendly and you can easily accompany for kids on most of the rides. It’s also very spaced out so I find not as congested. Although summer time will for sure be busier.
Santas Village: Also a great spot for older toddlers and younger kids! In the Muskoka region. It’s again all outdoor and similar feel to Centreville although it’s all Santa themed! For added fun! Also has a fun splash pad on the beach! I’ve been there before several times and hasn’t been crazy busy. But to avoid any crowds weekdays are best and on days when the weather is not ideal i.e. overcast/chance of rain.

~Beach Life~

Muskoka region Bailey Street: one of our favourite beach spots!

Beach / Sandy shores: Especially in the summer time, beaches are fun for everyone especially for a toddler. Sand to dig in, shallow water to splash in! Remember to bring some sand toys along. Just be ready for sand to be everywhere! Even on the ‘off season’ it’s nice to walk by with usually some local parks close by to play at. The Beaches are a classic in the city beach with lots of boardwalk to explore and queen st to walk and get some ice cream (Ed real scoop). Scarborough bluffs are also very picturesque with a beach at Bluffer’s park and some trails leading around. On weekends they do get busy and they close down Brimley rd when it gets too congested so get there early! Out west: Port credit, Richard Memorial park and Bronte Heritage Waterfront Park are awesome beach spots in oakville and missisauga area. Bronte has a very cute main street and Duckies ice cream spot that is delish! Keswick also has a lake if close to the newmarket area with ice cream spots and local parks. If you are in Muskoka area by Port carling, on Bailey St is a cute beach spot for kids right by the local park and the town port carling is nearby with lots of cute shops and ice cream!

Trail walks : Perfect change of scenery and chance for those little legs to run free. I would recommend going on the shorter trails since you don’t know how long their little legs will last and don’t want to get stuck carrying them for most of the walk! A hiking carrier is great to break up the walk when they get tired and you want to go for longer stretches. You can also bring a little bag for them if they want to collect nature items along the way to make the walk more interesting:) Best time to go is end of summer or fall when there are less mosquitos and the weather is still nice! We loved going to Ravenshoe trailhead when we lived in Newmarket and it was never really busy. There are so many around you just have to look in your neighbourhood or surrounding ones.

Farmers market, local events /fairs: In the summer time, check your local area for farmers market that pop up. It’s nice to go first thing in the morning (since you are already up anyways!) to get some fresh fruit, bakery treat for you and your toddler while getting some fresh air. Typically they take place in parking lots or close to neighbourhood parks so you can always make it a longer outing. You shoukd try to regularly check with your area in different seasons for local events taking place (i.e. during christmas or harvest season) that are kid friendly or any fairs nearby! It’s a nice change of scenery and bringing your little is a great excuse to go check it out!

Botanical gardens: These generally have a mix of indoor/ outdoor facilities where you can marvel with your little ones at the beauty of nature and take some pretty pictures! The added bonus is there’s lots of space for them to explore and there may be a playground or river or streams for them to discover. There is one on Lawrence and don mills that is mostly outdoors and has many lovely picnic spots! The one in Burlington is quite picturesque too with a natural playground for the kids to enjoy!

Kid Shows: Ideal for a bit older toddler like between 2-3 years old, but check your local area for some kid friendly shows your little might be into! I took my first to see a live Paw Patrol performance in the city since she was obsessed with the show and my second to a Wiggles Show since that was her obsession! They love all the excitement, noise, people and songs and best part is there’s a bunch of other kids there too so less pressure if your kid is not taking it well.

Play dates: You can do one of these outings above, but bring another friend along for your toddler to play with or more likely play beside each other. It has the added bonus of having another kid around in similar age that they can chase or copy along their movements so they will not be as reserved to the new environment and rely on you to navigate. Or you can keep it simple and meet at one another houses and that adds the fun of having a whole new selection of toys for them to play with. Or rediscover their own toys if your kid sees another child play with it and remember how much fun it can be!