Summer is here, and with it has arrived the annual Greek chorus of children draping themselves on your furniture and wailing, “I’m boooooooored.” Why does summer always seem to trigger an acute attack of boredom in kids? Is it caused by some kind of tree spores? Chemtrails? A somewhat sophisticated sense of FOMO that they can’t quite articulate yet? Whatever the reason, the facts of the matter are that the weather is gorgeous and your child is about to die of ennui if you don’t think of something for them to do right this very second.
I don’t need to give you a list of the pros and cons of childrearing in the city vs. childrearing in whatever uncharted wasteland lies beyond the outer limits of the GTA, because you have almost certainly already made your own list and feel smugly confident in your choice. (Which you should! Good for you for choosing your choice.) But if you live in the city and you have a kid, chances are you occasionally feel a pang of regret about not having a backyard. Sure, the whole city is your backyard or whatever, but it would be nice to be able to shove your kid out the back door so that you can clean/binge watch Bob’s Burgers/tweet at your celebrity crush in peace. But since you don’t have a backyard and every time you turn around one of your kids is literally underfoot because of course the kitchen floor is the perfect place to build a spaceship out of Legos, here are a few fun and cheap things to get your family up and out of the house this summer:
Make a Park Passport
Toronto likes to call itself A City Within A Park, and whoever came up with that slogan isn’t wrong. There are tons of amazing parks and playgrounds scattered throughout the city, many of which are tucked away in odd little urban corners – meaning it’s unlikely you’ll find them unless you deliberately go looking for them.
This summer, take some time with your kids to browse the city’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation website. Then make up a little booklet with a page for each park you want to hit up. If you want to get really artistic, add a little illustration for each destination. Plan transit routes, pack snacks, read up on various features you want to see and experience while you’re there. For extra authenticity buy a cheap dollar store stamp so that you can stamp the page of each park you’ve visited.
Take a Late-Night Swim
Did you know that Toronto extends swimming hours whenever an Extended Heat Warning is declared? When temperatures soar, several Toronto public pools will remain open until 11:45 pm. It’s a great way to beat the late-night city heat and there’s also something weirdly thrilling and romantic about being in an outdoor pool in the summer moonlight. Not only that, but going out after dinner for a quick dip is a fun change in routine for kids.
During heat waves, check the city’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation homepage for updates on when and where extended swimming pool hours are happening.
Take a Stroll Down West Queen West
How is your baby ever going to learn how to Toronto if you don’t take them to the most obnoxiously Toronto places?
All kidding aside, my kid loves a walk down Queen West. We usually start at Dufferin and head eastwards towards Trinity Bellwoods, hitting up all our favourite places along the way. We’re partial to ice cream from Sweet Olenka‘s, and we like to visit the Heritage Wall at CAMH and talk about the history of the building (if you’re a social justice-minded parent, this makes a great starting point for discussions about anti-oppressive approaches to mental illness, just saying!).
But our favourite never-to-be-missed stop is the vintage photo booth at the Drake Hotel. The reasons why we love this last stop are many-fold: the Drake is fancy and we like to be in its fancy lobby and pretend we are Eloise at the Plaza. The idea of near-instant printed photos is extra fascinating to kids growing up in the digital age, and I don’t know what witchcraft is going on in that photo booth, but I swear to my higher power that it is incapable of taking a bad picture.
Then after all of this excitement you find yourself at one of the city’s finest parks. Make sure you pack a swimsuit for the wading pool and a blanket to lounge on in the leafy shade.
Cheap and Free Museum Trips
Most of the major museums and galleries in the city have a cheap or free night.
- Admission to the Royal Ontario Museum is half price on Fridays from 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm.
- Visit the AGO for free on Wednesdays between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm.
- Ripley’s Aquarium offers a Sharks After Dark discount after 7:00 pm.
- If your kid gets a kick out of a sweet pair of kicks, the Bata Shoe Museum is PWYC Wednesday evenings from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
- And did you know the CBC has a free museum, which includes Mr. Dressup’s Tickle Trunk and Casey’s treehouse. Nostalgia ahoy!
High Park Nature Centre Programs
This spring my kid and I discovered the family walks at the High Park Nature Centre and we were immediately hooked. We are both obnoxious pedants, so we love learning semi-obscure facts and then repeating them to anyone who will listen to us. (Did you know there is an ancient underground river that runs through High Park that was only discovered in 2003?)
The family nature walks aren’t on during the summer, but there’s other fantastic programming happening through the Nature Centre. We especially love the Birds, Bats & Bees drop-in walks and talks happening every Wednesday night. And at the recommended donation price of $2-$5, they’re pretty easy on the wallet! Just make sure to wear long sleeves and pants because summer nights in High Park come with a healthy dose of biting bugs.
Bonus Option: For the Days When You Need a Break but Your Kid Has Turned into a Lamprey
Get on the subway and go to Leslie Station. Board the adorable Ikea shuttle (your child will love it!). Go into Ikea. Sign your child into the Småland play area. Go upstairs and do any or all of the following: eat a snack, drink a glass of wine, drift silently through the soothing displays of Scandinavian furniture. Enjoy the blessed hour of freedom, and then go pick up your kid and gorge yourselves on the cheap ice cream and hotdogs at the little utilitarian cafe. Think about how when you were a kid, whenever you started a sentence with, “I want…” your mother would immediately counter with “- and I want peace and quiet.” Text her to tell her that you finally get it. Then hug your kid and tell them they’re pretty alright after all.
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