Follow the (paper) guide on family activities!
Toronto Fun Places, the guidebook behind this website is currently in its 5th edition (sold in bookstores around the Greater Toronto Area and on Amazon). Here's how to get the most out of this 480-page resource for families and anyone with kids in their life. Most mothers who took the time to send me feedback (thanks so much!) told me that their favourite part is the TIPS section, where I offer tips from a mother's point of view.
A good way to involve kids in family activities: Flipping through a paper guide is still faster than navigating on a website. I've heard of many parents who ask their kids to mark with stickers in the book the places they'd like to see this year. Many parenting experts point out the benefits of involving the kids in that kind of family decisions. It really gets them excited about the next adventure.
To find out family activities by city: You can look for the city nam in the location index at the end of the guide. To find out outings by interest: Consult the table of contents to choose from 13 categories divided into 96 sub-categories.
The closest to the CN Tower: For each attraction, I give the driving time estimate... from the CN Tower. Everyone knows where the CN Tower is, so I figured it would be a good starting point. In each chapter in Toronto Fun Places, the first etry os the closest to the CN Tower while the last one is the furthest.
Going carless? There's a full chapter in Toronto Fun Places on things to do and see within a 10-min. walk of each Toronto Subway Station.
About age recommendations: I give my own age recommendations, regardless of what the attraction advertises.
Check the symbols: In the information box on every page, I use symbols for quick reference about the attraction to indicate if it offers birthday packages, enough indoor activities for a cold or rainy day, a good choice when kids have energy to burn, nice fall colours, Halloween, Christmas or Easter activities, more fun or extended schedule on March Break. I also include a stroller symbol to indicate if the attraction is stroller accessible and if it is served by the TTC system.
To find out family activities by city: You can look for the city nam in the location index at the end of the guide.
To find out outings by interest: Consult the table of contents to choose from thirteen categories divided into 96 sub-categories.
A great complement to your favourite website with a calendar of family events: I've personally visited all the attractions and events described in my guide and offer tips and nearby activity recommendations for each of them. I like to consult littlepaper.com, kidsaroundcanada.com, helpwevegotkids.com and yummymummyclub.ca to remind me of the best time to visit a place. (Creating an exhaustive calendar of event is really time consuming and there are already many great options so I've decided not to include one in my website.)
Once you've found an attraction you'd like to try in your favourite calendar of events, I suggest you consult the index in my guide to locate this family outing to see what I wrote about it.
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