Summer stuff to do: Help & win
Today is Lucy’s last day at daycare for the summer.
Our wonderful home provider, Julia, closes down for the summer to spend the school vacation with her three boys (she’s a single mom). So far this has worked for us, with me working from home and getting help from our teenager Shelby and our parents. But we’ve had many conversations the past two years about how much longer we can handle the shut-down.
Certainly next summer — when I plan to be working three days a week — it will not be viable.
But we’re not thinking about that right now. We’re thinking about:
- a) it’s summer!
- b) ohdeargod, it’s summer!
- c) what am I going to do with two kids for nine weeks?
- d) how am I not going to go nutty with two kids?
We’ll be getting various breaks from each other at daycamp, the cottage and help from Shelby again and our parents. But people: There are a ton of loonnnng days ahead. And you can only craft away or hang out in the backyard so much.
So, let’s help each other out. What do you do all summer? Where do you go to play? Splash pad? Park? Trail? Best indoor place on a hot/rainy day? Festivals? Museums?
Leave a comment, and we can build up a fabulous local resource to refer to all summer.
As an added bonus, I’ve got a set of Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Keys to give away to one lucky commenter!
Here are my faves:
- Any and all local fairs (click here for a list of all the fairs in Ontario, including Durham Region)
- Libraries, early year’s centres (full list of Durham’s are on the site here!)
- Brooks Farms (tractor rides!), plus Cooper’s Goat & Veggie Farm, Uxbridge (corn sandbox and…goats!)
- Port Perry’s waterfront — soon to have a splash pad! And they have great restaurants, picnic area and park
- Picnics in the park (there’s something so…summer about doing this)
- Indoor malls on hot days to cool down
- Ditto indoor play centres (see our list here!)
- Kiddie pool in the backyard with friends
- All of Durham’s local festivals and celebrations can be found on the Tourism Durham website, and others — see the local events page
Possibly related posts:
There are currently 18 responses
My suggestion, come visit Auntie Michele .. the cats would love the company. If you can survive the 5 hour car ride with the two of them.
My personal favourite is going to the Toronto zoo. Our membership is worth every penny we paid for it. It’s reasonably close for most east end people to get to and is totally kid friendly. The membership pays for itself in a few visits and removes any feeling of having to stay at the place all day to justify what you paid to get in! It’s also a great place to meet up with other moms if you want company and some adult conversation while you stroll around.
Here are some ideas:
-Go for a picnic at Cullen Park, even though the minature village isn’t there anymore, it is still nice
-Durham Kid’s Safety Village
-My friend swears by a visit to Jungle Cat World in Orono
If you do not mind the drive try the Peterborough Park & Zoo. Admission is free, there are animals on display, a splash pad for the kids, a miniature village and vintage miniature train ride.
http://www.peterboroughutilities.ca/Park_and_Zoo.htm
Mya doesn’t love it, but there is always splash pads, or backyard sprinklers…
We do a lot with our early years centre… there is a weekly thing in the park here. Then you are spending time with your child, but someone else is doing the planning… That is my favourite extra activity these days… You can usually take baby #2 as well to these things…
I like the Oshawa Zoo. We have a membership so we can go as often as we want all summer, and it’s nice to just be able to go for a couple of hours and come home. Sometimes when you don’t have a full day to go on a trip the Oshawa Zoo makes a nice little outing!
The splash pad at Heydenshore is fun if your little ones like water. There are lots of programs at the Whitby Library – some of them are free (some have a small materials cost) and you can check out the info at http://www.whitbylibrary.on.ca
Good luck finding things to fill the days!
Swimming at Legends Centre on the hot days (10:30-12:30)
Toronto or Oshawa Zoo, Oshawa is more interactive with the animals but Toronto Zoo has the splash pad.
Little Feet Fitness or other indoor playcentre (especially good for crawlers if they always try eat the mulch at the outdoor playgrounds)
If you are looking for free, I’m still a fan of just going for a walk or hike and exploring the world. It’s amazing what kids can discover at the beach, a creek, a meadow or the woods. And there are great conservation areas in Durham!
We are getting a membership to the zoo as well. Good way to spend the day or even just the morning. Also while driving down Westney in Ajax I saw a really awesome looking splash pad! I plan on checking that out next week while I am off with my daughter!
Can’t wait to hear more ideas!
We too have a Zoo membership and go 2-3 times a month. My kids love the splash pad there too. The splash pad on Westney is awesome – there is also a really great park there as well.
I have set up a big pool in the backyard as well as a sand/water table and we have a playground with a slide and swings – so we spend many days just hanging out in the backyard.
I agree that just taking the kids for a walk is great – you can add a treasure hunt to it as well to make it different each time.
I don’t want to comment for the keys because A is too old for them now, so don’t count me in for that! but I always suggest the Ontario Place. I know it’s in Toronto and it does cost money, but both Lucy and Alice are free, and there are so many promo codes to get the tickets for $20 instead of $33, all you have to do is type in “promo codes for the ontario place” on google and you can get them for so cheap! I just love going there, it’s so relaxing and this year they have a treehouse stage featuring shows all summer long by treehouse characters (we’re taking A to see Toopy and Binoo!), plus the water park, and there is A LOT of attractions for Lucy’s age. Plus they allow you to bring picnic lunches unlike Wonderland. I find it more interesting for kids than let’s say the zoo because there are so many activities to stimulate them, plus they aren’t open late, it makes for a great day outside!
There’s always Centre Island as well (when the strike is over and the ferries are running again). Or spending a day in High Park (Toronto) is great, there is a little zoo (free), and tons of space for a picnic, frisbee, reading under a tree, whatever suits you.
In the east end, we have Bowmanville Zoo, Oshawa Zoo, Peterborough Zoo, Jungle Cat World in Orono, beautiful walking trails in Bowmanville (Valleys 2000) and Newcastle (Samuel Wilmot Nature Area), Bowmanville Museum Archives has a doll exhibit honouring Barbie’s 50th Anniversary, the 4 branches of Clarington library (Courtice, Bowmanville, Newcastle and Orono), the 4 public pools (Courtice, Bowmanville, Newcastle and Orono), Orono park is large with the pool, splash pad, playgrounds, creek, walking trails, baseball diamond and picnic areas…and I’m tapped out.
We go to the library once per week. We have a regular playdate once per week. We meet daddy for lunch at work sometimes (or for a picnic – even better!). We shop at Target (oh wait, you don’t have Target – too bad!). We put the baby pool in the backyard. Not to mention the local zoos, children’s museums when it’s hot or raining …
I know you organize a Durham Mom’s Night Out but what about seeing if any of those same moms and new moms would be interested in a weekly get together somewhere during the day. Could be as simple as going to a local park for picnic and play, the kids could play together and the adults could chat potentially. Depending on numbers you could even get a group discounted rate to certain places.
I have newborn twins so can’t get out at night right now but would love to get out with other adults during the day.
These are so great! Keep ‘em coming.
Denise, we purposely made the group at night to get away from our kids! Most of the ladies work (or are on may leave returning to work).
There are a bunch of local mom’s group that connect during the day: Check out my list here http://durhamregionbaby.com/meet-other-moms/
My suggestion is to get a zoo pass. The pass is good for a year at the Toronto Zoo or a season at the Bowmanville Zoo. You only need to go a couple of times to pay for the yearly/season pass. And, if the kids are not up to doing hours of zoo that day, you can only stay for an hour or two and not feel like you wasted the money on that visit and you can go again anytime! Additionally, the Bowmanville zoo has a splash pad, the Toronto zoo a waterpark area. There is a kids zoo section at Toronto, and lots of animal animal interaction at Bowmanville. Obviously you only need one zoo pass so pick which ever is closest, saving the environment with less gas and support locally
) Hope you have lots of fun this summer – we have a pass!
Durham region mums might like Northwood Ranch in Seagrave, only $15 for adults and free for kids 2 and under. http://www.northwoodranch.org
A great place for an upclose and personal look at lions, tigers and more (oh my!)
Also,
Lionel’s Petting Zoo, Stouffville – FREE (free is goooood) feed donations of old carrots etc welcomed. wagon and pny rides, giant sandbox play area, feed and pet the farm animals plus llamas, deer etc. http://www.lionelsfarm.com