Are you planning a family vacation to Toronto, or will just be in that area and are looking for things to do with your baby, infant or toddler? Then this post is for you! Check out my list of favourite fun family attractions in the Toronto, Canada area.
Our First International Family Vacation to Toronto
My daughter, husband and I recently took our first International vacation. It was the first time we had travelled with her outside of the country, and on such a long trip.
During our trip we experienced a lot of firsts for her! It was her first plane ride, the first time we used her passport, and even her first time seeing so many people at once, since she is mainly used to the small island life ( if you’re new here, we live on the beautiful island of St. Lucia).
Let Me Tell you a Bit More About Our Family Vacation to Toronto!
I published a post last month about our experience flying with a baby (you can check it out here), but other than that I haven’t shared much about our trip.
It was a great vacation! I hadn’t traveled since March 2020, and after being mainly at home during the pandemic, then during pregnancy and the first few months after having my daughter. So it was a welcomed change!
We traveled to Toronto, Canada (and surrounding areas), where I was actually raised from a young age, so I know quite well.
Even so, I happened to experience a lot of new and novel experiences on this trip because we wanted to make it exciting and different for Kaejah.
In this post I will share some of our favourite family adventures in Toronto that we got into with our infant daughter.
What Made this Family Vacation to Toronto Different?
My husband and I have previously traveled, but of course this trip was a lot different because this was our first time travelling with an infant. One who happens to be very active and alert. She turned 6 months a couple of days after we arrived in Toronto.
Our goal was to expose her to family friendly attractions and adventures that she could actually participate in and somewhat enjoy, even at her young age. We wanted to make the trip interactive and interesting to appeal to her budding curiosity and offer her as many sensory experiences as possible.
Don’t worry, mommy and daddy also had some adult fun too lol.
How Your Baby’s Age can Impact Your Family Vacation
If you have an infant over 3 months of age, I am sure you can relate to the fact that one day they go from being these mainly reactive beings that basically just eat, sleep and poop.
Then all of a sudden they become the most hands-on, cognizant, deliberate and curious little people who want to explore and just soak up all of the new experiences they can. We quickly noticed and started to embrace this change, especially as the 6 month mark approached.
For More Ideas on How To Keep Your Developing Baby Engaged, Check Out These Posts!
6 Types of Play for Your Baby’s First 6 Months!
Reading to Your Baby: 5 Reasons you Should Start from Birth!
Family Attractions in Toronto for Your Family Vacation with a Baby or Infant!
As promised, I am going to share some of our favourite family attractions and adventures we tried out with our 6-month old daughter.
All of these family attractions happened in or around the Toronto area, and can be accessed by vehicle or public transportation.
I also talk about how we got around and what device/aid we used for our daughter, where applicable, to give you an idea of what may be helpful to make your trip easier. For this trip we chose to use our travel system (lightweight car seat and stroller) because it was easier to carry around and take on the plane.
Our Favourite Family Attractions in Toronto, Canada!
Located in Cambridge Ontario, African Lion Safari is an outdoor drive-thru safari experience. Sort of like a zoo you can traverse in your car or a tour bus.
We opted for the large air conditioned tour bus and weren’t disappointed. We saw giraffes, lions, monkeys and many more safari animals.
My daughter’s eyes were fixated the entire bus ride. We stuck around after the tour bus experience to enjoy a short ferry ride where we saw monkeys and a couple other animals out on the water.
There are also different shows, a waterpark and interactive games on the compound.
It is definitely a must visit for families with kids of any age, but I found it particularly nice for our infant since she could see all the animals, while comfortably seated on us in the tour bus and on the ferry ride.
While walking around you park and on the ferry ride I used my baby carrier to keep her close to me, and then eventually placed her into her stroller during lunch while she took her nap.
Our Favourite Part: Seeing the giraffes and hippos!
2. (+3,4,5) Niagara Falls
A trip to the Niagara area wouldn’t be complete without stopping at this iconic landmark.
She didn’t pay much attention to the falls, but it was nice to take pictures and videos of her that we will be able to share with her one day. I also enjoyed taking her for a nice outdoor walk in the fresh air along the paths that led to and near the falls.
We brought along her stroller and carrier, and walked around to see the sights, and managed quite well.
My daughter even fell asleep in the stroller while we ate lunch, so was well rested and in a good mood for the rest of the day.
While in the area, we checked out the Wax Museum (3), the Skywheel (4) and the mini amusement park area (5)!
There was a lot for her to see, which made it fun for us. Kaejah seemed to really like looking around while on the Skywheel. I was a bit nervous about her being so high up, but she did not seem to mind at all.
Our Favourite Part: The great views from the skywheel!
6. Ripley’s Aquarium
Ripley’s Aquarium in downtown Toronto was probably my favourite activity during the whole trip, mainly because Kaejah seemed to enjoy it so much.
It was easy for her to watch and observe all of the sea life because of how the aquariums and displays are set up. It really is an interactive experience.
We saw fish, sharks, sting rays, jelly fish and much more during our approximately 40 minute walk through of the aquarium.
We used her stroller but after about 5–10 minutes she couldn’t wait to escape it to get a closer look at all there was to see.
Our Favourite Part: Seeing the sharks and fish swim all around, and over top of us as we stood on the moving sidewalk.
7. Downtown Toronto
We took a short walk downtown to see some of the sights and to expose our daughter to some fresh air after being cooped up in the car during the previous day’s drive.
We pointed out the CN tower, the Royal Ontario Museum, Scotiabank Arena and other landmarks in the area. I’m pretty confident she won’t remember any of it LOL, but I loved taking pictures anyway!
Once again, her stroller made this trip easy! It was great for storage for toys, snacks, blankets and other items we needed during our journey. We used the carrier to give her a break from laying down and a different vantage point sometime during the day.
Our Favorite Part: How easy it was to get around to different areas using her stroller, and how many sights we saw in such a short space of time.
Final Thoughts
I would highly recommend each of these activities if you’re in the Toronto area and are looking for fun family friendly outings to do with your baby, infant, toddler or child.
As I mentioned, our daughter was only 6 months old when we traveled and she seemed to do really well with each of these family friendly attractions.
Some tips that I can share with you to make your experience more manageable is to be mindful of nap times, bring along food or snacks if your child is eating solid foods or to try to stick to feeding times if you’re still breast or bottle feeding.
Finally, be sure to check out the weather before leaving the house, so that you pack appropriate gear for the day. Layers were our friend because the weather fluctuated so much throughout the week and even the day sometimes
For more posts on packing for trips with a baby, check out these posts:
Packing for Baby’s First Trip
Packing for Flying with a Baby
We also brought her along to restaurants, some shopping trips, bowling and family outings.
Sharing our first vacation with our daughter made it an even more special trip and just shows that a baby doesn’t cramp your style or completely alter your plans while on vacation! She made our trip even better!
I Would Love to Hear From You!
Please reach out to me using my contact form or in the comments below to share some of your favourite family attractions in Toronto that you have enjoyed with your baby or infant.
Have questions? I would love to hear those too.
