You have to love Ontario’s mind-blowing, kid-approved museums, science centres and galleries!
With programming focused on wonder, creativity and inspiration, these marvelous places remind us all that bold and fearless imaginations have no boundaries.
So empower your little doodlers, dreamers, tinkerers and thinkers because the possibilities are limitless for these budding achievers …
SCIENTISTS
From interactive, hands-on exhibits and demonstrations to the Planetarium and IMAX theatre, there’s plenty of fodder for inquisitive minds at the Science Centre in Toronto. KidSpark is a special learn-through-play space for the eight-and-under crowd.
Reopening in March after months of renovations, Sudbury’s Dynamic Earth is ready for ground-breaking underground exploration. Or set your sights aboveground and beyond at Science North and its Planetarium next door.
The programs and exhibits at Ingenium in Ottawa (formally the Science and Technology Museum) are designed for guests of all ages to celebrate human ingenuity, creativity and discovery.
DESIGNERS
Youngsters with a flair for fashion should absolutely tour the fascinating footwear at Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum and also gain inspiration from the Fashion History Museum in Cambridge. Mark your calendars: this shrine to historic and contemporary couture will open its doors for the 2019 season on March 13, and admission for kids 12 and under is free.
ADVENTURERS
In Canada, it’s never too early to commence a lifelong love affair with the canoe. The Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough offers half and full-day workshops and specialty March Break camps with hands activities and awesome take-homes.
Kids are invited to climb aboard a vintage aircraft at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre in Sault Ste. Marie and learn all about wilderness aviation.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS
Is your offspring obsessed with everything Jurassic? Foster that fixation! Meet Zuul, the 77 million-year-old, gnarly-faced, horned and armoured dinosaur with a sledgehammer tail at the Royal Ontario Museum. Or download the scavenger hunt challenge through the dinosaurs, fossils and mounted wildlife at Stones ’N Bones in Sarnia. London’s Children’s Museum invites your budding paleontologist to the dinosaur gallery to hear what these prehistoric giants may have sounded like, dig up fossils and bones, and even become one (in costume).
ATHLETES
Inspire your future pros with stories from the big leagues. Go one-on-one against legendary goalies and shooters like Carey Price and Sidney Crosby in life-sized, animated form at Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame. Or whisk future CFLers to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton. Every day is game day at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys. Reopening this spring after a major renovation, this facility pays homage to the greats who left their mark on Canadian baseball.
NATURALISTS
The Canadian Museum of Nature is a national treasure located in the heart of Ottawa, just minutes from Parliament Hill. The museum’s must-sees include the Arctic Gallery, special exhibits, 3D movies, guided tours and amazing special programs. You can even surprise your future botanist, zoologist or environmentalist with a nature sleepover – an overnight adventure full of wild discoveries!
ARTISTS
One of the largest galleries in North America, the Art Gallery of Ontario invites next-generation artists for artmaking activities, storytelling and creative play in the Weston Family learning Centre and the Anne Tanenbaum Gallery School. Plus, there’s a hands-on centre and a mobile weekend Art Cart.
Make the Hamilton Art Gallery your destination for kids who love Origami. Above the Fold: New Expressions in Origami explores the evolution of this dynamic artform and might just keep the kids at the dinner table a little longer, given they have napkins.
ARCHITECTS
When LEGO sets just don’t cut it anymore, introduce your emerging architect to the impressive features of Ontario’s historic sites, like the great stone halls, secret passageways and stately turrets of Toronto’s Casa Loma, built in 1911. Or wander the 40 elaborate rooms of Dundurn Castle in Hamilton, completed in 1835.
HISTORIANS
Canada’s largest museum, the Canadian Museum of History, is home to a kid-specific wing, the Children’s Museum, that showcases over 15,000 items in a hands-on, experiential collection that will transport your historians-in-training around the world.
PHILOSOPHERS
Based on a credo of creative thinking and inspired play, THEMUSEUM in Kitchener is not your typical museum. Explore art, science, culture and technology from all over the world in a fresh, fun way.
Curiosity piqued? Find even more family-friendly March Break ideas at ontariotravel.net.