International Hot Air Balloon Festival- Saint Jean sur Richelieu

The International Hot Air Balloon Festival is an annual event about 30 minutes away from Montreal in St. Jean sur Richelieu. There are 115 hot air balloons, including many special shapes, major shows, and a huge site that hosts an incredible variety of animation activities. There is a fair with rides for older kids and adults as well as a designated area for toddlers. There is face painting, a petting zoo, mini putt, concerts... too many things to describe in one post. It's also a family friendly area with changing tables, breastfeeding room and stroller rentals available.
Their website is very extensive and even offers tips for families with young children.
My kids loved this festival!  There was so much for them to do and see that they didn't get bored.
Address:

• 5, chemin de l'Aéroport, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, J3B 7B5

Phone #:

• 450-347-9555

Price:

• 0-2: free
• 3-12: $7.00
• 13 +: $20.00 ($25.00 on Sat.)
• **Family rates available
• **Nine day passes available
• Parking: $7.00

Hours:

• Aug. 13 -21, 2011
• Weekends: 12:00 pm - end of the show at night
• Week: 1:30 pm - end of the show at night

Website: http://www.ballooncanada.com/

Cirque Estival

The Circus is in town!  The Cirque Estival will be back for it's 7th season in May in Laval and Verdun.  It will be a show full of jugglers, clowns and even elephants and horses.  It should be a great event for the whole family.  The tickets are $27 for adults and 22$ for children but if bought in advance are reduced by 2$ each.

When:

• Laval: May 8th - 1 pm, 4 pm, 7 pm
• Verdun: May 9th - 11 am, 3 pm

Where:

• Laval: Colisee, 1110 Desnoyers, Laval‚ H7C 1Y5
• Verdun : Auditorium, 4110, boul. LaSalle, Verdun‚ H4G 2A5

Cost:

• Adults: $27 ,  **$25 in advance
• Child: $22, **$20 in advance

Website:
http://cirqueestival.ca/index3.php?lang=en

Easter Farm - Cavendish Mall

Easter farms are fun activities for families with young children and Montreal has a number of them happening around. The Cavendish Mall in Cote- St. Luc is having an Easter Farm again this year friom April 1 to April 5.  Each year at Easter my kids and I really look forward to seeing the animals at these free Easter farms.  At the Cavendish Mall this year you can also enjoy Pony Rides and the Cavendish Mall "Express Train".

Where:

• Cavendish Mall
• 5800 boul. Cavendish (ch. Kildare), Côte-St-Luc

When:

• April 1 - 5, 2010

Cost:

• free!

Easter Farm - Plaza Pointe Claire

Here's another Easter Farm happening around the city. This time at Plaza Pointe-Claire.  A great chance for little kids (even toddlers) to see some of the animals they sing about in "Old MacDonald Had a Farm".  There will be goats, ducks, chickens, piglets, and more.  What makes this mini farm stand out from the others I've talked about is that on Friday, April 2nd you can actually get a free colour photo of your child with a baby animal (between 10 am - 3 pm).  What a great experience and a wonderful keepsake.

Dates:

• March 26 - April 3

Where:

• 269 Boulevard St-Jean, Pointe-Claire, Quebec, H9R 3J1

Cost:

• free!

Website:

• http://www.plazapointeclaire.com/en/

Easter Farm at Carrefour Angrignon

I have been waiting to find out if Carrefour Angrignon is holding an Easter Farm again this year and I am happy to see that they are!  It's a great activity especially for toddlers because they get to see animals up close and, for the parents, it's free so you don't have to worry about spending a lot of money just to have your two year old throw a tantrum and have to leave.  As soon as I mention the word animals to my toddlers they become good as gold and are very excited to go on this adventure.  You can see the usual mini farm animals, rabbits, chicks, sheep.  Bring some change to get food to feed the animals.

When:

• March 24 - April 5
• ** closed on Easter Sunday (April 4)

Time:

• Regular store hours
• Monday - Tuesday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  
  
  Wednesday to Friday: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
  
  Saturday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  
  Sunday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Place:

• Carrefour Angrignon
• 7077 Newman Boulevard, LaSalle (Quebec), H8N 1X1

Cost:

• free!

Website:

• http://www.carrefourangrignon.com/nouvelles_evenements.aspx?lang=en-CA

Butterflies Go Free

The Botanical Gardens is once again having the wonderful exhibit "Butterflies Go Free".  It's a great chance to get to see a great variety of butterflies live and flying around.  It's presented in the main greenhouse of the botanical gardens and should be a fun activity for children and parents alike.  It's quite hot in the greenhouse (about 29oC) so it's important to bring layers of clothing that can be removed.  To really pique the interest of the older kids, you might consider renting "The Blue Butterfly", a beautiful movie about a boy in search of the rare blue butterfly.  It was filmed partly in Montreal!

Dates:

• February 18 - April 25, 2010

Hours:

• Tues. - Sun. : 9 am - 5 pm
• ** Will be open Monday, April 5 (Easter Monday)

Cost:

• Adults: $12.00
• Seniors and Students: $9.00
• Children 5 - 17: $6.00
• Children 2 - 4: $1.75
• Children under 2: free
• ***  Note: fees are reduced by 15% because the insectarium is closed due to labour disputes.
• *** These are the rates before the reduction

Address:

• 4101, rue Sherbrooke Est, Montréal (Québec), Canada, H1X 2B2

Phone:

• 514-872-1400

Website:

• http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/jardin/en/propos/papillon.htm

Easter Farm at Place Versailles

From March 18th to April 3rd, Place Versailles is also having an Easter Farm.  Animals like ducks, geese, peacocks will be on site for all to see.  Place Versailles is also having children's "mini rides" and the Three little pigs house. Kids will be able to ride on little rides and participate in a colouring contest for a chance to win a giant chocolate bunny.  This should be a fun event for small children.

 

Where:

• 7275 rue Sherbrooke est

Dates:

• March 18th - April 3

Hours:

• Easter Farm: Regular Store Hours
   
  
  
  Monday to Friday: 9:30 am to 9 pm
  
  Saturday: 9 am to 5 pm
  
  Sunday: 10 am to 5 pm

• Mini Rides (2nd floor):

          Thursday and Friday: 11am - 4pm and 5pm - 8pm
   
          Saturday and Sunday: 11am to 4pm

• The Three Little Pigs House: 

          Thursday and Friday: Noon - 4pm and 5pm - 8pm

 

          Saturday: 10am - Noon and 1pm - 4pm

 

          Sunday: Noon - 4pm

 

• Cost: free!

Website:

• http://www.placeversailles.com/events/events.asp 

Easter Farm- Les Jardins Dorval

Easter is coming up fast this year!  With that comes a really nice, free activities for families with small children: The Easter Farm at the local malls.  My kids love to see animals and have been feeling a little deprived with the winter.  At these Easter farms you can see ducks, llamas, chicks, sheep, and other little farm animals.  Children can even feed them if they are brave enough. 

 

My kids review: They love it!

 

Les Jardins Dorval is the first mall that I have noticed so far that is advertising it but I imagine that others will be continuing the tradition too.  I will post the malls to the blog as I find out about them.

 

• Where: Les Jardins Dorval  - 352, ave Dorval
• When: March 30 - April 5 (closed on April 4)
• Cost: free!

Website:

• http://www.lesjardinsdorval.ca/home/ 

Pumpkin Picking

Halloween is just around the corner and an activity that's always fun for families is pumpkin picking. It's also a great outdoor before it gets too cold. All the pumpkins are already cut off the vine so all that needs to be done is to search for the perfect pumpkin. The kids will love trying to find the biggest pumpkin. After going pumpkin picking last year I was able to decorate my house with a little pumpkin for every step! - It helped that my son was still a baby and I could put the pumpkins in his stroller :) It's also fun that you need to take a hayride to get to the pumpkin patch. After picking your pumpkins you can also visit with some farm animals - always a favourite activity for my boys. Quinn Farm also offers apple picking at this time of year. They also have a great store where you can buy homemade goodies.


Price:

• Hayride: $2/person 2yrs +
• pumpkin: 0.40$/lb

Location: 2495 boul. Perrot sud, Notre-Dame de l'Île-Perrot, Québec, J7V 8P4

Phone: (514) 453-1510

Website: http://quinnfarm.qc.ca/index-e.php

The Centre de la Nature - Laval

The Nature Center in Laval is a really nice place for famillies with young children to go. It has a little farm with pigs, cows, horses, donkeys... you name it! Kids can even take a pony ride for $3.00. There is also a little train that takes you around the park for $3.00/person. Aside from a lot of green space there is a lake where you can rent canoes or kayaks and two great parks with a lot of different games for kids. There are also two pools on the edge of the park (for big and little kids). It truly is a place you can spend the whole day in! Bring a picnic lunch or grab some lunch at the little restaurant.
My kids review: They had a great time! There were so many little activities for them that they couldn't get bored. We went from looking at the animals, to riding on the train, to playing in the park, to looking at fish and turtles in the lake and back to the animals... It was a busy and very fun day!

Address:

• 901, avenue du Parc, Laval (Québec) H7E 2T7

Telephone #:

• 450 662-4942

Price:

• Entrance to the park is free! $3.00 fee for pony rides and train rides.

Hours:

• Everyday from 8:00 am - 10:00 pm

Website: http://www.info.ville.laval.qc.ca/ms/centre_nature/index.html

Granby Zoo

Granby Zoo is located about 40 minutes from Montreal. It is a big zoo with over 1000 animals of 200 different species including elephants, giraffes, gorillas, lions, rhinos... all the typical zoo animals. There is also an amusement park with a lot of rides including a roller coaster and a big water park. It's a great zoo with a lot of animals but very expensive.

Address:

• 1050, boul. David-Bouchard Granby (Quebec)

Price:

• under 3: free
• 3-12: $21.49
• 13-64: $32.99
• 65+: $25.49
• 2 adult + 2 children: $99.00

Hours:

• Everyday (until Aug.30) 10 am - 7 pm

Website: http://www.zoodegranby.com/en/accueil.htm

Biodome

The Montreal Biodome is great place for kids and adults to learn about and explore 5 different ecosystems of the Americas. There are animals such as crocodiles, monkeys, a diverse array of birds, many species of fish, penguins and many, many more. Cameras are allowed but without flash.

My kids review: I went when my son was quite young so although he did enjoy seeing the animals, it was a little pricey for what he got out of it. I would go again when they are a bit older.

Address:

• 4777 avenue Pierre-De Coubertin, Montréal, Québec H1V 1B3

Price:

• under 2: free
• 2-4: $2.50
• 5-17: $8.00
• Adults: $16.00
• Students and Seniors: $12.00
• **** Special package rates when combined with Insectarium and Botanical Gardens

Hours:

• Everyday 9am-6pm (during the summer)

Website: Montreal Biodome

EcoMuseum

The ecomuseum is a zoo with rescued North American animals. There are more than 100 different species of animals such as bears, racoons, porcupines, otters, eagles... way too many to list. It's a fun place at an affordable price.
My kids review: We go to the ecomuseum often and my kids love to look at all the animals. One of our favourite animals to look at are the racoons as they are active all of the time. The bears and otters are also a big hit. It's also a safe place for the kids to run around on their own.

Address:

• 21 125 chemin Sainte-MarieSainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Qc, H9X 3Y7

Price:

• 2 and under: free
• 3-15: $7.50
• 16-64: $12.50
• 65 +: $10.00

Hours:

• Everyday 9am - 5pm

Website: http://www.ecomuseum.ca/home.html

Village du Pere Noel

Santa's Village is located about 45 minutes from Montreal but is a great place for young children. There is a large petting zoo where children can pet different animals such as goats and donkeys. The animals are very docile. The rest of the village consists of tons of activities that little kids can do. There are trains that the kids can ride on, slides to slide down, small water park. Children can make music, ride around in little cars and, of course, visit Santa Clause. There is ample space to picnic but there is also a little restaurant where you can buy lunch. Generally geared towards little kids up to age 10.

My kids review: They loved this place. Very age appropriate (they are 17 months and 2). One of their favourite things to do was to ride the little train.

Address:

• 987, rue Morin - Val-David (Québec) J0T 2N0

Price:

• Under 2: free
• 2-65: $12.50
• 65+: $10.00

***coupon available on the website or in the POM Guide

Hours:

• Everyday 10 am-6 pm

Website: http://www.noel.qc.ca/en/

Farm - Cap St. Jacques

The Cap St.Jacques nature park has a fully functional organic farm that anybody can visit. Animals include cows, horses, pigs, sheep, donkeys... all the basic farm animals. Kids can freely roam around and observe the animals. There is also plenty of space to picnic. It's also free to explore, you just have to pay the parking which is $7.00 a day (there is no hourly rate).

My kids review: My kids adore coming to this farm! They get to see their favourite farm animals from "Old MacDonald had a Farm" up close and personal. There is also a lot of space for them to run around without me being nervous about them getting into too much trouble.

Address:

• Cap St. Jacques visitor's center: 20099, boul. Gouin Ouest
• Farm: 183, chemin du Cap-Saint-Jacques, in Pierrefonds

Price:

• Price: free entrance
• Parking: $7.00

Website: Cap St. Jacques Farm