Ice Fishing Village

The old port of montreal has a fun, different family activity this year: ice fishing!
Weather permitting they are open from Jan. 3, 2014 to March 31, 2014.  Everything that you need can be rented on site..  You can even purchase your fishing license there (which is mandatory).  They are open everyday.

Where: Situated at the marina of the Montreal Yacht Club, Clock Tower Quay

Hours:

•  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday : 10am to 6pm
• Thursday : 10am to 8pm
• Friday : 10 am to 9pm
• Saturday: 7am to 9pm
• Sunday : 7am to 8pm

Price:

• Adult Access: $12
• Child Access (under 16): $6
• Tip-up rental (2): $7
• Temporary shelter rental (1 to 4 people): $35
• Permanent shelter rental (5 to 12 people): $75
• Jigging rod rental: 7$ (lure not included)
• Sale of minnows: $6/dozen
• Sale of lures: retail price
• Sale of fishing licence: according to Ministère des Ressources Naturelles (fishing licence is mandatory)

website: http://www.villagepecheblanche.com/?lang=en

Free Swim

Swimming is a great, cheap activity to do with kids.  I often bring my children to the community pool and one of the best things is that it's free!  Most communities have a pool you can use that is either free or very affordable!  In the summer it's easy to spot them but in winter there are many indoor pools that are equally as accessible!  They often provide life jackets for the new swimmers and sometimes even some pool toys.  To find the pools in your area simply log onto your city's website and look under sports and recreation.
The Montreal on the Cheap blog has also made a nice list of many pools in montreal: http://www.montrealonthecheap.com/2013/08/montreal-public-swimming-2013-season/

Make sure to call ahead to know when the family free swim hours are and if there are any specific rules like required bathing caps.  And also, the bonus of bringing your kids swimming is that usually bedtime that evening is very easy as it knocks them out! :)

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

Beach - Parc Jean Drapeau

A beach right on the island. Great especially for those without access to a car. Nice beach, clean water, volleyball courts and play structures for little kids. There are picnic areas as well as a restaurant on site.

Location:

• Parc Jean Drapeau on Ile Ste.-Helene

Price:

• 5 and under: free
• 6-13: $4.00
• 14 +: $8.00
• 65+: $7.00
• Family: $20.00

Hours:

• June 19 - Aug. 23
• 10 am - 7 pm

Website: http://www.parcjeandrapeau.com/54-The_Beach-event.html

Beach - St. Zotique

The St.-Zotique beach is located about 45 mins from Montreal. It is not just a beach but has lots of activities for young and old. You can rent kayaks, canoes or pedalos. There are also parks for young and old kids, a skateboard, paintball, soccer fields, tennis courts... There is plenty of space to picnic and you can even rent BBQ's. It's also open during the winter where the lake is on ice and many winter activities are offered. It's certainly a full day at St. Zotique beach!

Location:

• 1250 principaleSt-Zotique, Qc. JOP 1ZO
• The beach is located off Hwy 20 west at exits 6 or 9

Price:

• adults 13 and older: $9.00
• seniors :$7.00
• children under 41'' (height): free
• children 42"-50":$3.00
• children 51"-60": $5.00

Hours:

• Everyday from 9am-8pm

Website: St.-Zotique Beach

Aquadome

The Aquadome is an indoor family aquatics center located in Lasalle. It has a special section for small children with a large fountain and small slide. For older children and adults there is also a deep pool where you could swim laps or have fun with the different water toys. Huge windows make it really nice and sunny and very pleasant.

The aquadome also rents party rooms for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Just bring your own food and make sure to clean up after and it makes a great birthday party venue!
My kids review: They absolutely loved it! They went in the water right away and weren't at all scared because they could go in the pool gradually because of the small slope. Just make sure that there is at least one adult per small child!

Address:

• 1411 rue Lapierre, Lasalle, QC

Price:

• 3 and under: $1.50
• 4-16: $2.50
• 17-54: $3.50
• 55 +: $2.50
• ***Reduced rates for holders of the Lasalle Access card

Hours:

• Mon - Fri: 10:30 am - 8:25 pm
• Sat - Sun: 12:00 pm - 6:55 pm

Website: http://www.aquadome-lasalle.com/

Beach - Cap St. Jacques

A really fun, clean beach to bring the kids too. It's not too big and the water is shallow for quite a long distance so little kids can enjoy the water too. There's lots of sand to build great sand castles and life guards are on duty.

Address:

• 21115, boulevard Gouin Ouest, Pierrefonds

Price:

• under 5: free
• 6-17: $3.00
• 18 +: $4.50
• parking: $7.00

Hours:

• everyday 10am - 7pm

Website: Cap St. Jacques beach

Visit a New Park

This isn't a specific place for an activity but an idea that my kids love to do. We sometimes go to a different park in a different neighborhood and have a great time simply because it's new to us. Some great parks to try are Westmount Park- lot's of green space and plenty of park equipment. Lasalle Park in Lachine - two pools, lots of green space, tennis courts, skateboard area. Girouard Park in N.D.G.- great new facilities including a fun new water play area. Parc Lafontaine is a big park with lots of green space, manmade lake with ducks and great park equipment. Go out and explore because sometimes it's just fun because it's new to you.

Here's a list of some parks from wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Montreal_parks

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/