By Jenn Reid
School’s out! It's March Break for the Toronto District School Board the week of March 13 to 17, and the kids are going to be looking for some entertainment. Keep them happy with these must-see events across the city, from educational exhibits to indoor amusement parks. [Photo credit: Disney on Ice Follow Your Heart courtesy of Zazou PR]
Disney on Ice visits Toronto just about every March Break, and this year is no exception. The Rogers Centre welcomes some of the most popular Disney characters to tell stories and wow the crowd with their skating skills. Taking to the ice this time around are Woody, Buzz, Cinderella, Dory, Ariel and the whole gang from Frozen. The show runs from March 15 to 19 and tickets are $30 to $154, available through Ticketmaster.
Wizard World Fun Park is an annual March Break celebration that families flock to year after year. Exhibition Place becomes a week-long centre for fun, with an indoor amusement park taking over the grounds. There are rides, inflatables, a zoo, games, entertainment shows (clowns, reptiles and more) and plenty of ways for kids to let loose and have fun. The event runs from March 12 to 19. Tickets including rides are $26.50, and $8.85 for admission only. You can also grab family passes for $65.50, which includes two admissions and two unlimited ride passes (two adults and two kids, basically) or $95.60 for four unlimited rides. Tickets and passes can be purchased in advance.
March is maple syrup season, and downtown Toronto is getting a Quebec-style sugar shack to join in on the fun. While there aren’t any real maple trees at Sugar Beach, they’re recreating the fun of a sugar shack with maple tasting, ice carving and wintertime activities. There’s marketplace for buying maple goods and Quebec imports. The Sugar Shack takes place on March Break’s first weekend, March 11 to 12. Admission is free, and there is also a free shuttle going between Sugar Beach and the Distillery District all weekend.
The latest exhibit from the Royal Ontario Museum opens its doors just in time for March Break! Starting March 11, families can learn all about blue whales at Out of the Depths: The Blue Whale Story. The ROM original exhibition explores the real-life story of the researchers and scientists who were given the rare opportunity to study earth’s largest creature when two blue whales washed ashore in Newfoundland. There is additional special programming for March Break, with hands on activities for kids all themed around blue whales and other ocean life. Tickets for the Blue Whale exhibit, which includes regular ROM admission, are $30 for adults, $25 for seniors, $23.50 for youth and students, and $19 for kids. Tickets can be purchased in advance online, or at the ROM on the day of your visit.
The Toronto Zoo’s March Break offerings is all about the animals, including a few unlikely ones: characters from Paw Patrol, TMNT and Hatchimals are all on the grounds for meet and greets over the week. For the kinds of creatures that you normally find at the zoo, check out the giant pandas and new interpretive stations where guests can learn about wildlife conservation and all kinds of giant panda info. Check out the schedule for when the character meet and greets are taking place, with daily shows happening between March 11 and 19. All events are included in zoo admission, which is $23 for adults, $18 for seniors and $14 for kids. You can buy your tickets in advance here.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
More things to do on YP
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Four different venues across the GTA are participating in this year’s Sugar Bush Maple Syrup Festival. At the Kortright Centre in North Toronto, families can take wagon rides, watch demonstrations on tapping trees and melting the sap, play games, enjoy lives music and eat pancakes with real maple syrup. In the evenings, there is also a Maple Syrup by Lamplight event where you can tour the maple shacks and enjoy a treat beside the campfire. The event runs 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m on weekdays, and until 5 p.m. on weekends. Maple Syrup by Lamplight is 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and requires a separate ticket. Tickets for the festival are $8.85 for adults and $5.75 for students and seniors, available online.
All week long, the Art Gallery of Ontario has kid-friendly games and programming for March Break. Walker Court transforms into a giant maze for kids to try and navigate, and there’s all kinds of hands on activities likes building cities out of cardboard, playing with big blocks, colouring, a family yoga class and more. Programming runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 11 through the 19, and tickets are $19.50 for adults, $16 for seniors, $11 for students and youth, and free for kids under 5. Tickets are available online in advance or in person at the AGO.
TIFF has family-friendly screenings happening all week for March Break. TIFF Kids: Wizards, Witches and Wagic! is a screening series of magical kids’ films like The Wizard of Oz, Matilda, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and The NeverEnding Story. After checking out a movie, kids can also drop in on the TIFF digiPlaySpace, an interactive playground that lets kids explore technology through video games, coding, circuitry and more. Tickets for each film are $14 for adults, $11.50 for students and seniors and $10 for kids. Tickets for the digiPlaySpace are $11 on weekdays and $13 on weekends.
One of the most popular Disney live-action movies of all time comes to the Lower Ossington Theatre just in time for March Break. Mary Poppins is reimagined as a musical by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, and the stage production has been nominated for a total of seven Tony Awards and nine Olivier awards for its Broadway and London runs, respectively. The show is onstage at the Lower Ossington Theatre until April with performances on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are $54.99 to $64.99 and are available online.
Black Creek Pioneer Village’s March Break programming is all about solving mysteries! In Sherlock Holmes and the Maple Mystery, kids can hunt for clues, interact with characters and actors at the historic site and eventually solve the mystery (hopefully!). There’s also maple-themed events like a maple syrup demonstration and tasting, plus wagon rides around the grounds, and freshly baked cookies and hot apple cider for snacks. The events run March 13 to 19 during the day (10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends). Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors and free for kids under 12.
The Ontario Science Centre offers up a fun program of activities for March Break like new exhibits, workshops, hands on activities, plus access to all the regular interactive galleries your kids know and love. Check out Biomechanics: the Machine Inside for a look at how animals (and humans) have evolved and how our bodies work.
You can also catch shows like Loco Motion! where a shape-shifting performer mimics animal movements, The Energy Show with flaming bubbles and the famous hair-raising Van de Graaf generator and Research Live!
The Imax Dome has a roster of films all week including, Dream Big, A Beautiful Planet, Rocky Mountain Express, Under the Sea and Voyage of Time. Click here for the complete schedule.
