Top Family-Friendly Entertainment Ideas

With summer coming up soon enough, you will have more opportunities to spend with family everyday. Now, to keep it fun, I came up with a few ideas, both inside and in the GTA, to keep your family entertained during the Summer Break.

In case you are home and you want a more chill night, family painting are always a reliable idea. What I've personally done is that I got three minutes to make a beginning of a painting, then a different family member has another three minutes to continue the painting, and so on. Eventually, the painting will end up like it went through a volcano or it'll look awesome.

If your family is far away, there's always virtual games to be played. With Game Pigeon, you have over 23 games to play with family. From battleship to even cup pong (my favorite), the possibilities are endless for playing with Game Pigeons. You typically do not need any prior skill for the game, and it can be anyone's ball game with all of these.

The last idea for indoors I have with family is the simple route -- playing board games. I cannot stress how many times board games have kept a night with my family so much less boring that what could've been. My favorite board games, personally, are Monopoly and The Game of Life. Even there is a Monopoly: Toronto Edition sold in 2022, with all sales going to local charities like SickKids, replacing popular landmarks in the game with Toronto landmarks like the CN Tower, Ripley's Aquarium, CF Toronto Eaton Centre, and more. Monopoly is a multiplayer game based around buying, renting, and selling properties to result in the opposing players being bankrupt. The Game of Life is a family board game that simulates a lifetime of choices - college or going straight to career, marriage, kids, investing, and retirement. The end goal is to have the largest fortune by the time everyone has retired.

A staple for family boredom busters near Toronto during the summer is Canada's Wonderland. It is a 330 acre theme park in Vaughn, Ontario, a simple half an hour bus ride from Toronto. Having 200+ attractions, 18+ roller coasters, with live entertainment. It is, I'd say, the BIGGEST summer destination in the GTA. It has the Yukon Striker (a dive coaster), the Leviathan, and the newly introduced launch coaster, the AlpenFury. With kids, there is 25 kid-friendly attractions, like Planet Snoopy and KidZville. This operates from May - September.

A place that I will definitely be going in the summer is Niagara Falls. Specifically, the Canadian side of Niagara. With a two-hour train ride using the Via Rail Canada, there is something for everyone. There is a boat tour discovering the close-up on Niagara, or a journey behind the falls, or even a 360-degree view of the fall with the Skylon Tower, I am sure there will be something for everyone.

And finally, how can I forget, to visit Toronto. There is a lot of attractions in Toronto you would be surprised to hear about. The first attraction is the Royal Ontario Museum, a historic art, world culture, and natural history in the heart of Toronto. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. With more than 18 million items and 40 galleries that contain dinosaurs, minerals, and even meteorites, it has something for everyone, no matter the interest. And of course, the CN Tower. The CN tower is a 555.3 meter high observation tower in Toronto, something you have definitely seen before. It was the tallest free-standing structure for 32 years, from 1975 to 2007, where it was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa. There is a restaurant inside of it, that gives you the best views in all of Toronto.

I know I said three, but there are always Blue Jays games. The Blue Jays play until September or early October, so you can always grab those tickets. It offers an electric atmosphere in Toronto, with renovated stadium and unique food, that everyone can enjoy. You can pair this with the CN Tower, to get an amazing experience in Toronto. And trust me, go via train. You do not want to be stuck in downtown Toronto for an hour.