Daleisphere

Treewalk Village Stouffville

Dale Dietrich — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 19:30:21 +0000

We love this place. BEEN there 3 times now. The kids always want to go. There is a ground level ‘obstacle course’ for the smallest ones, a hobbit-like set of tunnels and a bunch of tree houses with rope bridges between them. A ton of fun. The shade is wonderful on hot days. No sunscreen …

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High Park Splash Pad, Wading Pool and Playground

Dale Dietrich — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 17:04:29 +0000

Just a five minute walk from the High Park subway station, the new splashpad (finished in 2016) at High Park sits beside the older wading pool and playground. The spashpad is terrific. There are several different splash pad features – see pics – operated by two buttons. There is also a water jug refill station. …

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Pottery Playground

Dale Dietrich — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 16:43:38 +0000

A quaint, tree-lined North York playground for younger children. Tucked away off Merton, between Mount Pleasant and Bayview on the North side Mount Pleasant Cemetary. Small and almost hidden like the Hideaway Park Playground. Safely fenced-in on all sides and wonderfully shaded. Contains a 4-feature splash pad, small sandbox, a plethora of abandoned slides, scattered …

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Woburn Avenue Playground

Dale Dietrich — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 19:10:28 +0000

A terrific North York playground. Located a 3 minute walk from the Lawrence subway station – North West of Yonge and Lawrence (see map below). Nicely landscaped, safely fenced in on all sides and wonderfully shaded. Complete with a wading pool, sandbox, abandoned scattered riding and other toys, swings and clean toilets with change tables. …

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Parent Resources Drop In Centre

Dale Dietrich — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 16:58:21 +0000

I have blogged quite a bit about commercial drop-ins but the free Parent Resources Drop In Centre at 173A Front St. E. and Lower Sherbourne (behind Rabba and beside the library) has been one of the two most important resources we’ve used when raising our two children. This is one of two Parent Resources locations. …

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Hands On Centre at the Art Gallery of Ontario

Dale Dietrich — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 15:40:36 +0000

The Dr. Mariano Elia Hands on Center at the Art Gallery of Ontario is a terrific place to take kids. As you can see in the pictures there are a ton of mostly arts and crafts-centric games and supplies for kids to play/be creative with. We have gone three times. The prior two times the …

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Oscar 2017 Thoughts Mini-Reviews

Dale Dietrich — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 15:12:51 +0000

Below are the thoughts I posted on Facebook about each of the Best Picture nominees for the 89th Annual Academy Awards. They are listed in the reverse order that I watched them. My favorite is Lion. This was definitely a weak year with only a few nominees worthy of a Best Picture nomination let alone …

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Sky Zone Trampoline Park

Dale Dietrich — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 17:45:12 +0000

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Sky Zone Trampoline Park is open for toddlers and preschoolers up to 40″ tall from 9-11:30am and 1-2:30pm. IT’S SUPER FUN!!! $10 for the first kid, $6 for second plus $2.25 per kid for SkySocks. They can be used again on future visits. Along with the trampolines, as you can see …

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Jellybeenz Indoor Playground (Brampton)

Dale Dietrich — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 18:57:46 +0000

Jellybeenz is one of my 4 or 5 favorite indoor playgrounds in the Greater Toronto area. A 33 minute drive from downtown Toronto in good traffic. Certainly worth visiting if you are in the area or live in Brampton. It has a terrific set of climbing structures and toys perfect for toddlers and preschoolers, a …

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Monkey McGoos Indoor Playground

Dale Dietrich — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 19:26:34 +0000

[August 2017 Update: This place closed in late spring 2017. Given my update below I am not surprised. Too bad. It once was the best drop-in in town :(] [Nov 2016 Update: I can no longer recommend this place for casual dropins. It’s now closed entirely from 1pm to 3pm Mon to Thurs – precisely when …

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Playtown Indoor Playground (Mississauga)

Dale Dietrich — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 20:18:23 +0000

Playtown is one of the best indoor playgrounds in Metro. It’s. 28 min drive away from downtown Toronto in Mississauga. Similar to the Children’s Discovery Centre but cheaper. $12 for kids and no charge for adults. 8 differently themed rooms (race tack, kitchen, construction site, theatre, fire hall, grocery store, beauty salon, animal hospital). Free …

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Kids Paradise Playground (Mississauga)

Dale Dietrich — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 19:35:41 +0000

Kids Paradise Playground isn’t! Someone on Google reviewed this place as ‘…the best playground in GTA’. This person clearly hasn’t been around. Monkey McGoos (Scarborough), Amazon (Etobicoke) and Jellybeenz (Brampton), to name a few, are far far superior indoor playgrounds to this empty place. The owner was nice. It’s clean. But aside from the few …

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Amazon Indoor Playground (Etobicoke)

Dale Dietrich — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 18:25:48 +0000

Amazon Indoor Playground has become a new favorite. We have gone three times and each time the kids had a blast. Big play structure like Monkey McGoos. Comfy leather couches for adults (not that I had a chance to sit in them). Trampoline and the usual assortment of toys. No crazy rules. Two clean bathrooms …

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Kids Fun Town

Dale Dietrich — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 19:20:08 +0000

Kids Fun Town is a terrific commercial drop in. My kids have had a blast every time we have gone. It is run by a nice immigrant owner with a child of his own. Among other things it has a ball pit, a climbing structure and a large Bouncy Castle with slide. $7.50 for first …

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Jamie Bell Adventure Playground (High Park)

Dale Dietrich — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 18:45:58 +0000

[Updated August 2017 to add summertime pics.] High Park’s Jamie Bell Adventure Playground is (to my knowledge) the biggest playground structure in the city and certainly one of the best (lots more pics here). Insanely busy in the summer but completely empty (except for us) on this warm November Day. As very young children our …

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Corktown Common

Dale Dietrich — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 17:35:23 +0000

While admittedly pretty and new, in my opinion, Corktown Common is the most overrated park in the city. It gets almost universal acclaim yet it has very few play structures for kids. A big slide, a smaller slide, a teeter totter, some swings, a water faucet to get them dirty (Ugh!) and a cool splash …

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Evergreen Brickworks Nature Trail

Dale Dietrich — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 16:45:31 +0000

Dani and I and the kids had a wonderful afternoon walk at the Evergreen Brick Works nature trail last weekend. It’s free to access the trails but parking is pretty expensive ($10 for two hours). The trails are on the north side of the brick works buildings. This is located Bayview about a 10 minute …

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Rosedale Park Playground

Dale Dietrich — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 22:25:14 +0000

The playground at Rosedale Park is one of the nicer outdoor community playgrounds in terms of facilities. It’s located in a swanky neighborhood, a half mile north east of Bloor and Sherburne – a 10 minute drive in no traffic from downtown. There are no free floating toys. There are public bathrooms immediately beside but …

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The Oxbow Trail

Dale Dietrich — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 18:05:21 +0000

A terrific walk for toddlers and preschoolers. It’s behind Todmorden Mills (see smokestack pic below) at 67 Pottery Road just off Bayview. An adult could walk it in 7 minutes but it’s a good hour with toddlers. A perfect fall walk. Cool little talking stations (see pic below) that tell you what you are looking …

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Glen Steward Ravine / Ivan Forrest Gardens

Dale Dietrich — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 17:10:34 +0000

Glen Steward Ravine/Ivan Forrest Gardens is a Beaches nature treasure. Confusingly this park/trail is named Ivan Forrest Gardens on the south side and Glen Steward Ravine in the northern section. The two parks are really one skinny park/nature trail stretching from Queen St to Kingston Rd. (See map below) It’s a perfect walk for toddlers …

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Playground at Hideaway Park

Dale Dietrich — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 02:50:05 +0000

The playground at Hideaway Park is one of my personal favorite outdoor playgrounds in the city. It has a nice play structure, sandbox, wading pool, nice treed green space, toys strewn around including riding toys. It’s tranquil and never very busy. It’s a tad south and east from Pape & Dundas and only accessible from …

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Beaches East Playground

Dale Dietrich — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 17:40:35 +0000

Beaches East Playground – where Silver Birch Ave meets the lake. As far as I know this playground doesn’t have a formal name. We call it the “Purple Park” for obvious reasons. It’s a nice little park. Best things about it are that its almost completely shaded and there is a nice cool breeze off …

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Pirate Ship Playground at Cherry Beach

Dale Dietrich — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 16:25:43 +0000

The pirate ship playground beside the soccer fields at Cherry Beach is terrific. Nice soft floor under the ship and play structures. Lots to explore. Swings, teeter totter and the usual play things. Our kids love this place. The best outdoor public toilet in the city that I’ve see is 100 feet away. Change tables …

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Playground at Alan Gardens

Dale Dietrich — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 20:45:03 +0000

Alan Gardens playground, at Jarvis and Carlton, is another nice new park. Nice new structures and sand box. No toilet though. It, too, has one of those new rubbery fake wood chip floors that I love. Safe but not messy. It’s right beside the free botanical gardens in the Alan Gardens Conservatory – shown in …

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Neshama Playground in Oriole Park

Dale Dietrich — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 20:30:15 +0000

Neshama Playground, in the north/east corner of Oriole Park, is a couple minute walk from the Davisville subway. It’s a wonderful new park. Little fountains that start at the push of a button. A splash pad. A water thermos refill station. Bouncy rubber floor. Everything is new. A terrific new toilet. Lots of play …

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