Every parent in Toronto knows the specific kind of February Saturday we’re talking about: grey slush on the sidewalks, a wind chill in the minus twenties, and two children who have been awake since six and are now climbing the furniture. Or the visiting version of it, where you’ve flown in for a family trip and it has rained for three days straight. The city is better equipped for this than its reputation for long winters might suggest. The list of indoor things to do in Toronto with kids runs from dinosaur skeletons and shark tunnels to a free city-run playground with spiral slides, and a surprising amount of it is connected by underground walkways or sits a few steps from a subway station.
This guide rounds up the best indoor options for children of different ages, with what each is actually like, rough costs, how to get there without a car, and honest notes on what’s worth the money. It includes the big attractions, free and cheap options, indoor playgrounds, and a few ideas locals use that most visitors don’t know about. Details were checked in September 2026, including the Ontario Science Centre’s move to a temporary home at Harbourfront Centre. Where we haven’t verified a price, we say so. All figures are in Canadian dollars.
Indoor Things to Do With Kids at a Glance
| Place | Best ages | Cost | Time needed | Worth it? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada | All ages | Premium; check current price | 2–3 hours | Yes, go early |
| Royal Ontario Museum | 5 and up; dinosaur-mad toddlers too | Mid-range; check current price | 2–4 hours | Yes, one of the best |
| Ontario Science Centre at Harbourfront Centre | 4–12 | $15 per visitor | 2–3 hours | Yes, good value |
| Playground Paradise, Flemingdon Park | 12 and under | Free | 1–2 hours | Excellent for toddlers and younger kids |
| LEGOLAND Discovery Centre | 3–10 | Premium; book online | 2–3 hours | Only for real LEGO fans |
| Hockey Hall of Fame | 7 and up | Mid-range | 1.5–2 hours | Yes for hockey families |
| CN Tower | All ages | Premium | 1.5–2 hours | On a clear day |
| Toronto Public Library branches | All ages | Free | As long as you like | Underrated |
| Indoor playgrounds and trampoline parks | 2–12 | Varies; check operator | 1–3 hours | Good for burning energy |
A Quick Word on Planning
A few things make an indoor day with kids much easier in Toronto.
- Book timed tickets online. Ripley’s, the CN Tower and LEGOLAND sell timed entry, and walk-up queues on rainy weekends and school holidays can be long.
- Go early or late. The big attractions are busiest from late morning to mid-afternoon, especially on weekends, March Break and the Christmas holidays.
- Look at combination passes. If you’re doing several big attractions, check whether a Toronto CityPASS saves money for your family. It only pays off if you actually visit the attractions it includes.
- Use the subway. Most of the places below are near a TTC station, and children 12 and under ride the TTC free. See our TTC guide.
- Know about the PATH. Downtown’s network of underground walkways connects Union Station, shopping centres and office towers, so in bad weather you can move around a good part of the core without going outside. Our PATH guide explains how it works.
The Big Attractions
Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada
At the foot of the CN Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium is the single most reliable rainy-day attraction in the city for families. The highlight is Dangerous Lagoon, a long underwater tunnel with a moving walkway, where sharks, sawfish and sea turtles glide overhead. Younger children love the touch pools with stingrays and horseshoe crabs, the jellyfish gallery with its colour-changing tanks, and the play area with tunnels and bubble windows into the tanks.
Honest notes: it’s expensive for a family, and it gets very crowded on wet weekends and holidays, when the tunnel becomes a slow shuffle. Book a timed ticket online and arrive when it opens, or go late in the day on a weekday. The aquarium has in the past run evening hours on some days, which are much quieter; check the current schedule. Allow two to three hours.
Getting there: Union Station, then the covered SkyWalk towards the CN Tower, about ten minutes.
Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum, Canada’s largest museum, is the best all-round museum in the city for children. The dinosaur galleries are the big draw, with full skeletons that make small children’s jaws drop, and the bat cave, a walk-through recreation of a Jamaican cave, is a reliable hit. The Egyptian mummies, the minerals and gems, and the natural history galleries keep older children busy too, and the museum has hands-on discovery areas designed for families.
Honest notes: it’s a big building, and trying to see everything with young children is a recipe for meltdowns. Pick two or three galleries, take a snack break, and leave while everyone is still happy. Weekday afternoons are quieter than weekend mornings.
Getting there: it’s right beside Museum station on Line 1, or a short walk from St George station.
Ontario Science Centre at Harbourfront Centre
This one needs a clear explanation, because older guides and maps are wrong. The Ontario Science Centre’s original building in Don Mills closed in 2024. After a two-year gap, the science centre reopened in a temporary home at Harbourfront Centre on the waterfront on 29 June 2026, in about 86,000 square feet of space with exhibitions, workshops, classrooms and outdoor program areas. A permanent new science centre is planned at Ontario Place, expected by 2029.
Admission at the Harbourfront location is $15 per visitor, which makes it one of the best-value big indoor outings in the city. It’s smaller than the old building, but it’s hands-on and aimed squarely at curious kids, and its lakefront location means you can combine it with a walk along Queens Quay when the weather allows. Hours vary by day; check before you go.
Getting there: the 509 Harbourfront or 510 Spadina streetcar from Union Station runs along Queens Quay, or walk about 15 minutes from Union. Don’t go to the old Don Mills site; it’s closed.
LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Toronto
LEGOLAND Discovery Centre is at Vaughan Mills, a large shopping mall north of the city. It’s an indoor LEGO attraction with building zones, a small ride or two, a 4D cinema, play areas and a MINILAND of Toronto landmarks built in LEGO.
Honest notes: it’s aimed at children roughly 3 to 10, and it’s best for kids who really love LEGO. Adults generally can’t enter without a child. It’s smaller than the name suggests, so two to three hours is plenty, and full-price tickets feel steep for what you get. Book online in advance, where prices are often lower, and look for deals.
Getting there: Vaughan Mills is a drive north of the city, and it’s awkward by transit, so it suits families with a car. Combine it with shopping at the mall on the same trip.
Hockey Hall of Fame
For hockey-loving families, the Hockey Hall of Fame is a must. The Great Hall, in a grand former bank building, is home to the Stanley Cup — when it’s not travelling — and the interactive zones let kids take shots against virtual goalies and try their hand at play-by-play commentary.
Honest notes: for children with no interest in hockey, this won’t hold them long. For those who love it, it’s a highlight of the trip. Best for ages seven and up.
Getting there: it’s on Front Street a few minutes’ walk from Union Station, connected to the PATH.
CN Tower
Going up the CN Tower is technically indoors, and children love the glass floor, where you can look straight down more than 340 metres. But a cloudy or foggy day, the kind that drives families indoors in the first place, can mean a view of nothing but grey. Check the visibility before you buy tickets, and save it for a clear day if you can.
Casa Loma
Casa Loma, the early-20th-century castle on the hill above Dupont station, has secret passages, towers to climb and a long underground tunnel to the stables, all of which appeal to children. It’s mostly indoors, although the gardens and tower tops aren’t. The holiday programme in December is especially popular with families.
Free and Cheap Indoor Options
Playground Paradise
This is the one locals know and visitors almost never find. Playground Paradise, at the Flemingdon Community Centre in Flemingdon Park, is an indoor playground run by the City of Toronto. It’s free and open to children 12 and under. Expect spiral slides, track rides, cargo elevators, ball pits, a vertical play maze and a dedicated toddler zone. For families with young children on a budget, it’s the best deal in the city.
Honest notes: it’s a community facility, not a tourist attraction, so check the City of Toronto’s website for the current drop-in schedule before you go, as times are set for different age groups and can change. It can get busy on cold weekends and school holidays.
Toronto Public Library
The Toronto Public Library has branches in every neighbourhood, and they’re a genuine resource for families: free to enter, warm, with children’s areas full of books, and often with free storytimes and programmes for young kids. The Toronto Reference Library, near Bloor-Yonge station, is striking inside, with a soaring atrium and curved balconies that children enjoy exploring. Check the library’s website for programmes and hours at the branch nearest you. Visitors can use library spaces without a card.
Art Gallery of Ontario
The Art Gallery of Ontario has family-friendly spaces and hands-on activities for children, and its spiral staircase and huge windows are fun to explore. The AGO has offered free admission for young visitors in recent years; check the current policy for children and youth before you go, as it may make this one of the cheapest big museums for families.
Shopping centres
On a truly miserable day, a big mall is a perfectly reasonable place to spend a couple of hours with children, and Toronto’s are enormous. The Eaton Centre downtown is connected to two subway stations and has a food court, and several suburban malls have play areas. It’s not a cultural experience, but it’s warm, it’s free to walk around, and there’s always a washroom.
Indoor Playgrounds, Trampolines and Active Play
When the kids need to burn energy rather than look at exhibits, Toronto has plenty of commercial indoor playgrounds and active-play centres. We haven’t verified current prices or hours for these, so check each operator’s website before you go.
- Epic Planet Fun — known for having the city’s first indoor rope course, with activities for a wide range of ages.
- Liliput Playhouse and Gulliver Playstudio — imaginative indoor play spaces mixing art, creativity and active play, better suited to younger children.
- Sky Zone — a trampoline park with wall-to-wall trampolines and a foam pit. Good for older kids with energy to spare. Grip socks are usually required.
- Drop-in play centres — many neighbourhoods have smaller drop-in indoor playgrounds, particularly useful for toddlers.
For our wider list of play spaces, including outdoor options for better weather, see our guide to playgrounds and splash pads in Toronto.
Other Indoor Ideas
- Bata Shoe Museum. A surprisingly fun small museum for children, with shoes from across history and around the world, including some very strange ones. See our Bata Shoe Museum guide.
- Swimming. The City of Toronto runs indoor pools across the city with drop-in leisure swims. Many hotels also have pools, which can be a lifesaver on a rainy afternoon.
- Indoor skating. The city has indoor arenas with public skating times. Outdoor rinks are open in winter too, if the weather is dry and the kids are wrapped up. See our ice skating guide.
- Theatre and shows. Toronto has children’s theatre and family-friendly productions, especially at holiday times. Our theatre guide covers the main venues.
- Cinema. A film is the oldest rainy-day trick in the book, and it still works.
Choosing by Age
The same attraction can be a triumph for one child and a disaster for their sibling. Here’s how we’d pick for different ages.
Babies and toddlers (under 3)
Keep it short, close and flexible. Toddlers don’t need a big-ticket attraction, and they often get more out of an hour at Playground Paradise or a library storytime than a whole morning in a museum they’ll mostly see from a stroller. Ripley’s Aquarium is the exception: the colours, the movement and the touch pools hold very young children’s attention in a way few places do. Plan around naps, go at opening time, and treat anything after lunch as a bonus. Babies under the age limits are free at many attractions, so check before you buy a ticket for them.
Preschoolers (3 to 5)
This is the sweet spot for hands-on places. The Ontario Science Centre at Harbourfront, the aquarium’s play areas and LEGOLAND Discovery Centre are all aimed squarely at this age, and the ROM’s dinosaurs usually go down well if you keep the visit short and skip the galleries full of glass cases. Build in a snack break every hour or so, and don’t try to do two big attractions in one day.
School-age kids (6 to 9)
Now you can do a proper museum visit. The ROM comes into its own, with the bat cave, the mummies and the minerals alongside the dinosaurs. The Hockey Hall of Fame starts to make sense for hockey fans, and an active-play centre or trampoline park is a good reward after a morning of looking at exhibits. Children this age also enjoy the novelty of the PATH and the subway, which can be an activity in itself on a rainy day.
Tweens (10 to 12)
Older children often want something that feels a little less designed for little kids. The CN Tower glass floor on a clear day, the Hockey Hall of Fame’s interactive shooting games, a rope course or trampoline park, the AGO, or a proper show at a theatre are all good choices. Let them choose one activity per day; it goes a long way.
A Week of Rainy Days Without Repeating Yourself
If you’re in Toronto for a week and the forecast is wet from start to finish, here’s a simple rotation that mixes big attractions with cheap, low-effort days so nobody burns out, adults included.
- Day 1: Ripley’s Aquarium in the morning, a hotel swim in the afternoon.
- Day 2: the Royal Ontario Museum, then a café stop on Bloor Street.
- Day 3: a low-cost day: Playground Paradise, then a library branch.
- Day 4: the Ontario Science Centre at Harbourfront Centre, with a walk along Queens Quay if the rain eases.
- Day 5: the Hockey Hall of Fame and lunch in the PATH, then a film.
- Day 6: an indoor playground or trampoline park in the morning, Casa Loma in the afternoon.
- Day 7: a rest day: a family film, a pool, and a big lunch somewhere the kids get to choose.
Swap days around to match what’s closest to your hotel, and drop anything that isn’t working. The goal is a trip the kids remember for the sharks and the dinosaurs, not for the time everyone cried in a museum lobby.
Sample Rainy Day Plans
Downtown with young children (ages 2–6)
- Morning: Ripley’s Aquarium at opening time, with a pre-booked ticket.
- Lunch: a food court in the PATH or at Union Station.
- Afternoon: the Ontario Science Centre at Harbourfront Centre, a streetcar ride or short walk away, then back to the hotel for a nap or a swim.
A museum day for older kids (ages 7–12)
- Morning: the Royal Ontario Museum, focusing on dinosaurs and the bat cave.
- Lunch: the ROM café, or somewhere along Bloor Street.
- Afternoon: take Line 1 south to Union and walk to the Hockey Hall of Fame, all connected to the PATH once you’re downtown.
A budget day
- Morning: Playground Paradise at Flemingdon Park during a drop-in session (free).
- Lunch: packed lunch or a cheap meal nearby.
- Afternoon: a Toronto Public Library branch storytime or the Toronto Reference Library, or the $15 Science Centre at Harbourfront.
Children 12 and under ride the TTC free, so the transport for all three of these plans costs little or nothing for the kids. For more budget ideas, see our guide to free things to do in Toronto.
When Toronto Weather Sends You Indoors
It’s worth being realistic about the weather. From December to March, Toronto is cold, often below freezing, and wind chill off the lake makes it feel colder. Snow and slush are common, and some days are simply too bitter for small children to enjoy long outdoor walks. Spring and autumn bring rainy spells, and summer has heavy thunderstorms and the occasional heatwave, when an air-conditioned museum is a welcome escape.
The key is flexibility. Have one or two indoor options ready for every day of your trip, and swap them in when the forecast turns. Our Toronto weather guide covers what to expect each month, things to do in Toronto in the rain has ideas for all ages, and our Toronto in winter guide covers the cold months in detail.
Practical Tips for Families
- Strollers: the big attractions are stroller-friendly, but downtown sidewalks can be icy and slushy in winter. A compact stroller is easier on the TTC, where not every station has elevators; check accessibility before you travel.
- Coats: most attractions have coat checks or lockers. Use them; a museum is miserable in a snowsuit.
- Snacks: attraction cafés are expensive. Pack snacks where allowed, and plan lunch for somewhere nearby.
- Washrooms: the PATH, shopping centres and big attractions are your friends.
- School holidays: March Break (mid-March), the Christmas holidays and PA days (professional development days, when schools close for the day) make attractions much busier. Check the Ontario school calendar if you can avoid them.
- With toddlers: see our Toronto with toddlers guide for nap-friendly plans and stroller routes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best indoor activity for kids in Toronto?
For most families, Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada or the Royal Ontario Museum. The aquarium suits all ages; the ROM is especially good for children over five, and dinosaur fans of any age. For the best value, the Ontario Science Centre at Harbourfront Centre costs $15 per visitor.
Is the Ontario Science Centre open?
Yes, at a temporary location. The original Don Mills building closed in 2024, and the science centre reopened at Harbourfront Centre on 29 June 2026. Admission is $15 per visitor. A permanent new home at Ontario Place is expected by 2029.
Are there free indoor playgrounds in Toronto?
Yes. Playground Paradise at the Flemingdon Community Centre, run by the City of Toronto, is free for children 12 and under, with slides, ball pits and a toddler zone. Check the city’s website for drop-in times.
What can I do with toddlers in Toronto when it’s raining?
Ripley’s Aquarium, Playground Paradise, a Toronto Public Library storytime and the Ontario Science Centre at Harbourfront are all good choices for toddlers. Keep visits short and plan around naps.
Do kids ride the TTC for free?
Yes, children 12 and under ride the TTC free, which makes getting to indoor attractions by subway and streetcar very affordable for families.
Is LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Toronto worth it?
For children aged roughly 3 to 10 who love LEGO, yes. For others, it’s small and expensive for what it offers. Book online for lower prices, and note it’s at Vaughan Mills, north of the city, which is easiest to reach by car.
What are the best indoor things to do in Toronto in winter with kids?
The Royal Ontario Museum, Ripley’s Aquarium, the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Ontario Science Centre at Harbourfront, Playground Paradise and indoor pools and skating rinks. Many downtown attractions connect to the PATH, so you can avoid the cold between them.
Related Toronto Guides
- Toronto With Kids — the complete family guide.
- Things to Do in Toronto in the Rain — ideas for all ages.
- Ripley’s Aquarium Guide — tickets, timing and what to see.
- Ontario Science Centre Guide — more on the science centre.
- LEGOLAND Discovery Centre — is it worth it for your family?
- Family Attractions in Toronto — indoors and out.
- Family Hotels in Toronto — including hotels with pools.
Photo Credits
Harbourfront Centre from above: Harbourfront-Centre by Mark Bradshaw, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Great Hall of the Hockey Hall of Fame: Hockey Hall of Fame Interior by Five Hole For Food from Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Toronto Reference Library atrium: Toronto Reference Library (01560) by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
A shark at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada: Dangerous Lagoon – Sharks-9 by RipleysAquaCA, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Dinosaur skeletons at the ROM: Albertosaurus and Deinonychus at the Royal Ontario Musem by Deinocheirus, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
