Here are our top picks for cool, kid-friendly events for the whole family this month, culled from the jam-packed schedule of happenings across the city. From circus skills workshops to theatre performances to Toronto’s first ever a capella festival, there’s no shortage of things to do for kids from age two to…well, you!
Best of all? Many of them are free.
Festivals and Events
See world champion and Olympic medallist Canadian skaters Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Joannie Rochette, Kurt Browning, and Patrick Chan and others at this exciting show. May 2.
Free Comic Book Day Free
An annual event the first Saturday of every May, comic book stores give away a comic book free to shoppers. See a list of participating Toronto stores. May 3.
Have you ever seen professional kite-flyers in action? (Did you know there were professional kite flyers?) See them in action and then construct a kite at the kite-making workshop at the Kortright Centre for Conservation. May 3 and 4.
ROM Revealed Free
Get free admission to the Royal Ontario Museum for one weekend only. Be sure to check out the Schad Gallery of Biodiversity with its life-size sharks and a giant white rhino. May 3 and 4.
International Children and Youth Day Festival Free
Children perform traditional folk dances at this global celebration at Nathan Phillips Square, in honour of International Children’s Day, which was April 23. There’s face painting, food, clowns, magic shows, and cultural folk music, too. May 4.
Introduce your child to opera with a kid-friendly adaptation of the classic opera Carmen by the Shoestring Opera. May 4.
Southern Ontario’s premier amusement park opens May 4. New for 2014 is Wonder Mountain’s Guardian, a 4-D roller coaster ride that descends into the darkness of Wonder Mountain and includes interactive elements. May 4 onward.
Mother’s Day Soap-Making Workshops
Get crafty with these fun workshops at Kid Culture, where you can take home a soap flower bouquet for Mom. Pay only for what you make. May 3, 4, and 10.
Sesame Street Presents: The Body
Learn about the human body with the most popular Sesame Street characters at this interactive exhibit at the Ontario Science Centre. Through May 5.
If you haven’t been to a Toronto FC soccer game at BMO Field, you’re missing out on a raucous, fast-paced experience. Diehard fans make suer there’s not a bad seat in the house. Home games May 7, 17, 31.
Toronto Comic Arts Festival Free
For the budding illustrator in your household, this festival is a chance to meet professional illustrators and see some cutting-edge comic and graphic novel work, at the Toronto Reference Library. May 10.
You Gonna Eat That? Free
This comedy cooking show is a fun way for kids to learn about where their food comes from and maybe start helping out with dinner, too. May 17 and 18.
Circus at the Harbourfront Free
It’s an all-circus Victoria Day weekend at the Harbourfront Centre. Acrobats, aerialists, tight rope walkers…find them all at the Bollywood-themed Zero Gravity Circus Festival. See clowns, jugglers, and comedians at the Sweet Variety of Circus show and attend a KinderCirque circus skills workshop for kids ages 2–5. May 17–19.
Victoria Day Fireworks Free
More than 2,000 fireworks will light up the sky on the Monday of the Victoria Day weekend, at 10 pm at Ashbridge’s Bay Park. May 19.
Carassaga Festival of Cultures
Travel the world without leaving the GTA by experiencing food, music, and dance from more than 72 countries at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga. May 23, 24, 25.
Woofstock Free
The favourite annual event of canines and the humans who love them, Woofstock is a blast if only for the doggie fashions on parade. May 24 and 25.
SING! The Toronto Vocal Festival Free
If your child is in a chorus or choir, don’t miss this, Toronto’s first a cappella festival. It includes performances by top a cappella groups at two Toronto locations as well as workshops at the Distillery District. May 30–June 1.
MEC Bikefest Free
Bike Month starts May 24, and extends into June. Kick it off with this event at Trinity-Bellwoods Park, with tune-ups, safety checks, and kid’s activities. Don’t forget your helmet! May 31.
Theatre Performances (Multiple Dates)
What do a mouse, a Japanese folktale, large-scale origami, shadow puppetry, and a goblin have in common? Find out at this original Young People’s Theatre production. Through May 11.
At the Young People’s Theatre, this production for ages 8 and up tells the story of street children in India who use imagination and magic to change their fate. Through May 15.
An interactive musical comedy play that tells the story of the classic children’s fairy tale at Solar Stage Children’s Theatre. May 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25, 31.
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Take a trip to the Stratford Festival to follow Alice as she falls through the looking glass and meets the many characters of this classic Lewis Carroll tale. Through Oct.
This colourful, musical spectacle at the Princess of Wales theatre wows audiences with famous songs and dance numbers from the Disney show, in its 20th year. Through June.
