Anne-Charlotte PasseraAs your baby grows, you can start to vary the outings and activities, no matter where you live. You don’t have to wait until they’re mature enough to do them. Especially since in most places, until they a certain age, these activities can be free. Might as well enjoy them, right?
Of course, I’m not saying to do these outings every day, it would be too expensive. Try to vary the activities each week and the free ones versus the paid ones.
For example, in Montreal, there are plenty of places to discover with your family.
Here are a few ideas:
- Biodome
- Botanical Gardens
- Museums. I invite you to read my article on How to visit Museums with children
- Shows such as: acrobatic circus, musical comedy, theater, puppets, etc.
- Outdoor shows: music, theater; often free of charge
- Sporting events
- The Snow Festival (winter)
- Children’s Day (summer)
For more ideas, you can read my articles about Montreal and the activities to do with the kids each month. Here is the one from January.
Simple and free ideas? I’ve got some.
Have a picnic in front of your house, on your terrace, in your garden or in the park.
Go to the library. Often in libraries, there is a space dedicated to the little ones. Also, on weekends, they offer free activities for children from o to 12 years old, including storytime.
Vary the activities and pleasures for baby outings
Once I started working again after I had Blondie Bear, I tried to do a different educational/entertaining field trip every weekend. I needed something to break the routine and feel like I was enjoying myself with my kids.
It wasn’t always easy to stick to it as a single mom. I only had one salary and no child support, but I think I did pretty well.
When Blondie Bear was younger, I would do a little housework during the week. That way, I had less to do on the weekends and more free time. Same thing for grocery shopping. In short, I did what I could to be able to relax with my kids on weekends.
I’m lucky to live in a city like Montreal that offers a lot of free activities. All you have to do is listen and look around. By looking in the Journal Métro (FREE), there are often articles about things to do on weekends, etc. Don’t hesitate to go with your toddler(s). Maybe there is a similar newspaper in your area?
Varying activities and outings with a baby will help your child be more aware.
Of course, your outings should still be adapted to the baby’s age. For the first few months, keep outings simple and short. It’s important that your baby keeps his eating and sleeping rhythm and that his routine isn’t too disrupted.
Ideas for outings to do with a baby
Try to match your outings with your baby’s learning about shapes, colors, animals, smells, food. Vary the activities to develop all his senses.
You don’t have to only go to playgrounds. It is your right to do entertaining things for your child AND for you, at a lower cost.
Zoos
Zoos are interesting for children, especially when they begin to learn about animals through the pictures you show them in books or games.
I’m not a big zoo fanatic, but it’s a good learning tool for children when they are small.
These kinds of places push to vice and show in a flagrant way the world of overconsumption in which we live (North America are the specialists in this field). In any case, avoid this kind of place when your children are small, choose instead a zoo like the Omega Park, farms, the Biodome.
We discovered the Omega Park this summer when Zazou and Anna Banana visited it, 1h30 from Montreal. We didn’t feel like we were in a zoo. What a beautiful way to see the Canadian fauna. This park is more worth the trip than those that are twinned with a water park where it is crowded with people. The educational and animal preservation aspect is lost there.
Also, I discovered recently a place located 45 minutes outside of Montreal where you can walk an Alapaca! It’s a short stroll, but entertaining for the whole family. However, bring your baby wrap carrier and not the stroller. The place is located on the farm of Domaine Poissant in Mont-Saint-Hilaire.
Museums
For museums, some offer free activities for children on weekends. If you go on a ‘discount’ day, even if you only stay for half an hour, because your child can’t take it anymore, you’ll have made a different outing.
In France, if you are unemployed or on welfare, you have free access to most museums and you avoid queues.
Let me tell you that I really made the most of it with Junior when he was 4 years old while we lived in France. We went to see a lot of exhibitions, the Louvre, the Château de Versailles, the Institut du Monde Arabe. It was really great and instructive.
Of course, there is always a risk that your child will fall asleep during an outing, but what can I say…. That’s just the way it is…at least one child out of two will have really enjoyed it.
Outdoor Theater
It has become a bit of a tradition for our family. Every summer, we go to see a show at the Théâtre de la Roulotte. It’s outdoors, in the parks of Montreal, all summer long and it’s free. Just bring your blanket and/or chair to be comfortable, as well as your picnic/wine if you feel like it. Even though my children are grown up now, it is a tradition that we have kept.
The Movies
During the summer, at the Cinéma Beaubien, every weekend, there are free screenings for children and parents. The movie is at 10am and the film changes every weekend. It’s really nice. Of course, these are films adapted for children. However, don’t go to the movies with a newborn.
The Parks
In winter, in Montreal, you can skate for free in the parks. By going on Kijiji, you can find cheap skates for children. Otherwise, you can just buy learning skates in a sports store, it’s not very expensive.
You can also go sledding in the parks of Montreal or simply make snow angels.
The parks in Montreal or anywhere else for that matter, are ideal places to take your babies to all year long.
In short, you can keep going wherever you want or, just for the benefit of your baby/child, start going to places you didn’t know before.
Preparing your outings with a baby – what you need to know
If you’re going on outings with a baby or a young child, don’t forget a few essentials:
Always have something to snack on (cheerios, carrots, apple pieces) and water, even if you’re just going shopping. You never know when something unexpected might happen.
Don’t stop yourself from going out because of meals, naps, etc. (except when they are really small).
If you get your child used to going out, sleeping with the curtains open during the day, normally, he should be able to sleep in the stroller or in the car (it doesn’t mean you have to carry him around every day, calm down).
Bring an afternoon snack with you if you are going out in the afternoon.
Always have a change of clothes and diapers.
Always have a small toy or something to color with you when you go out to eat at a restaurant. I tell you more about this in my article on Tips for eating out.
For lunch, if I couldn’t bring one with me, I would order soup for the baby as often as possible. I would share some of my plate and/or order a plate of vegetables as well to compliment my baby’s meal.
Reminder for the moms
In a nutshell, you can still continue to go where ever you want or to a place, that is beneficial to you and your child, that you had never been to before.
Don’t forget that your life doesn’t stop just because you had a child. It’s clear that it has changed, but don’t stop yourself from continuing to live. All it takes is a little organization and also courage, it must be said, and patience. It’s true, kids are not always easy, especially around the age of 2.
Furthermore, if there is a big age difference between your children, you can’t penalize the older one just because you have a young child. Your older child will resent you if you can’t do anything because of the new sibling.
Get organized and keep going out with your oldest, even if the baby is there.
It’s good to vary the outings, your child will be more fulfilled no matter what his age. Get your baby used to outings early, it will awake all his senses. Their brain is in full evolution, a real sponge. There is so much to introduce them to. Vary the pleasures!
By doing various outings and activities, despite the ups and downs, you’ll have a baby who is open to the world.
[…] Does the idea of going out with your baby make you anxious? I tell you about my experience HERE. […]