Easter Events for Everyone

Easter is for everyone, but especially fun for the young. We've rounded up some egg-citing (sorry) events for the entire family to enjoy.

We're all for mixing in a little animal appreciation with our Easter weekend, and the Toronto Zoo makes it easy with events all weekend long. On Friday, get into the spirit with the mascot Duke, who's on site to help kids hunt for all kinds of crocodile-inspired scaly, spotted eggs. Saturday, Sunday and Monday the Zoo hosts more egg hunts as well as crafts, colouring and egg-ducational activities. Be sure to visit the giant panda mascots at the Zoo's Connection Centre.

Frigid temperatures have kept most of us from visiting the Toronto Island all winter, but their (almost) annual Easter Eggstravaganza is back after a hiatus last year. Admission to the event includes two Easter egg hunts, LEGO fun, access to Centreville rides, face painting and more.

Even kids know mixing lions and bunnies is generally a bad idea, but not when it comes to the annual Easter parade put on by the Toronto Beaches Lions organization. Beginning at 2:00 pm and running for about two hours, the parade starts at Queen Street at Munro Park
and proceeds west along Queen Street ending at Woodbine Ave.

Our kids can get a little candy-crazed over Easter (thanks Easter bunny) so we've always enjoyed the traditional egg decorating experience at Todmorden Mills Heritage Site for the bit of culture it injects into their consciousness (at least for a couple hours). Kids ages six and up can learn the ancient art form of pysanky (Ukrainian Easter egg painting) and create their own personalized eggs using traditional wax methods.

Easter egg hunts abound in the city, but for competitive kids who really want to fill their basket, farms just outside of the city offer more opportunities for a free-for-all egg frenzy, offering satisfaction and a basket full of coloured plastic eggs to proudly show around. Add a professional puppet show, wagon rides and a petting zoo and you may have the perfect Easter weekend afternoon—weather permitting of course.