There are many places to bring your little ones to in Metro Vancouver. I rounded up a few spots I love to bring my family to that is under $50.
Maplewood Farm is the perfect place for animal lovers! The kids get to walk around and visit all types of farm animals such as horses, donkey, sheeps, cows, etc. They also get to pet the goats and feed the bunnies. Tickets for a family of four is around $30!
Entrance to Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre is by donation, recommended donation is $2 per person. I never been here before, but my friend and her family loves coming here. There are lots to see, including:
Quoted from the Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre Website.
“You don’t want to miss out on visiting the Burnaby Village Museum this summer! Travel back to the 1920’s. Kids love that they can run around and explore new things. The staff are friendly and extremely knowledgeable. It’s also super interesting for adults, seeing old printing presses and how we used to share information is awesome. Best of all it’s FREE! Don’t forget to adventure to the Carousel, ride one of the horses that were built in the 1970’s! ($2.65 per ride). Finish off with an ice cream during this heatwave at the Ice Cream Parlor.” – Jennifer from Mazeleen Photography
We recently went to The Amazing Brentwood for the first time and had a lot of fun with the kids. Their food scene was quite impressive, with many good local eateries. We had lunch in their foodcourt and we all chose different types of food to try – a reason we love food court. Afterwards, we checked out the Rec Room for the first time. We put in $30 onto our card, unsure how long $30 will last. Surprisingly, we were able to play a lot of games for $30. We spent a little less than an hour at the Rec Room. Afterwards, we walked around the mall, got a few treats, and headed home. I would say it was a fun day with the family.
I remembered having my oldest 5th birthday at Burnaby Central Railway! We all had fun riding the train! It’s $4.50 for a single ride for all passengers 3 years old and up.
I love exploring Granville Island, especially during the summer! You can spend the day walking around Granville Island and taking the Aqua Bus to Science World or Downtown. Our day usually starts with walking around Granville Island Kids Market, taking the aqua bus to Yaletown and exploring the food scene in downtown. The kids love taking the aqua bus and it was a cheaper way for them to go on a boat ride!
This place is every kids dream! They have so many fun activities, you can never get bored. Admission ranges from $4 – $6 per child. Kerrisdale Play Palace has:
We love bringing the kids to walk around VanDusen Garden. One of their favourite things to do is their maze. You can spend a few hours walking around the garden. You can even bring a picnic blanket, sit on their lawn and enjoy the scenery. Admission for a family of four is around $40.
If you like birds, exotic plants and flowers, you would like visiting Bloedel Conservatory. It is quite small, but you can spend around 45 minutes walking around and looking at the different types of birds. Admission for a family of four is around $25.
Stanley Park has free outdoor movies on Tuesday nights! Here are the last two movies they’ll be featuring in August!
This is a great opportunity to learn about Chinese Canadian history. I have not brought my family here yet, but it is on my list. Admission is free. After visiting the Chinese Canadian Museum, you can go to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. Admission for the garden is $32 for the family. You can also spend the day exploring Chinatown.
“Can’t believe it was our first time at this waterpark. SO much fun here! Fun loopy slides, floating in the lazy river (shallow enough that I could walk through without having to tippy toe!), spray park with tipping buckets, leisure pool & diving boards were just some of the things we loved about this place. Plus, free parking! Tickets were hard to get. I had to set an alarm to book online and finally got a spot after waiting weeks. The time slot we chose sold out within minutes! 2.5 hour time slots. We arrived late (shocker) but still managed to find parking. We setup a shade tent in the picnic area and used it as our own private change room afterwards. Overall, this was probably the BEST family experience we’ve had at a waterpark thus far. We will definitely be back!!! If we’re lucky enough to get tickets again lol” – @Mariatyxx
Museum of Surrey is free admission and have lots of things for kids to do. The first floor showcases their featured gallery and the TD Explore Zone – a perfect spot for kids to play! They have a slide, cars, shoots, etc. You can go upstairs to learn about Surrey history, explore the Indigenous Hall, and see many more things.
We recently discovered Learn to Fish. This is a free program for kids to learn how to fish. We tried this program in March and had so much fun. They learnt about fish, different baits, and how to use a fishing rod. They got to test out their skills afterwards and some even caught a few fishes. The fishes you catch get thrown back into the lake.
Every Saturday, Cineplex has their family favourite program for only $2.99 +tax. This is a great time to bring the kids to watch a movie in the theatre and enjoy the air con, a nice break from the summer heat!
If you’re also planning classes for the Fall, we just posted a list of Fall Classes:
For more ideas about what to do during the Summer, check out some of our recent post:
