Welcome to I Spy Montreal, a blog about navigating Montreal with kids, one weekend at a time. Chief spy is Jessica Howard, a mother of two, copy editor at the Montreal Gazette and blog consultant for StressLimit Design. This site was created to help fellow parents identify baby- and child-friendly places and events, and plan fun family weekends.
The site provides previews, reviews and updates about local attractions and events, from the point of view of a Montreal family with two sons, age five and two. The idea is to provide the details you need to decide: whether destinations are age appropriate; how to get there; if there’s food (and coffee) in close proximity; and how to plan the day around that activity.
The site is in no way an exhaustive guide to Montreal with children, but a reflection of our family’s excursions and experiences. If you have comments, suggestions or advice about getting around Montreal with kids, please share!
How to use the site
Sign up for the newsletter: There are lots of family-friendly weekend events in Montreal, so I round them up in a newsletter that goes out every Thursday. If you would like to receive the free weekly list, sign up here.
Guided Tours: I Spy Montreal offers guided tours of Montreal parks and attractions, which contain reviews and photo slideshows of our own visits. Each guided tour contains the logistical details you need to get there. Here’s a guided tour of Parc Safari.
Should You Take the Kids To: These posts preview or review child-targeted events, helping you decide whether it’s worth it to spring for tickets or not. Some examples are Should You Take the Kids To: the Hot Air Balloon Festival in St. Jean Sur Richelieu or Should You Take the Kids To: Walking With Dinosaurs.
This Just In: These posts offer updates about family-oriented places or events, like the opening of a parent-baby café in Laval.
Resources: These pages offer short descriptions of family-oriented services, listed in categories, including parent-baby cafés, family-friendly movie theatres and screenings and children’s bookstores.
Events calendar: Look for this page under Resources. It lists upcoming family events by month.
How to contribute
We would love to hear from you. Your comments on posts will help make this site more useful, so please provide information that helps other families better prepare for and enjoy their visits to local attractions and events. You can also use the contact form.
