If you’ve never been to the Insectarium, which is located next to the Montreal Botanical Gardens, it’s a good indoor outing for children around age three and up.

There is an amazing variety of live insects, including some astoundingly large and long-legged ones (thankfully separated from visitors in glass enclosures). On our last visit, our 5-year-old was just at the right age to really appreciate the insects; the 2-year-old was intermittently interested, but followed along.

Special activities for the Insectarium open house include:

• Insect tastings: Yes, you can try eating various insects at 9:15, 10:15, 11:15, then at 1:15, 2:15, 3:15 and 4:15.  (15 minutes)
• Bug Bites: Solve special mysteries in the Diversity Room at 9:30, 10:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. (5 minutes)
• Atta Ants: You get to see leaf-cutter ants as they harvest leaves and work in their garden, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (15 minutes)

If you find your children don’t last long at the Insectarium, you could take them to the nearby Biodome, for the Caillou Discovers Winter event (on till Feb. 14).

By the way, the popular Butterflies Go Free event at the Montreal Botanical Garden – where tropical butterflies take over one of the greenhouses – goes from Feb. 17 to April 25, 2010.

The Insectarium
Address: 4581 Sherbrooke St. E. (View map)
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Website: http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/insectarium/en/index.php?section=1&intParent=1
Telephone: 514-872-1400

Related posts:

1. This Just In: Open House at Local Farms
2. Guided Tour: The Insectarium’s BuzzGround

There aren’t too many places that offer kids a “polar play area,” where they can try a little “ice fishing”, dress up like a penguin or polar bear, build up and bash down foam “ice cubes”, and make themselves at home in an igloo. This is one of the super features of the annual Caillou Discovers Winter event the Biodome, which runs until Feb. 14. I would highly recommend it for toddlers up to around age six – it will keep the little ones and their older siblings happy.

Caillou Leads the Way
Kids get to meet one of their heroes, Caillou, who helps teach them about winter and how animals adapt. There is a Caillou-themed winter journey that takes visitors through the Biodome’s various ecosystems; a booklet asks them to find particular points of interest along the way. We didn’t do the tour, because our kids (ages 2.5 and 5) were too engrossed in building ice cube forts in the play area. Then, we headed to a small auditorium to catch one of the storytelling sessions (about 20 minutes long).

Storyteller Gets Kids’ Attention
The story is that Caillou lost his teddy bear in the Biodome and the audience has to help find it, learning about the various environments along the way. The storyteller developed a great rapport with the kids immediately; they were yelling answers to his questions and laughing along with his jokes. Even though our younger one didn’t get it all, he stayed interested and was happy to watch the storyteller clowning around.

The auditorium is steps from the Biodome’s live penguin exhibit/enclosure – which is amazing for grownups and children alike. Apparently not as amazing as the play area, though, because we spent another 20 minutes there before dragging the kids away for lunch.

End your Visit with Lunch
There are two places to eat within the Biodome – a café area with nice sandwiches and muffins, and a larger cafeteria with sandwiches and hot meals.
On the way to the cafeteria is a very cool exhibition of toys made of recycled items – don’t miss it! It was inspiring for us and the kids – they were both fascinated that you could build things like airplanes, helicopters and castles out of household junk.

For more information about Caillou Discovers Winter, go to the Biodome website.

Did you catch Caillou over the holidays? What did you think?

Related posts:

1. This Just In: Behind the Scenes Rally at The Biodome
2. Montreal Winter Break Activities for Kids
3. Guided Tour: The Great Pumpkin Ball and more at Montreal Botanical Gardens