CNE 2013- Day 2 (Let's Go Back to the Ex)!

     In my many mom-misadventures, I have often miscalculated the "best" day to do things by not checking the weather forecast and today was no different. After promising the kids another day at the exhibition and knowing today was the last possible day we could go before leaving for California, I awoke to a massive rainstorm. Still the optimist in me said to go anyways. Unfortunately, the planning mom voice in my head never said to pack rain gear. 

     By the time we arrived at the exhibition it was pouring so I made a last minute decision to head up to Dufferin Mall quickly and grab some rain gear. On my way back from Dundas and Dufferin, I decided to drive past all the "local traffic only" signs that appear when heading south on Dufferin towards the exhibition and found a private parking lot that is $20 per day and a stone's throw from the Dufferin gates. Perfect for today's weather and if you are heading to the exhibition and only intending to see the kids' activities. 

    My last CNE post provided most of the nitty-gritty information for this year's exhibition and in this post I wanted to go more in-depth into some of the workshops you will find in Kids' World Park. The workshops are all included in your daily admission to the exhibition and tomorrow (August 27, 2013) kids get in free until 3 p.m. As I previously reviewed the Pizza Nova pizza making workshop, it will not be included here. 

Under the Little Top Circus Workshop

Will watching the juggling demonstration.

     The circus workshop was by far Will and Charlie's favourite exhibition activity.  The workshop runs 7 times a day and all times are posted here. We arrived for the 10:30 am workshop and due to the weather, we were the only participants. To say the least, the kids got more than individual attention. The workshop is run by actual circus performers who have no affiliation with local circus schools. This is great as there is no pressure to buy anything or register for a class somewhere and you can tell these people just really want to share their love of the circus with children. 

     Charlie was immediately drawn to the aerialist who within seconds had the kids on a mat doing incredible tricks. To be honest, my kids would have stayed with this woman the entire day if I had let them. She was kind and funny and had a wonderful way of connecting with kids. 

Will trying out a circus trick

     After visiting the aerialist, the kids were taught how to properly walk on a tightrope by two other instructors. They both at this point would gladly have run away from home and joined the circus. The people working this workshop are funny and know how to technically teach children to do these things. 

Learning to walk the tightrope

     Next the kids were taught balance and persistence as they got to try to balance spinning disks on sticks.  

Learning balance tricks at circus school

     After the above activities, we went into the pre-school zone which is led by a very kind yoga teacher. This zone has its own tightrope, a tumbling mat, a balance beam and a dress-up box. It also have baby toys so parents have somewhere to sit with younger children during the workshop where the babies can stretch out on a mat and play. 

The dress-up chest 

     The yoga teacher immediately had the kids laughing hysterically and was incredibly engaging. She taught them to do somersaults down a ramp and jump through hoops and then played dress-up with them. When Charlie chose to be a witch, she got into the role playing and begged Charlie not to make her a frog. Within minutes, she was hopping around like a frog and the kids were loving it. 

Charlie had a lot of fun playing dress-up

     I cannot recommend this workshop enough. Having passed by it on our first day and seeing the kids inside laughing and playing, I knew it would be worth it to return and I was not disappointed. Now I only need to stop worrying about the kids running away to join the circus. 

Art Studio 

Art Studio

     The Art Studio was our next stop after circus school and if I am being honest, it wasn't very much fun. The studio has five stations including beading, play-doh, something called fibre arts which no one explained to us, sculptures and painting. The kids were immediately asked if they wanted to make necklaces and were given pipe cleaners and big beads. Strangely, they were also given tiny beads that didn't fit on anything and both were quite confused. Although they had fun doing this, it was something we could have done at home. The people working in this workshop barely interacted with the kids and, after making the necklaces, the kids were bored and wanted to leave. The other stations looked interesting but even when I was asking questions about them no one seemed interested in showing us how to do them. If you are running low on time, this is the workshop to skip. 

Kids making necklaces at the Art Studio

Make Music Workshop

The iPad station where kids can try out different music apps.

     After the art studio, we headed next door to the Make Music workshop and we were back to having a lot of fun. The kids immediately were greeted by the people at the workshop and given a lot of options for making music. The workshop has a lot of instruments and microphones as well as a station of iPads with a ton of music apps. This was another workshop we could have spent a lot of time in and from what I could tell, we would have been welcome to stay as long as we wished. The staff here are fun and will play any song your child requests if they have it. Will and Charlie really enjoyed making music with the other children and while each child sang, the others all were playing drums on the floor in front of them. I would strongly recommend visiting this workshop with kids of all ages. 

Will and Charlie performing at the workshop

Professor Wick's School of Magic & Illusion

Professor Wick's magic show

     Our final workshop of the day was the magic workshop which is split into two sections: a magic show and an illusion display. The kids were not interested in the illusion display but I quite enjoyed it.

Example of illusion display

     Make sure to stay for the magic show as it is quite entertaining. Professor Wick and his assistants were good at giving the kids a lot of opportunities to volunteer and picking a lot of different kids out of the audience. Will and Charlie were chosen for a magic trick and they both are still wondering how Charlie as the wizard made the trick happen. Charlie quite simply was in awe of the fact that she somehow performed a magic trick with no magic know-how whatsoever.

Will and Charlie were blown away when she successfully performed a magic trick.

     The only downfall to the magic workshop is that Professor Wick is selling magic supplies during the show such as wands and props. It isn't by any means a sales presentation but I did wish he had mentioned it less during the show and perhaps just at the end. Otherwise this workshop is a lot of fun and filled with laughs and some amazing tricks.

Other fun things

     After the workshops, we avoided the rides and wandered around the park a little. The weather was terrible and a storm was headed our way so we made a quick visit to the Reptilia Cruiser and then headed to the face painting tent. The Reptilia staff members are really great to talk to and have a lot of neat information to share. They also bring out different reptiles for your kids to meet. It is clear that the snakes are quite used to meeting children and the Reptilia staff treat the reptiles with a lot of respect. Snake lovers or not, I would recommend visiting the trailer which is located in Kids' World Park.

Reptilia Cruiser

    By the time we had met the snakes and had lunch, the sky was looking very ominous again and we decided it was probably time to head to the car. On the way out we noticed the face painting tent had no line and decided to stop at get a caricature done of the kids. Will and Charlie loved chatting with the artist and we ended up with an incredible free souvenir of our time at the exhibition. Definitely check this tent out which is located in the centre of Kids' world.

Charlie decided on an arm butterfly painting to match her shirt at the free face painting tent.

Our souvenir caricature of Will and Charlie at the exhibition.

     As the artist wrapped up our drawing in cellophane, we heard the familiar rumble of thunder and decided it was time to call it a day. The Canadian National Exhibition runs at Exhibition Place in Toronto until September 2, 2013.

**Solo Mom Takes Flight received free day passes from the Canadian National Exhibition. This in no way influenced the opinions expressed in this blog.

     

CNE 2013- Let's go to the Ex!

   

     While all the news sources in town were concentrating on the demise of the Kronut Burger, the kids and I took the opportunity to tour the relatively quiet CNE. We visited the day after people got sick and besides some visitors eyeing the food vendors with caution, nothing was amiss and we had a great time.

     Most people I've discussed this visit with have asked why I would ever go to the CNE alone with two kids but the answer is simple, there is a ton of fun stuff to do. Like most people, I used to view the CNE as nothing more than a midway with rides and deep fried foods. I have visited in the past and haven't been truly blown away by anything. I'm glad to report this year was quite different. 

     If you are only planning on heading to the Kid's activities, I recommend parking in Lot 5 or 6 off of Lakeshore which gives you direct access to the Saskatchewan Gate (sometimes called Dufferin Gate) and the kids areas. The map found here displays those areas clearly. This allows you to by-pass the remainder of the exhibition and only attend the kids activities if that is your plan. The only downfall is that you will need to cross the entire exhibition if you want to attend the Superdogs show which is in the Direct Energy Centre and quite a lot of fun for kids. The easiest way to get from one side to the other is by shuttle which runs daily and stops at many locations within the exhibition. You can also rent a wagon if you are desperate for $10 but be prepared to pay a steep $50 refundable deposit. 

     While your exploring the exhibition, keep an eye out for the baby care centres that are spread across the exhibition. They are a good place to breastfeed and get out of the sun.

     You can purchase tickets to the exhibition at the parking lot entrance or at any gate and online. Children 5-12 are admitted for $12 while general admission is $16. Also if you look around the entrances to the ex, we found coupons with the maps that offered free kid's passes. 

    Once we arrived we immediately headed to the Farm. The Farm is open daily from 10 am until 10 pm and the cost is included in the daily admission fee. In past years, I remember the farm having a petting zoo. This year it doesn't. Otherwise, it is a lot of fun. Will and Charlie immediately headed to a section of the farm where they were able to role play the life of a farmer. They were given buckets and seeds that they planted and did other tasks such as picking up eggs and apples and then took a tractor to the market to sell their goods. They absolutely love it and there were lots of people working and engaging with them. 

Will planting seeds at the farm

Kids taking turns milking a (fake) cow

Picking apples in the orchard

Charlie had a little trouble with her tractor

Each farmer was rewarded with a colouring book and ribbon

     Once you make it through farmer training, there is a lot more stuff to do. Make sure to try the horse racing as well as the tractor pull. There are also real animals including cows, pigs, turkeys and llamas and a fishing demonstration where your kids can try to catch real fish. We had a great time in this section and its a don't miss for anyone headed to the ex with kids. 

The horse race was a lot of fun.

Will trying out horse riding

     After the farm, the kids were hungry so we headed towards the Kiddie Midway and stopped in at Tiny Tom's donuts which are completely peanut free. Most of the food vendors at the CNE that we spoke to were very aware of food allergies and able to tells us what was safe for kids with peanut allergies. After our snack, it was off to the rides.

     Looking back I wish we had skipped this portion of the CNE. Rides at the CNE are quite expensive and not very good. Every ride we found required at least 4 coupons which is $5 per ride. We bought 44 coupons for $44 which meant the kids went on about 4 rides each and we had tickets left over that didn't add up to another ride. Any adult wishing to ride with younger children must also pay the full price. You can purchase a ride-all-day bracelet for $38 each but I would probably skip the rides all together and concentrate on the other aspects of the CNE. Its a good idea to check the height requirements before purchasing a bracelet or tickets because they are much stricter than other local amusement parks like Centreville or Canada's Wonderland and you may find your children are not tall enough for a lot of the rides. 

Charlie riding in the back of a pick- up truck

Will on the motorcycle ride

     Another word of caution if you do head to the Kiddie Midway--the restraints and seatbelts are incredibly easy for children to open. While the kids were ridding on the motorcycle ride, it had to be stopped because a child had unclipped the belt. The other kids then all did the same thinking the ride was over. If you have a child that is a little younger this could be quite dangerous and unlike other amusement parks, the restraints do not need a key to the be opened and can be opened at any time so stay close to the ride that your child is on. 

     After the Midway we headed over to Kids' World Park which is attached to the Midway. At this point, I realized how much other stuff there was to do and really regretted wasting time at the Midway. The Kids' World Park has a playground, dress-up station and face-painting in the middle of it. The face painting is really incredible and surprisingly included in the daily admission cost. There is a also a fun caricature drawing station that is also included for no extra cost. 

    Across from the face painting there is a main stage featuring shows throughout the day including Thomas the train, Barney the Dinosaur as well as many live acts. We caught the My Little Pony show and the kids loved it. 

My Litte Pony show at the CNE

     After the show, we explored the Kidstreet Interactive Zone located next to the stage and were blown away by the activities which are all available at no extra cost. This was really the highlight of the CNE for us.  We first attended the Pizza Nova Kid's Pizza Making Workshop. This fills up quickly and its worth checking the daily times and showing up a little early. Here a chef teaches your kids to prepare pizza dough and it is quite fun. There is a brief advertising video for Pizza Nova but once it is over, you will be glad you tried it. If you can, get a seat in the middle table as it is much easier for kids to follow along from there. Once the demonstration is over, kids are rewarded with a certificate and free slice of pizza as well as a gift bag.

Kids preparing pizza dough at the workshop

Tossing the dough was the highlight of the workshop

     After the pizza making workshop, we were all exhausted and it was hot. The three of us decided we would need another day at the exhibition to check out the remainder of Kids' World. The kids are particularly excited to try the circus workshop, music room, art studio and magic lessons.  We are headed back tomorrow and I will post a follow-up blog soon. Until then I highly recommend checking out the exhibition if you can. It runs until September 2! 

**Solo Mom Takes Flight received free day passes from the Canadian National Exhibition. This in no way influenced the opinions expressed in this blog.