If you’re anything like us, you love exploring the city and finding fun things to do with your kids in Calgary, making family memories that help build your family relationships. Sometimes I need some ideas of fun things to do with my kids, including a toddler, in the winter in Calgary. Winter is a long season here, but no less magical when you know where to look for fun family winter activities. I’ve compiled a list of over 75 of our favourite indoor and outdoor places to go and things to do in the city, including mostly things you can do with toddlers in the winter in Calgary, to keep you celebrating winter all season long with your family.
Best Outdoor Winter Family Activities in Calgary
When you find you’re asking yourself, “What should I do with my kids this winter?” “What are some outdoor winter activities in Calgary?” “What is there to do in COVID in the winter in Calgary?” or “What are some free family activities to do in Calgary this weekend?” this list is the perfect reference for you:
Where to Skate Outdoors in Calgary
If you love skating outdoors in the winter or are looking for a COVID friendly activity for the family, Calgary is a great city to live in. There is an incredible number of outdoor rinks in the city for kids and toddlers to enjoy with you, and if you’ve never skated as a family before, don’t be daunted, it’s incredible how quickly kids pick it up! Don’t forget helmets!
The city of Calgary maintains many skating rinks throughout the city, our current favourites and rinks we have on our list to check out are:
Bowness Skate Trail and Lagoon
One of our favourite places to ice skate in Calgary is at Bowness Park. They maintain 1.6 km of ice trails to explore in addition to the giant lagoon being frozen over, and there’s magical lights lighting the way once it gets dark. There’s still plenty of space to take a toddler on a walk in a sled through the snow, as well as bathrooms on site (a huge plus when you’re skating with young kids). Parking does fill up on the weekends, so be prepared to hunt a little for a spot, but it’s well worth it!
North Glenmore Ice Trail
The city of Calgary maintains an ice trail to skate on here as well, it’s 730 m long and there’s a rink to enjoy.
Carburn Park
If skating in a place surrounded by nature is what says winter magic to you, take your kids to skate outdoors at Carburn Park. It’s a beautiful park with lots of trees, the perfect location for that quintessential “Winter in the country,” kind of feeling.
Olympic Plaza Downtown
One of my favourite places to skate is at the Olympic Plaza, it’s all lit up and is absolutely magical at night, especially when the Christmas tree is up. It’s right at the end of Stephen Avenue, which is a great place for a nighttime walk (or stop at a restaurant) to enjoy all the lights that only come out to sparkle for the winter. It can get busy here, so if it’s too crowded and you’re wondering where else you can skate outdoors downtown Calgary, these two rinks are also downtown and are a great alternative or backup plan:
Thomson Family Park
Newly redeveloped and located at 1236 16 Ave. SW, Calgary, this skating rink is high on our list of places to try out with the kids. I’m sure they’ll love the bright mural art and the playground if it’s not too icy.
Barb Scott Park
Located at 12 Ave. and 9 St. SW, this is a fairly new and lesser-known outdoor skating rink in downtown Calgary, making it a great little secret place to skate with the kids when you’re looking for less crowds, especially if COVID makes you a bit wary right now. There was a fire going last time we were there, the perfect way to stay warm with the toddler while the older kids skated and climbed the snow piles nearby.
How to Find an Outdoor Skating Rink in Calgary, Close to Where You Live
There is an incredible number of family friendly outdoor skating rinks all over the city, some run by the city itself and many run by communities and volunteers. If you’re looking for somewhere to skate with the kids this weekend, close to where you live in Calgary, this map is an incredible resource. It shows every skating rink in the city of Calgary.
One of our favourite community rinks is at Stanley Park. It’s much larger than most of the community rinks, with many hockey nets and a little loop for leisure skating, as well as one of the city-approved tobogganing hills right beside it! If your kid’s feet get tired of skating, you can head over to toboggan, something our toddler much prefers over skating right now, it keeps her busy. We could spend all day outside as a family at Stanley Park.
Skating Indoors if it’s too Cold Outside
When you want to go skating as a family but it’s just too cold, there are many indoor rinks at leisure centres as well. We’re waiting for the next cold stretch to try out skating on the Olympic Oval on one of their Monday Toonie nights from 6-8 p.m., I think the kids would love it, especially after watching some of the winter Olympics this year.
Best Toboggan Hills in Calgary
In an attempt to provide safe places to toboggan, the city has created a list of approved sites where you can go tobogganing in Calgary. Tobogganing is allowed in Calgary (helmets are encouraged), but there is a bylaw restricting tobogganing in any non-approved-city owned locations (this doesn’t apply to privately owned areas), although I’ve never heard of them handing out tickets. We like to keep our saucer sleds in the trunk in case we come upon one of these hills to try while we’re out and about the city. Here’s a list of the city approved sledding hills, divided by quadrant:
NE Calgary Tobogganing Hills
Big Marlborough Park - dry pond - 755 Madeira Dr. N.E.
Deerfoot Athletic Park - 1503 16 Ave. N.E.
Marlborough Community Association - 636 Marlborough Way N.E.
Monterey Park - 2707 Catalina Blvd. N.E.
Prairie Winds Park - 223 Castleridge Blvd. N.E.
Rundle - dry pond - 4120 Rundlethorn Dr. N.E.
Thorncliffe/Greenview - 5600 Centre St. N.E.
NW Calgary Tobogganing Hills
Confederation Park - 2807 10 St. N.W.
Hidden Valley - 10504 Hidden Valley Dr. N.W.
Royal Oak - 9100 Royal Birch Blvd. N.W.
St. Andrew's Heights - 2504 13 Ave. N.W.
SE Calgary Tobogganing Hills
McKenzie Towne - 160 McKenzie Towne Dr. S.E.
New Brighton - 1750 New Brighton Dr. S.E.
Maple Ridge - dry pond - 1127 Mapleglade Dr. S.E.
SW Calgary Tobogganing Hills
Bridlewood - 26 Bridleglen Road S.W.
Glendale Park - 2225 45 St. S.W.
Kingsland - dry pond - 505 78 Ave. S.W. - behind the Rose Kohn/Jimmie Condon Arenas
Richmond Green - 2539 33 Ave. S.W.
Sacramento - dry pond - 10404 Sacramento Dr. S.W.
Scarboro - 1737 14 Ave. S.W.
Signal Hill - 2063 Sirocco Dr. S.W.
Stanley Park - 330 42 Ave. S.W.
Other Favourite Tobogganing Hills in Calgary
A few of our favourite hills to sled on that aren’t on the approved list are:
Saint Mary’s University - Privately owned, with signs that say tobogganing is allowed at your own risk, 14500 Bannister Road SE, Calgary, AB T2X 1Z4.
Seton Playground - if you’re looking to tobogganing on a smaller and more toddler friendly hill in South Calgary, the park in Seton has a great option, 91 Seton Gardens SE, Calgary, AB T1X.
St. Patricks Island - In the middle of the island there’s a hill built just for sledding, it has a nice flat top and a decent landing area at the bottom.
Free Family Friendly Winter Activity Downtown Calgary- Chinook Blast
Chinook Blast began last year, their goal is to, “Light Up Your Winter,” and it really does. It runs from February 4th - February 27, notoriously the most difficult stretch of the winter here in Calgary, emotionally and physically (those temperatures can really drop!), so having Chinook Blast to get you and your family through the winter blues with something so captivating is a gift!
Last year we attended and walked around downtown with the kids to enjoy the fantastical art, light displays and music, this year that portion is called Glow Fest and runs February 10-12 & February 17-19 in 2022. It’s some of the best free, family winter fun to be had, the kids had an absolute blast, and this winter activity is toddler friendly (just bundle up!).
They’ve added more activities to their list of events for 2022, including outdoor performances at Olympic Plaza, so be sure to check out their site for the schedule of free and paid magical activities to brighten up your winter, as well as for maps of where to find art installations.
Enjoy YYC Hot Chocolate Fest as a Family
Running from February 1st-28th, 2022, the YYC Hot Chocolate Fest is one more thing to keep you and your family warm through the coldest stretch of winter here in Calgary, and food is one of the things we make many of our family memories around.
There are over 70 local shops participating and competing for the best Hot Chocolate in the city, and $1 - $3 from each cup goes towards supporting Calgary Meals on Wheels, which provides nutritious meals to Calgarians in our community.
Check the list of contestants here to pick somewhere to try with your family, enjoying a hot drink inside or taking it on a walk to enjoy the frosty winter magic with the kids.
Tubing
You don’t even need to leave the city to go tubing down a hillside in Calgary, just head to Winsport! Tickets are for 2 hour time periods and are currently $15 on Fridays at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., and $20 in the mornings and $25 in the afternoons Saturday/Sunday, 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. Be sure to book your time slot ahead of time online.
Unless your toddler is on the tall end, the minimum height (with a parent) is 36”, so we had to find someone to watch the youngest when we took our kids. We had such a blast, tubing is now one of our favourite family winter things to do in Calgary.
Best Places to Enjoy a Family Nature Walk, or Snowshoeing, in Calgary
There’s something so enchanting about a walk in a forest in the winter, when the sun streams through and the snow sparkles on the ground. If there was a frost the night before (down by the Bow River is the best place to find this, one of my favourite tricks for a magical winter walk), nothing is more captivating than branches coated in frozen crystals.
Our favourite way to walk in the winter with the kids when the paths are too covered in snow for a stroller, is by pulling the toddler in a baby sled with a supportive back. If you really want to change it up and make things more adventurous, add snowshoes! If you don’t have the equipment, there are many places in the city you can rent from.
Bow Habitat Station in Pearce Estate Park has a guided snowshoe adventure, exploring how Alberta’s wildlife adapt to winter survival. It’s currently $12 a person, starting at children’s shoe size 4, or rent them for $6 a pair and explore Pearce Estate Park’s Interpretive Wetlands on your own.
Whether you want to walk or snowshoe, these are our favourite places to enjoy nature with our kids in the Calgary winter:
Fish Creek Park
Carburn Park
Pearce Estate Park
Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area (just outside of the SW corner of the city, West on highway 22x)
Bowness Park
Edworthy Park
North Glenmore Park
Weaselhead Natural Environment Park
Nose Hill Park
Where to Cross Country Ski in Calgary With Kids
We’ve been cross country skiing once as a family, it was much more fun for me than it was for my husband, who was pulling two toddlers in a cross country skiing sled at the time, but the memories we made were ones we look back on fondly, and we can’t wait to try again now that the kids are older.
We’re so luck to live in the city of Calgary, that embraces winter and maintains and tracksets cross country ski trails within the city. If you don’t own the equipment there are many places in the city that you can rent from, and there are cross country sleds or ski attachments that you can get for some chariots, making it something you can do with even your toddlers in the winter. Here’s a list of places you can find free, maintained cross country ski trails in Calgary:
Bowness Park
Confederation Golf Course
Lakeview Golf Course
Maple Ridge Golf Course
North Glenmore Park
Shaganappi Point Golf Course
South Glenmore Park
Indoor Calgary Activities to do With Kids in the Winter
As much as I love spending outside with the family, some days are just too cold when those -20 to -30 stretches of winter roll in. If you’re going stir crazy and are wondering how to get out of the house and find something to do indoors in Calgary in the winter with kids, I’ve listed some amazing ways to make memories and stay warm this season.
The Best Indoor Play Places in Calgary
Treehouse is one of the places we frequent the most when the weather outside is too cold for the kids, they have great toddler areas and the South location in Midnapore is a great size for all ages to enjoy for a long stretch of time, as well as an arcade you can buy tokens for.
Kidz Go is another indoor play option, much like treehouse and located near Deerfoot Meadows.
The Big Box has a great variety of areas to enjoy, from a ropes course (for taller kids) to an inflatable playground, bumper cars and an arcade. It’s one place to go when you’re looking for a good variety of activities.
Sky Castle is next on my list to try out, my design/art-driven heart loves well designed, beautiful spaces, and Sky Castle looks so aesthetically dreamy. They also boast about their heated parking, always a bonus in the coldest of weather!
Big Fun Inflatable Park says it all, it’s full of big inflatable ways to play and we’ve heard only great things about this place from many of our friends.
Best Places to Stay Active With Kids in Winter
When you just need a change of pace and to find a way to expel all of the kid’s pent up energy during the long, cold winter stretches, there are many options to choose from in Calgary.
Swimming - One great place to start when looking for winter family activities is swimming, there are many Rec and Leisure Centres around the city, as well as YMCA’s. The Southland Leisure Centre has a great waterpark area and a wave pool, and the Seton YMCA has a fun little lazy river and a giant slide! Swimming is a great activity for parents and infants, toddlers and older children, it’s great family fun.
Century Sports Mini Golf - This glow in the dark mini golf is available every day and is Calgary themed, each hole sporting a city landmark that your kids may recognize. They also have arcade games and pinball that you can add to your adventure.
The Rec Room - The Rec Room in Calgary is Kid-friendly until 10 p.m., and is a great place to take your little ones who love to play arcade games like pacman, mario kart, shooting hoops, DDR, air hockey or skeet ball. There are over 80 arcade games to choose from.
Tubby Dog - If you want to combine deliciously outrageous hotdogs with arcade games, Tubby Dog has a good collection of pinball machines and a few other games. Our trip here for lunch as a family was a very memorable one!
Flying Squirrel Trampoline Park - They now have both a North and South location, each with different areas to keep the kids (and the parents) busy, including foam pits, dodgeball trampoline courts, obstacles, and even an aerial silk to swing in. During the daytime we’ve found it to be really quiet, one of the perks of homeschooling! There are toddler friendly areas as well, so this can be a really fun activity for the whole family when the winter is too cold in Calgary.
B-Line Bike Park - We can’t wait to try this place out, I’ve heard incredible things about B-Line Bike park and our kids looove riding their bikes. One of their biggest complaints about winter is that there’s no more biking. They have a variety of courses to ride on here, from easy to difficult, and all ages are welcome to ride, including toddlers. Parents are free to enter to accompany their young riders and watch over them.
Where to try Indoor Climbing With Kids in Calgary
Calgary Climbing Centre: There are multiple locations around the city that all look incredible and different, we can’t wait to try them all, since our son has called himself “Mountain Goat James,” since he was little and loves to climb. The Calgary Climbing Centre has a location coming to Shawnessy that I’m excited about, it’s close enough to head to frequently!
The Calgary Climbing Centre has also created ClimbPark. It’s a fun climbing zone with many different challenging elements for participants to try, including a jump tower, maze wall, balance pillars, freefall slide, speed walls, disappearing holds and even more. You must weigh between 40-265 lbs. and it’s currently priced at $20 per 1 hour session, located at 106-588 Aero Drive NE, Calgary, AB T2E 7Y4. It looks very, very cool.
For other climbing options, check out YMCA’s in Shawnessy, Saddletowne and South Health Campus, as well as the Southland Leisure centre and Beltline aquatic & fitness centre.
Free Indoor Calgary Things to do in Winter With Toddlers and Kids
When you just need a quick and easy escape in Calgary during the winter, while also staying warm indoors, our favourite places to go are:
Calgary Public Libraries
First off, the Calgary library now has free library cards for everyone, as well as no more fines on late books. As a (homeschooling) mother of 3 children of varying ages and who all love to take out lots of books, this is a miracle and makes books so much more accessible to young families!
Many of the Calgary libraries have Early Learning Centres, which make them incredible places to play indoors for free, for both toddlers and kids. They’re places that the children can experience a change of scenery during the cold stretches of winter and flex their imagination and creative muscles, then pick up books to entertain them at home as well. Our favourite libraries to play at are:
Central Library - It’s absolutely incredible, the architecture is world-renowned and there are varied areas to play scattered all over the children’s section, the highlight being the giant playhouse structure with a second story rope net to climb in and circular window nooks to tuck into with a book.
Fish Creek Library - They have one of the biggest play areas out of all the libraries, including a baby area and a large stage for children to pretend and perform on. As young moms with our first babies, we used to organize meeting up here to get together and let the kids play.
Seton Library - The play areas are set up in a few different places, the showstopper being an actual helicopter that the kids can play in.
Be sure to check out the library closest to you, almost all of them have activities and areas for children to play.
Best Calgary Mall Playgrounds for Older Children and Toddlers
Now that my kids are getting taller, they’ve grown out of most mall play areas, which is why these three are my current favourites. They are much less like squishy play-centres and more like typical playgrounds, just indoors where we can stay warm in the winter:
The Devonian Gardens - Downtown at The Core Mall, you can find a great play structure and small climbing wall to play on, complete with nice rubber flooring. The gardens also make for a beautiful place to walk around while you’re at it, it’s a nice tropical break to the winter.
Deerfoot City The Lodge Play Area - Currently closed due to COVID
Eau Claire - Currently closed due to COVID
Other Indoor Places to Check Out and Stay Warm
The Saskatoon Farm - They’re located just South of the city of Calgary and have an incredible restaurant, cute, local shopping and a number of greenhouses to wander through and enjoy. Our kids love the animals there! They recently added a whole area just for tortoises, where you’ll also find banana trees growing!
The Studio Bell - Currently open on Saturdays and Sundays with free admission until January 30th! See breathtaking architecture, find educators wandering around who can do instrument show and tells, view interesting and meaningful musical artifacts and stories from Alberta and explore the new Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Speak Up! showcases 15 Indigenous artists who bring awareness of issues and culture through Music, and there’s a self guided Cross-Country Music Road Trip tour you can follow as well. There are performances on the Kimball Theatre Organ on Saturdays and Sundays at 11:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., and you can end your trip by grabbing a bite to eat at the historic King Eddy, you may just catch some live music.
Calgary Indoor Museums to Check Out
If you want to explore somewhere warm while incorporating learning, these are some great options to check out that do require admission:
Fort Calgary - Explore some of the history of how Calgary began and a small-town museum kind of feel. 17 and under are free, adults are $10.
The Hangar Flight Museum - Seeing airplanes up close is always a memorable adventure for kids and adults alike.
Military Museum - This museum is surprisingly large, we spent a whole morning here and still didn’t see it all. If your kids are on the sensitive side and find the military displays with mannequins discomforting, just head straight to the large navy and airforce displays, my kids loved this space the most!
Bow Habitat Station and Fish Hatchery - You can wander around the aquariums and exhibits (some are interactive), or book a tour through the fish hatchery to see how it all works and actually get to feed fish!
Telus Spark Science Centre - With many adventures and all kinds of learning to be discovered, the Science Centre is a great way to stay warm in the winter while enjoying something new and exciting.
Calgary Zoo - It might not be what first comes to mind when you’re looking for a winter activity with the family, but even after the Zoolights are over, the Calgary Zoo can still be a great winter destination, we still love to go in the snow. The buildings that house indoor exhibits are still open to stop and warm up in if it’s a really cold day, as is conservatory with incredible tropical plants, and you can always stop into the cafeteria for a hot chocolate too. It’s much less busy during the winter, making it an incredibly enjoyable experience.
Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, COP - Currently closed due to COVID
Looking for more adventure?
I know all the best places to make memories as a family, let’s plan a special Calgary adventure, just for you!
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