Indoor playground, adult fitness classes with childcare provided onsite for extra cost, art and cooking classes for 2-5 yrs, music classes for 4 mos- 3 yrs, Mandarin and French language classes for 3- 6 yrs, Evening drop-off program for 0 & up, & more. Tel: (416) 488-3825
Ages: 0- 5 years for the indoor playground; classes vary.
Major Intersection: Yonge Street & Lawrence Avenue East
Address: 3300 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON
If you make an inquiry, please mention that you saw this listing on the Melanie On-The-Go / Kids On-The-Go website. Thank you!
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Share your thoughts below with other parents, caregivers and management. Only the rating and your child's age are mandatory, the rest is up to you!
Good to Go!:
My daughter really enjoyed the activities especially the plastic houses. The variety of toys is OK.
Not so Much/ Suggestions for Improvement:
$10 is too much considering how small the play are is, the $6 I did pay is about what I could want to pay. There were not that many tables and chairs for having lunch.
Quick Tips for Others:
try and find parking that allows a lot of time, so you don’t have to try and rush your kids out.
Additional Ratings:
- Amenities: 2/5
- Value: 1.5/5
Good to Go!:
This is my review of the centre in general.
The play area is clean and safe. You can see your child at all times.
There is lot’s of seating area in the play room for parents (at the front & at the back).
Having 2 ball pits is great, the older kids tend to hang out in the one at the front, and younger kids at the one in the back. The play kitchen is fun and they have play food & a few pots & pans for it too. My 3 year olds favourite toy there is the horses on springs. And the pre-school climbing structure is fun too.
There is a train table in the snack area if your child needs a break (or a change of scenery) from the playroom).
Not so Much/ Suggestions for Improvement:
The playroom is the smallest I’ve seen so far at any play centre.
I’ve been there a few times now, and I’ve hardly seen any children play with/on the foam climbings structures that they have set out. And the half moons & tunnels don’t get use ether – and take up quite a lot of space.
$10.00 for general play is the highest I’ve seen for a play centre. When you factor in parking, it makes for an expensive outing compared to most other play centres across the city.
Quick Tips for Others:
The best parking I’ve found is the small Green P lot in the street adjacent to Just Ducky ($1.00 per half hour)
There is also street parking along Yonge Street (if you can find a spot) and it’s $2.00 per hour.
If you plan on staying less than 1 hour you can park on the side streets, but parking enforcement is always around in this area, so you WILL get a ticket if you stay longer than 1 hour.
Don’t forget to bring your own snacks (nut free please) since there is no snacks for sale.
The Just Ducky Store next door to the play centre is a great place to find lot’s of cool toys and accessories for your child. They have all the newest trends and the staff is very helpful.
Overall, my 3 year old can play for about 1:30 to a maximum of 2 hours here, then she get’s bored since the room is small and the variety of toys is limited due to that.
Additional Ratings:
- Amenities: 3.5/5
- Value: 1/5
Not so Much/ Suggestions for Improvement:
PLEASE NOTE!!
This review is for the “French is FUN” program only. And doesn’t reflect the play centre in general – I’ll put another review for the centre separately
I called ahead of time to ask about this program since it says it’s for children 4-7yrs, and my daughter is 3 years old (but we are so starved for French programming & things to do in French that I am ready to give anything a try!) I told them on the phone that French is my daughters 1st language and she is fluent in it. I was told the program would be a great fit for her. But when I got there I quickly saw that it was not the case. The program is way to BASIC for anyone who speaks french fluently. The person running the class even came to meet me and told me that after hearing my daughter speak as we played in the playroom before the class even started that she would find the class boring.
The amenities in the class room where very simple: table & chairs, a chalkboard, and the paper materials they give the kids to colour in or write on.
Quick Tips for Others:
This program is best suited for children who are learning French as a second language in school and who don’t get exposure to French at home.
Additional Ratings:
- Amenities: 2/5
- Value: 1/5
Good to Go!:
What I liked: it’s close to us/convenient to get to, there were quite a few obstacles/toys/games/stations to entertain my 14mo old, overall he really enjoyed it and we were there the better part of 2 hours
Not so Much/ Suggestions for Improvement:
What I didn’t like: I think $10 entrance fee is outrageous considering it is just one relatively small room (although I did only pay the $6 meet-up group rate which I thought was more reasonable), parking can be challenging and adds to your total cost if you can’t find side street parking, I’m not sure how many times I could take my son there before he would start getting bored.. I think there are other places that provide better value – but they are further away, so there’s the trade-off.
Additional Ratings:
- Amenities: 3/5
- Value: 2.5/5
Good to Go!:
We really like this place! It is a bit smaller than some other places (not too small), and has a cozy, welcoming atmosphere.
There are not as many toys as mentioned by Melanie, but the kids all wander around with the balls from the pits. THERE ARE 2 BALL PITS! (Exciting…lol)
There is a train table in the dining area as well. I went with another Mom, and or 2 toddlers went from the tables to the playroom freely.
I also really like that although the rules are the same (of course) as other places, no shoes, no nuts, no food in the play area, no one made a huge deal about the babes using their sippy cups in the playroom. Some places are super strict, and I have been scolded (we use Avent toddler spouts – totally spillproof), it’s a child’s play facility – chill out! lol
Not so Much/ Suggestions for Improvement:
It would be nice if they had some small snacks/juices for purchase. My baby bag only fits so much. I complain when I’m not allowed to bring outside food though, so at least there’s that.
Quick Tips for Others:
Coffee/tea is free, that’s always nice.
They have drop-of programs, every other weekend. It’s $30 for the first child, $15 for the next, and the third is free. So for 3 children, it’s $15 each – plan a dinner get-together with friends!
They also do spinning, yoga, etc, for $20/class and childcare is $6. Or you can get a value pack.
Taken from the flyer:
A Special Birthday
We believe every young child deserves a special birthday party. Once a month, Just Ducky Young Kids will donate a Duck Puddle Birthday Party to a child who would not otherwise be able to celebrate his or her birthday. If you know of a deserving child, please let us know.
Very sweet, this is a great service – made me a little teary.
Additional Ratings:
- Amenities: 4/5
- Value: 3.5/5
Good to Go!:
- Good equipment for a crawling baby/ toddler like a play house, ball pits, small climbing structure with slides, rocking horses and soft gym mats for babies to climb around on.
- I got the group rate which was $6 (regular $10). I would consider $10 too much to pay for my baby.
- My son really liked the ball pit, crawling around the mats, and opening and closing the door of the playhouse over and over again.
- It’s clean.
- I love the Tim Hortons teas (free) and the TV in the eating area
Not so Much/ Suggestions for Improvement:
- The room is a lot smaller than other places I’ve been to like All for Fun & Fun for All, Timbuktu and Alltimate. When we went on a weekday there weren’t too many people (maybe 8 or 9 kids) but on a weekend it might get too crowded.
- There are no baby toys like building blocks, walkers, ride-on cars (I guess there’s not really enough room for them). And no books either.
- Street parking only.
- I like it when places give an option to buy food since I’m always so disorganized in the morning and forget food for myself!
Quick Tips for Others:
- As usual, socks are a must.
- They don’t sell food here so be sure to bring snacks for your kids (and yourself) if you plan on staying long (nut free of course)!
- I hear there’s free street parking a block or two away on either side of Yonge with ? no time limit. (I parked on Yonge since I was in a rush.)
Additional Ratings:
- Amenities: 3/5
- Value: 3/5
Good to Go!:
This place is nice and cozy, it has a very comfortable feel to it.
From what I saw there are 3 rooms, a main playroom, a mirrored (dance?) room, and a party/craft room.
They have 2 ball pits that my toddler just loved! There seems to be 2 of a few things: bouncy horses, slides, jumperoos, playhouses. There are some soft climbing apparatus, and a plastic climber with a bridge and slides.
There’s free coffee/tea and you can bring your own snacks.
Not so Much/ Suggestions for Improvement:
I didn’t see if there was an option to buy snacks there if we ran out, but Yonge St has plenty of places to just pop out and pick up something.
Also, I’m not sure if the lady working there was having a bad day or something, but she was very snotty. It was a little hard for me not to laugh in disbelief at how snarky she was to her coworkers, and just in general. Another employee even looked at me as if to beg me to say something… Either way, she wasn’t outright rude to me, it’s just that she had a definite attitude.
Quick Tips for Others:
You can always find free parking a few streets away from Yonge St.
We will definitely come back again.
Additional Ratings:
- Amenities: 4/5
- Value: 4/5