Never underestimate the entertainment value of Pooh Sticks

by Shawna With the days heating up (I am sticking my fingers in my ears at mention of nighttime near-freezing temperatures this coming week - lalala, I can't hear you!),  my family is itching to get outside.  Yes, there are lots of fabulous, known parks we can target, but just as appealing is going for a walk or throwing helmets on the kids' little melons and stuffing them in our usedottawa.com-purchased bike trailer to explore.  After all, playgrounds might offer the kids a chance to run around, but the most activity I usually get there is pushing swings, or helicoptering around my almost-two-year-old to make sure he doesn't plummet through a gap in the play structure rails enroute to the slide.

We're new to our Barrhaven neighbourhood (as is everyone around us: we live in a brand-new development) so so far our forays have had us exploring close to home.  We have a path that loops around the water containment pond that's almost across the street.  If we're smart, we head to the left when we get there and branch out about halfway around.  We only return to the path do the second half when we know we're done with the walk.  You see, there's a bridge on that half, and we have learned that throwing pebbles into the water is an inexhaustible source of entertainment when you're a half-pint.  And throwing sticks on the upstream side and waiting for them to appear on the other?  You cannot imagine the suspense!  Especially because the current is extremely sluggish once the spring run-off has happened.  (Where did my stick go?  Why isn't it here yet?  Did it get stuck on something?  I'll get more rocks to throw while I'm waiting... Did I miss my stick while I was getting the rocks? Where is my stick? THERE IT IS!  LOOK MUMMA, LOOK!)  This game, by the way, was "invented" by Winnie the Pooh, hence the name "Pooh Sticks" (no, it's not a scatalogical reference).

Announcements that it is time to go home - or even just move on - are usually greeted with shrill screeches of displeasure, so it's often better to a) hit the bridge on the way home and mentally budget some time for lingering there, and b) have an activity at home which they want to do to lure them away.  My kids, for example, are big fans of the bath, so that's often how I transform their anger to eager acceptance of leaving.

When the decision has been made to go for a bike ride, my husband and I tow our wee mites around (okay, he tows, I just bike along unencumbered with him) until we've been going for a while and see a likely little spot, then we hop out and release our mini-Krakens.  Any small play structure or inviting path to explore will do.   Then the kids get free rein until it's time to pop them back in the trailer and head home.  Since they're usually getting cranky at this point, we quickly learned to proffer a supply of liquids and finger-food snacks to placate them on the way home.

Man, does it feel good to be doing something active for entertainment again.  For the kids, it's about the destination; for the adults it's about the journey, and this sort of activity covers both bases.  Win!

Shawna is mom to 4-year-old Sage and almost-2-year-old Harris.  She has  been writing online since 2003, and her latest project is a fledgling photography blog.  As a delicate hothouse flower, she is not winter's biggest fan and is expansively happy that spring is here!

Gardening with children at the Children's Garden

by Brie Last summer the kids and I started attending a weekly playgroup at the Children's Garden in Old Ottawa East. Located at the corner of Main Street and Clegg, the Children's Garden has transformed Robert Legget Park from an unused green space to a wonder of plants and vegetables.

For a black thumb like me it was the perfect chance to expose the kids to gardening without actually having to do it myself. This is what I call a win-win situation.

Now that the weather is warming up, the boy and I have started attending the playgroup again. Every Thursday morning from 10am to 11am parents and kids gather at the garden to play, do crafts, take part in a circle time, eat snacks and, well, garden.

The playgroup is free, but the volunteer coordinator does as for a small donation to cover the cost of the craft supplies and the snack that is provided.

So far the only plants growing are the garlic, but that should change soon. The Children's Garden has a team of volunteers that plant and weed throughout the spring, summer and fall.

Last summer there was an impressive number of vegetables growing. My then three-year old girl would always head straight for the tomato plants as soon as we arrived and would happily sit and eat them off the vine. Luckily, that was exactly what they are there for.

The Children's Garden is open to everyone, just like any other public park. It would be the perfect place for a family picnic or even a birthday party. Besides the weekly Thursday playgroups, the Children's Garden often hosts special parties, like the fairy party the girl attended last August. You can subscribe to their email updates to be informed of any upcoming activities.

Brie is the mom of a 3.5 year old daughter “the girl” and eighteen month old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.

Monkey Rock Music

We are the proud owners of a plethora of musical instruments: a kids drum set, keyboard, kazoo, two recorders, four castanets, three microphones, a harmonica, and no less than 3 ukulele's.  And we have John and Sheryl, the founders of Monkey Rock Music to thank for our growing collection and budding musicians! Our 23 month old son has been enrolled in classes with John since October of 2009.  Monkey Rock Music offers 40 minute long music classes across the city (Glebe, Manotick, New Edinburgh, and Orleans) for different age groups (newborn to 6 year old).  He also performs at local events (we had a rocking good time watching him at the Pinecrest Chapters) and Birthday Parties (I'll have to do a follow-up post in June after the monkey's 2nd birthday party).

After noticing the monkey's burgeoning dancing skills I signed him up for Monkey Rock and he has been captivated by music and instruments ever since.  I am amazed every week that John is able to keep the attention of my busy boy who never sits still for longer than a minute at a time.  I think it's John's focus on fun and engaging songs that encourage everyone to participate and sing/sign along.  I love catching my boys (my 4 year old has also attended a few classes) singing or signing to themselves: its always a song from Monkey Rock.  These days its usually the welcome song or the shark song.

Each week John leads the kids through a themed class that focuses on upbeat songs that everyone can partake in either by singing along or through the accompanying signs.  His ability to play the guitar, sing, and sign with a gaggle of kids sitting around him as well as helping him play the guitar is a source of amazement (and great entertainment).

Not only does my monkey enjoy every moment of class, from the warm-up songs, to the 'big bag' of instruments, to the parachute, its given us something new to explore as a family.  We enjoy playing instruments together at home and the monkey likes sharing the songs he's learned with his dad and big brother.  After two years straight of cars, trains, and planes we also appreciate engaging in non-vehicle related activities together :)

You can learn more about Monkey Rock Music by visiting their website, www.monkeyrockmusic.com, attending a free demo lesson, or by checking out their Facebook page .

Sara is mom to a 4-year-old firefighter and 2-year-old monkey.  You can find her at her blog, My Points of View.

ABC Challenge : Week 4

This week was a bit crazy and I didn't have a chance to pick up my camera as often as I would have liked. Luckily one gorgeous afternoon in the backyard while my husband and father in law built the best playstructure ever, I got some fabulous shots and was able to fit them in to some of the categories.  :) Photography tip

Last week I talked about avoiding using your flash for better photos.  But it's obviously not always possible to not use your flash. There are a couple of ways to improve flash photography.

After a long discussion with a very helpful attendant at Henry's around Christmastime last year I ended up buying a Gary Fong puffer which is a diffuser and softens the light from your flash.  It was a relatively inexpensive way to improve the flash that came with my dslr.  Another option is to get an external flash, and then you can do all kinds of fancy things like bounce the light so it isn't hitting your subject directly.

And if you just want to have fun, you can experiment with your flash.  This hack from photojojo (a very cool photography newsletter you can sign up for) suggests using something like a paper towel tube to focus the light like a spot light, something that might be fun to try!

My two picks for this week

X is for Xcited

I'm still kind of embarrassed I didn't come up with something better for X. But there you have it ;)

W is for wet

I love this photo. He was having the time of his life splashing.

Participant photos

It's always hard to pick just four every week.  Check out the flickr pool to see everyone's photos!

I love the hanging water drops in this "W is for wet" photo by wannabemomerin

This Z is for zoom by Maryinbriargreen makes me smile and think of my youth. I miss rollerskating. In the house. My mom probably doesn't miss that though ;)

This baby by bluebeanz is delicious. (E is for eating)

I practically squealed when I saw this photo it was so much fun! J is for jumping by muddybootsblog.

As always, it's never to late too join the challenge. We hope you'll play along!

Lara is the mom to 3.5 year old Kiernan and 11 month old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can find her at her blog Gliding Through Motherhood.

The Canadian Tulip Festival - the plan

by Shawna With the early warmth this spring, we may be in danger of having an almost tulip-less Canadian Tulip Festival (which runs from May 7th - 24th). While this may put a crimp in my role as one of the "Artists in the Tulips" (this will be my second year my images can be found in the Tulip Art gallery in Commissioner's Park by Dow's lake), it in no way means I won't go to the festival with my kids.  Sure, it's nice for me to see the tulips and use them as a colourful backdrop for pictures of my nearest-and-dearest, but let's not lose sight of the main reason to go: to let the kids exhaust themselves by hopping them up on sugar at the Fudge Shack and tear around like mad things, all the better to sleep that night!

I kid.

Sort of.

In truth, there are tons of kid-friendly activities at the Tulip Festival and they almost all come with the bonus of getting out in the fresh air and maybe even learning a little history along the way.  To kick off the festival, there's an open air Liberation Street Party planned this year on Sparks St., which is being held in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands and Canada's role in it.  Throughout the festival there will be children's activities at Major's Hill Park, and a lot of the area's museums are planning programming that links in with the festival.  The tulip festival website has details on all of this and more.

The fact is, there's a dizzying variety of programming and there's no way it would be fun to dash from activity to activity, trying to cram it all in; what we do is take a look at the schedule and try to earmark just a couple of things that sound fun on a day or two I'm not officially scheduled to be there.  We keep things loose and watch the weather, and if we can go at those times, so much the better.  And if things don't align so that we hit all our "planned" events, we try to keep in mind that what the kids really like best is the chance to ride the tulip shuttle bus (a novelty for my suburban children), see the ducks on Dow's Lake, and yes, eat fudge and Beavertails and tear around like mad things.

The better sleep that night is just a fringe benefit.

Shawna is mom to 4 year old Sage and almost-2-year-old Harris.  She has  been writing online since 2003, and her latest project is a fledgling photography blog.  She feels a defensive need to let you know that she herself rides the bus almost every day.