Creating Tranquility in Children's Lives

by Amanda Integration of yoga into a child’s life allows for a sense of calmness and relaxation, coupled with environmental awareness and tools for personal stress management.  Children’s yoga classes foster a sharing and caring environment and bring honour and thankfulness for their self, family and surroundings.  Yoga classes encourage kids to move their bodies, create calmness in their little minds and allows their spirits to soar.

Here are some fun yoga postures you can do with your kids at home or at the local park!

 Downward Dog (Mommy Dog)

(Adho Mukha Svanasana)

Begin on all fours (table position) distributing equal weight in your hands while spreading the fingers. Gently lift your hips towards the sky, as your press your heels deep down into the earth.  Keep the fingers spread and hands pressed evenly into the ground as you create a V shape with your body.

Preschoolers enjoy shaking their “tail” in this position as they bark like a Mommy Dog.

Bound Angle (Butterfly)

(Baddha Konasana)

Begin in a comfortable seated position and bring your knees in close to your chest. Allow your knees to slowly drop to the side, towards the earth. Your hips should stay on the floor, with a tall spine.  Press the souls of your feet together.

Move your legs and/or arms in a fluttering motion so your butterfly can fly high in the sky!

Upward Dog (Baby Dog)

(Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)

Begin on your stomach with your chin resting on the floor, bringing your hands in close to your chest. Spread your fingers and press your palms into the floor.  Pressing the feet into the floor and begin to lift your chest and shoulders off the floor.  Lengthen your arms and press the crown of your head towards the sky. Open up your chest, pressing your shoulder blades together. Toddlers and Preschoolers may want to bark and make noise like a little puppy!

Child’s Pose (Sleeping Bunny)

(Balasana) 

Begin in a kneeling position, with your buttocks on the heels of your feet.  Allow your upper body to fold forward reaching towards the earth.  Your forehead drops towards the floor, and your hips reach back towards your heels.  Lengthen the spine as your breath dances throughout your body.  Place your hands on the floor next to your body.  Another option that the children enjoy is a variation (as shown in picture) with the arms extended in front. This is a great relaxation pose. 

 Amanda is mom to Dominic, 2 months, and can be found blogging about life, product reviews & giveaways at Namaste Mommy, PTPA Panel of Moms & Tools for Schools.  When not feeding and changing diapers Amanda is busy with her company DeGrace Energetics & Little Lotus.

Sneaky snack secrets

by Brie I love to bake with the kids. Well, they love to bake and I like that they are happy and occupied. I don't really like the mess but that is the trade-off for some happy moments stirring bowls of flour and eating chocolate chips when they think I am not looking.

Last week I was looking for a recipe to make with the girl and stumbled upon a great recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks. Vegan Lunch Box. While I still have two years before I will be making school lunches, I was looking for any kid friendly food ideas when I bought this book. I also like to flirt with veganism, which is never going to happen in our house because the husband refuses to give up cheese, so I was happy with the great ideas offered in this book. I have made a number of the recipes and I have always been really happy. The Fluffy White Cupcakes (p.249) is a favorite.

I had never made the Back-to-school chocolate chip cookies before but I was excited to try the recipe. Chocolate chip cookies are always good. And this recipe uses both whole wheat floor and silken tofu so I was feeling slightly smug. Yummy and healthy.

The cookies are easy to make and very good. Plus if you eat two at once that's okay! They have tofu! And the kids won't even know. When I brought these cookies to a weekly Kids in the Capital play date Sara's son was chowing down on them. Since he is a picky eater she was thrilled to hear about the tofu. And of course her son was thrilled when she let him have a second one.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. The recipe makes about 4 dozen.

Mix together 2 and 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour, 3/4 teaspoons baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Mix together 1 cup room temperature margarine, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 3/4 sugar, 3/4 soft silken tofu (drained) and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat with a hand blender until light and fluffy.

Add the dry ingredients to wet. Stir in the chocolate chips. Place small balls of dough on the cookie tray, about 3 inches apart. Cook for about 12 minutes.

Eat!

When I made the recipe I didn't have any margarine, so I substituted 3/4 cup of vegetable oil. They still tasted great. Next time I am going to try increasing the amount of tofu. Maybe 1 cup or even 1 and a 1/4 cups.

The author of Vegan Lunch Box also has a blog, which is how I first discovered the cookbook. Some of the recipes from the book and newer recipes she has created can be found there. 

Do you have any sneaky snack secrets? Don't keep them to yourself! Please share!

Brie is the mom of an almost 4 year old daughter “the girl” and twenty-two month old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.

Summer of Awesome - Ray's Reptiles

by Lynn The first really rainy day we had this summer made it clear that too many items on the Summer of Awesome list relied on nice weather. It's summer! We want to be outside! But sadly, not every day can be an outdoor fun day.

We used a rainy afternoon full of thunderstorms to check out Little Ray's Reptile Zoo, a small shelter here in Ottawa for reptiles, amphibians, and arachnids of all sizes and shapes. They also have several birds of prey at the zoo that they've saved from various bad situations, and a couple of mammals have snuck in, too. It's mostly small animals in small spaces, but as a result, you can get up close and personal with many of the creatures. IF YOU DARE.

The best thing about Ray's is that it is a very hands-on kind of place. At least once an hour (but usually more often than that), they'll do a little show right in the middle of the zoo. They'll get out three or four animals, one at a time, tell you all about them and then let eager and brave kids in the audience hold them or pet them. Cool.

They also do feeding shows quite often, where they'll bring out a lizard or a chameleon or giant tree frog or something and feed it some worms, which trust me, KILLS with the six-year-old boy crowd. They'll also try to feed a snake a dead rat, which can lead to some circle-of-life style questions if your kids are very young and haven't been to Ray's before. It's not very graphic and super neat to watch, but be prepared for a few inquiries.

Here's a terrible blurry shot of the alligator feedings, which also happen several times a day. They make sure the alligators get some exercise by making them jump out of the water for their food. It's pretty spectacular. And not as blurry in real life.

If it's not too rainy out, you might also catch one of their birds of prey shows. They'll bring out a hawk or owl and have them retrieve food from various locations around the woodsy area out back, and it's way cool. Trust me.

Ray's isn't a huge place, but that's great if you have small kids. Not a lot of walking and pretty big bang for your buck. It's not really enough for a full day, but perfect for a rainy afternoon or maybe filling up the rest of the day after swimming lessons. We had a year-long pass last year, and we went at least six or seven times, and the kids never got tired of it. It's the shows that really sell the place - it's so much more interactive than other zoos.

And as a bonus, their marmosets - kind of a tiny monkey - just had a baby two weeks ago. And baby marmosets getting piggy back rides from their mommies are ADORABLE.

Some tips for visiting Ray's:

• It's pretty far down Bank Street - it's about a half hour drive from pretty much everywhere. Make sure you check Google maps beforehand and leave plenty of time to get there.
• Speaking of getting there, Ray's has like, the SMALLEST parking lot ever. You can park along Bank Street but it's a very busy road with fast cars and not an entirely comfortable solution for families with small kids. So carpool if at all possible.
• The cost is $38 for a family of four, so the annual pass at $105 is a good deal if you think you'll go at least three times. Plus, the pass gets you a discount on their famous birthday parties, which are really well done and are a great solution if you planned an outdoor party and then it decides to unexpectedly rain all weekend, I'm JUST SAYING.
• There's no snack bar or snack area at Ray's, so plan your trip between meals if at all possible. There is a birthday party room you can use to grab a quick bite and a juice box if you packed a bit of a picnic.

Since we've been to Ray's about a hundred times, I'm going to give them a Summer Of Awesome Should Do. But if you have curious preschoolers, I do highly recommend it.

Lynn is mom to three tombliboos and blogs over at Turtlehead.

Smorgasbord of Festivals

by Kari There are many advantages to living in a city with such a diverse population, but one of my personal favourites is the plethora of summer festivals.  Last weekend, we attended the South Asia Festival in Confederation Park.  Was it the best festival I've ever attended?  Nope.  Was it still a good outing and intriguing for the little ones?  Absolutely.  My four year old daughter loved the Bollywood infused dancing, particularly when two of the dancers came out into the crowd to encourage audience participation!  The colourful sarees appealed to her dress-up desire and she's still proudly sporting her henna tattoo six days later.

The onsite concessions also provided a hit for the taste buds.  My husband enjoyed the offerings of the New Nupur Restaurant, while the girls and I enjoyed some fresh naan bread after watching it being stretched, placed in the Tandoor to cook, and withdrawn for our pleasure.

This weekend, July 23-25, offers a minimum of three ethnic festivals for your consideration.

The Ottawa Turkish Festival will take place in Confederation Park.  If your wee ones enjoy vibrant colours, interesting sounds, and dancing, this may be worth making the trek downtown.  The water marbling, ebru, sounds cool and I suspect a kabab may be in order.  Admission is free, but some activities, such as face painting will come at a cost.

The Egyptian Festival will take place at St. Mary's Church in Trend Arlington.  If this is your neck of the woods, this free festival may merit a stop-by.  They boost of many children's activities, including a very popular hair braiding station.

The Lebanese Festival will take place at St. Elias Cathedral, across from Mooney's Bay.  The organizers claim days of sights, sounds, and tastes of Lebanon's rich and lively culture.  In addition to the traditional cultural performances, foods, and crafts, they have children's rides, games, face painting and more.  The Make a Mosaic craft on Friday night may just be the highlight of my eldest daughter's weekend!

As the summer unfolds, look for other ethnic festivals, such as the Muslim Summer Festival and the Ottawa Greek Festival Perhaps I'll see you out there...

Kari is the mom of two girls, a 4 year old and 10 month old.  She can be found frequenting free activities throughout the city in hopes it’ll tire them out enough to sleep through the night.

Review - Peg Perego Pliko3 stroller

Since having kids, I find myself checking out other strollers whenever I am at the mall or the park. I liken it to some men scoping out other cars, sizing them up, you know. And the funny thing is, I notice other moms checking out my stroller too! There are so many strollers on the market, I often can't help but stare when I see one with a neat feature, or one that I have never seen before. Regardless of all the bells and whistles I happen to notice on other people's strollers, I am quite content with my Peg Perego Pliko3.

It's a higher end stroller, retailing for around $300, but in my opinion worth every penny. It has all the features of a great stroller with the ease of transportation of an umbrella stroller.

What I love most about this stroller, which we bought in 2006, is the way it folds up to the size of a golf bag.

When the front wheels are locked in place, it stands up on it's own, which makes storing it in the garage very easy. It's lightweight, weighing only 17lbs. The seat reclines completely, another feature I appreciate whenever my child falls asleep. The snack tray is completely detachable (great for taking it off to wash out sticky snack residue!) It has a cup holder for mom, and a generous sized basket underneath. It is compatible with most infant buckets, as they can rest on top of the snack tray.

When my daughter is sitting upright, my 3 year old son can stand on the back ledge and hold on to the handle bars. (Unfortunately this only works if the back of stroller is up, so I couldn't have him ride on the back when my daughter was in her infant carrier).

The downside? The smaller wheels cannot handle an Ottawa winter, and the sun shade doesn't close entirely. But that's it. I would definitely give this stroller a 9/10!