Eko Bear: Clementine Art Supplies Review and Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed. Thanks so much to Elizabeth, who left lucky comment #1. by Sara

Eko Bear is an online store dedicated to organic and eco-friendly toys.  Its owned by an Ottawa mother, Linda Peters, who provides families with green, affordable toy choices that are safe for children and the environment.

Because of cold weather and a feverish monkey, we've been stuck inside the house and I couldn't have been happier to receive this bag of Clementine Art supplies.  It kept both the boys occupied for several hours.

Clementine's art supplies (glue, crayons, markers, paint, and modelling clay) are all natural, certified non-toxic, and environmentally friendly.  I appreciated that the packaging was 80% post consumer recycled and reusable materials and that there were no strong smells emanating from any of the products when we opened them.

The modelling clay was a huge hit for several reasons.  It feels and smells like homemade modelling clay and since the monkey still has a tendency to sneak pieces in his mouth, I appreciated that it was made of all natural ingredients. Unlike more commonly known brands of modelling clay, this products smooth texture meant little pieces didn't crumble off and embed themselves in clothes and soft furnishings.  Because it was so soft and easily to mold, the firefighter was able to make an entire family of teeny tiny ducks swimming in a pond.

We have a huge container of crayons at home but what appealed to the boys most about the Clementine crayon rocks and crayons was there shape.  Its not necessary to have a pincher grip to use them and they're great for little hands and kids who are still scribbling.  At the same time, the firefighter was able to hold them tight in his palm to draw faces and vehicles.  They're thicker than the crayons we normally use, which means no one snapped any of the crayons and both boys liked that they weren't covered in paper.

The hands-down favourite for the firefighter was the glue.  He loves to draw pictures, cut them into pieces, and then glue them back together.  Yet we haven't managed to find glue that is liquid enough for him to squeeze out of the container and spread easily with a paint brush.  He loved the fact that he was able to use the container himself and that there were no globs left behind when he glued his face back together.

Eko Bear is giving away the full line of Clementine Art supplies, including the Natural Soy Crayons, Natural Soy Crayon Rocks, Natural Modelling Dough, Natural Markers and Natural Glue.

To be entered to win visit the Eko Bear website and let us know what product your kids would love. For up to six extra entries leave a comment telling us that you:

- Follow @EkoBearToys on Twitter - Tweet "I entered the @EkoBearToys giveaway to win Clementine Art Supplies at @KidsinCapital". - Like Eko Bear Toys on Facebook - Sign up for the Eko Bear newsletter - Follow Kids in the Capital on Twitter - Like Kids in the Capital on Facebook

Please leave a separate comment for each of the possible entries! The giveaway closes Sunday, November 21st at 11pm. This giveaway is open to Canadians only.

And don't forget, even if you don't win this fabulous giveaway you can still get 15% any purchase from Eko Bear with the code Capital15 until December 31, 2010.

Good luck!

Timbits on ice not just with coffee!

by Joanne My little man loves hockey!  He wants to play road hockey (with me as the goalie!), hockey on the wii with his grandfather, hockey, hockey, hockey!   This fall we decided that it was time to register him in the Initiation Program (IP) with our local hockey association.  He was thrilled when we bought him his first stick, even more thrilled when his uncle got him all dressed up in his favourite cousin’s hockey equipment…  What could be better than playing hockey… playing in DJ’s old equipment!! Finally after weeks of waiting we headed out to the rink – Timbits hockey here we come!

The Timbits minor sports program is a community oriented sports program for children aged 4 to 6. It is not about winning or loosing, it is about learning a new sport, making new friends and just being a kid.

The first day at the rink was wonderful and nerve-racking.  My little man headed out on the ice along with 30 other little boys and girls all ready to have some fun.  I held my breath… we had taken his skating a few times but he was still learning.  I was unsure how he would do… would he like it or cry and want off the ice.  I looked over at my husband “The coordinator told me he did not have to be a strong skater” I told him – to reassure myself!  Would he be ok out there!  What happens if he falls… looses his glove?  Who would help him?

Well this smile tells it all!

Within minutes he was shuffling along around the rink – hockey stick in hand with his mouth guard.  He fell and got back up with ease.  My husband called him over to the bench for a water break and he told him to hurry up because he wanted to be back on the ice with his team.

Our kids are being coached by wonderful coaches and on-ice volunteers who help them every step of the way.  Through drills and creative games (have you ever played sockey? Hint: soccer on ice!) they are learning all of the skills they will need to skate and play our national sport.

50 minutes later he was off the ice – very sweaty and very happy!  We asked him – “So how was it?”  His response “Is there hockey tomorrow?” Yes” – I said…”Great!  At what time? I can’t wait to come back!”  He says that every week!

If your child wants to play hockey you can find similar programs all over the city.  Not all associations in Ottawa use the Timbits IP program.  Please visit the Ottawa District Minor Hockey Association for information about the program in your area.

If you are looking for me on Saturday and Sunday mornings you can find me at the rink cheering on my favourite player!

Joanne is the proud mom of Amélie (8 years old) and Mathieu (5 years).  She is new at blogging and you can find her at Our Money Pit.

Social Media Monday: Write, read, comment

by Brie As a new parent you discover the flip side of the city you live in. All of a sudden instead of knowing the hottest new restaurant, you can recommend the best playgroup in your neighbourhood. You may not know the latest movie playing, but you know the museum hours by heart. It's like this hidden world has been revealed. All you have to do is go out and explore it!

But there are times when you can't always be out at the park or the coffee shop or meetup with friends. Nap schedules, long nights and sick kids can keep you at home, no matter how much you want to be out. Stuck in a house with a baby that doesn't like to sleep and a toddler that doesn't like to stop, the lonely side of parenting can creep in. It did for me.

Enter social media.

Blogging, Twitter and Facebook are all amazing ways that allow you to connect with strangers, friends and other parents from the confines of your house. They are there waiting for when you have five minutes between changing diapers and doing homework. They are there when the kids nap or when they are happily occupied without you.

I love blogging because it has allowed me to find other moms to connect with that have kids of the same age, live in Ottawa or just plain fascinate me. I can peek into their lives when I have a moment, just as they can peek into mine when they find the time. While blogging is a great way for you to keep in touch with friends and family, and for them to keep in touch with you, it also opens you up to a whole other community of parents. They may not be the parents you would meet out and about in the city, but that doesn't lessen the connection.

There are three important things you need to do to build an online blog community: write, read and comment. Starting a blog and finding your voice are your contribution to the online discussion, but now you need to let people know you are here. Just like you would say hi to the mom pushing her kid at the swing beside you, say hi to all the bloggers you read and visit.

Sounds simple, doesn't it? When you read a blog, leave a comment.  But if you are used to lurking it can feel a bit weird to actually come out of hiding. I say do it! Think of it as a little thank you to the blogger. It's a thank you for sharing, for making you think, for giving you new ideas.

Leaving a comment is also a great way for other bloggers to find your blog. Chances are that the blogger you read will visit your blog, especially if you are a new commenter, and other readers might find you this way too. Two of my favorite bloggers are people I discovered when reading the comments.

While blogging may be something we do alone in the confines of our house, it is something that opens us up to the rest of the world. We write our words so that others can read them. By reading the words of others and commenting, you are beginning to build the connections that create online communities.

Am I right? Am I wrong? Tell me. Leave a comment. :-)

Brie is the mom of a 4 year old daughter “the girl” and 2 old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.

Feeding our feathered friends

by Karen You know how sometimes we parents force our own interests on our children, hoping that they’ll think that hockey or yoga or watching the Food Network instead of Treehouse is just the most awesome thing they’ve ever done?

Well, I did that….  and it has paid off in spades! (this time anyway….)

Let me back up a bit…. I love birds.  Not inside-the-house birds so much, but the out-in-the-wide-world kind of birds.  I love watching them and I love having them near the house.  My love of these feathered friends started when I lived on the Ottanabee River in Peterborough.  I had all kinds of interesting birds coming to my measly feeder.  I learned to use a bird guide to identify them and started to keep a journal of what I saw.  When we moved to Ottawa, I had dreams of birds flocking to my yard, telling their birdie friends about me and my awesome birdfeeders.

I decided to wait until we had kids to undertake my bird-attraction project.  My oldest daughter, Emily, has always shown an interest in the natural world and when, in JK, she asked to get a bird book from the library, I jumped at the chance to woo her to my world of bird feeding.

Putting up birdfeeders is a great project to do with kids.  Choosing the feeders, the seed, deciding where to hang or mount the feeders, putting them up and filling them are all projects that kids can get really involved in.  And when the birds start flocking to your yard?  Well, you are set for some great lessons and entertainment.  We stare out our back window daily and talk about what birds are there, if they are male or female, how other animals are reacting to them (read: curse the darn squirrels and cats).  Emily also loves to browse through our bird guide to try and identify birds.

We’ve learned a few lessons over the last few years of bird feeding through trial, but mostly error.   Follow these few rules and you and your kiddies should be well on the way to some happy feeding and watching:

1. Start small.  We started with a suet feeder (it looks like a very small cage).  You can get the feeder and the suet (in a variety of flavours!) at Bulk Barn.  They are inexpensive and attract chickadees and woodpeckers.  There is nothing better than living in Central Ottawa (we live in Greenboro – near Bank and Hunt Club) and watching a Downy Woodpecker hanging off your suet feeder.  In the middle of the city!  We also have a nyger seed feeder.  These are also fairly inexpensive (about $20 at Home Hardware) and attract finches, sparrows and chickadees.                             
2. Beware of squirrels.  Ah, the thorn in every bird feeder’s side.  When we bought our first suet feeder, the girls and I strung it up, literally with string.  Within an hour it was on the ground, the cage was open and the suet dragged off to the delight of some neighbourhood squirrels.  Lesson learned. We bought some small chain and a carabineer (both from Home Hardware) and re-hung it.  This time I tied the cage shut with some string. This was a good lesson in living with (and sometimes battling) nature.  We hung the nyger seed feeder with chain as well.  The holes are much too small for the squirrels so they don’t even try it but their weight would be enough to bring it down should they try.                         
3. Beware of neighbourhood cats.  I’m still figuring this one out.  The cats seem to think that I’m presenting them with a buffet in my backyard.  I feel like I’m potentially setting up the birds for a very untimely end.   The cats like to sit themselves right under our feeders.  I’m thinking a squirt bottle might be in order.  Right now, I just yell at them.  (Hey, I like me birds and I’m not adverse to pulling out my “mom voice” when necessary.)                                               
4. Try different styles of feeders when you want to attract new birds.  The girls really wanted to get some cardinals coming to the feeders (okay, so did I).  Neither the suet nor nyger-seed feeder could accommodate cardinals.  So last year for Christmas my dad gave us a totally awesome squirrel-proof birdfeeder by Heritage Farms.   (Lee Valley  is selling a different version that also looks great.)  This is the Cadillac of feeders. This year we put it in the lawn right outside our picture window.  The girls run to the window every morning to see if the cardinals are there.  An added benefit to this feeder is that the seed that is dropped on the ground keeps the squirrels happy enough to leave the feeders alone.                                         
5. Choose your seed.  I’ve found the best feed for the squirrel-proof feeder is sunflower seeds mixed with some wild bird seed.  This draws in the cardinals and the chickadees and also keeps my personal favourite, the juncos, very happy.  We get all our seed at Bulk Barn.
6. Get a bird guide and keep it handy.  This is a great way to really get the kids involved in bird identification, teach them to use a reference guide and also learn a lot more about the birds that we see in Ontario and Quebec.

And there you have it.  Those are our lessons in backyard bird feeding.  It has become one of our family’s favourite winter activities.  If you have even a postage stamp of a lawn (like we do), I recommend getting out there and helping our backyard friends through the tough Ottawa winters.  The birds will appreciate it and so will your kids.   And you’ll probably love it as much as they do.

Karen is mother to three great kids - Emily, Hope and newest addition Henry. In her increasingly rare spare time she blogs at Virtually There.

Don’t forget to brush your teeth!

by Joanne I don’t know about your kids but my kids love candy and Halloween means that since the 31st  they have eaten lots of it!    I try to limit the amount of candy that they eat but I still find wrappers that they hid when they were snacking on some “unapproved” chocolate bars.  The only thing that I am thankful for is that they both love to brush their teeth and love to go to the dentist.   This amazes me…. I hated the dentist as a child, hated the smell of his office and the sound of his drill.  I am thrilled that I did not pass on my fear to my children!  This is thanks to my amazing dentist.

When my kids were little I was unsure when to begin to take them in for their first cleaning.  My dentist would encourage me to take them with me to my appointments so they could get used to the sound of the office and see that going to the dentist is painless and important.

So, that is what I did.  I would bring my daughter with me to my checkups and she would sit and watch from her stroller eating her cheerios or looking at a book.    When she was about 3, she went for her first cleaning – nothing more than the dentist counting her teeth and giving them a gentle brush.  My son beside her in the stroller – taking it all in!

When it was his turn for his first cleaning he was so excited.  It was finally his turn to get onto that chair and have his teeth counted and cleaned - his turn to wear the great glasses and to get a new toothbrush, a sticker and a prize.

Here is with his Baby Dino ready for the cleaning by the hygienist.  He did amazing.  He was a big boy now and the Dentist explained to him the importance of tooth brushing and keeping your teeth clean.  She also told him that we were doing a great job of keeping his teeth pearly white!

Sometimes I wonder why I was so scared of the dentist.  I think it may have been the sound of the drill and the other children crying as they exited his office that freaked me out!  My current dentist has a small practice with just 2 hygienists.  You rarely hear a lot of drilling and I have never seen a child leave crying.   It is a family friendly environment with a kid’s cave where they can sit and wait for their appointment.

In my area, there seems to be a dental office everywhere you look so take the time to speak with them when you are looking for a dentist for your family – see what kind of environment they have for kids some even specialized in Pediatric Dentistry.  Also, you can visit the website of The Canadian Dental Association for a wealth of information about taking your child to the dentist for the first time.

I am glad we took the time to find a family dentist who has created an environment where my kids are excited about their check ups.  Me on the other hand… still get nervous before I go but if my 8 and 5 year olds can do it so can I!

Joanne the proud mom of Amélie (8 years old) and Mathieu (5 years).  She is new at blogging and you can find her at Our Money Pit.