KITC get together at Starr – A Gymtastic Afternoon! + Giveaway

by Krista We attended the latest Kids in the Capital children’s get together at Starr Gymnastics’ newest location, at 520 Lacolle Way in Orleans. My husband and I brought our two children, aged 3 and 2, and were joined by about 12 other families. We were excited to check out this location, as we have attended the West End Starr, but had not seen either of the other locations. This was also our first experience with a party held at Starr, which may come in handy for birthdays in the near future. They impressed our family on both counts.

We arrived just as the party was getting started, and joined the rush of families who were getting out of their winter gear. There is a fairly open area as you walk in, where you remove your outwear, footwear and socks (for children). There are bins to place little items in, you then walk these down the hall to the coat room. Once the winter wear was stowed, we checked in and were let in to the gym space. (click on picture to enlarge)

It’s a very large bright and open space that was clearly designed to suit Starr’s needs. There is a climbing wall, a swinging rope, several mini-trampolines, balance beams and bars, as well as several large open floor spaces for exercises. There is also a nice quiet room in the back of the space, intended for use by parents with really young children, and a raised area where there are four large round trampolines, and a foam pit for the children to dive into. There are also slides, mini-trampolines, balls, hoops, bean bags, and small play equipment spread through out the space.

The children were divided by age, with those under three heading off in one group with their parents, and those over three heading off without parents. The party was held much like one of the regular instructional classes, starting with a warm up, followed by activities that were geared to age. There were at least two leaders with each group, and they instructed the children (and parents) at the start of the activity, and then left them to their own devices as they tried out the new things. They were always close by and available to step in if assistance was needed. The activities were generally high energy, and the focus was to keep the children moving. They switched things up every ten to fifteen minutes, allowing for the children to try out each station.

There were clearly some favourite activities, with most of the younger ones - and some parents - loving the big trampolines and the foam pit, and some of the older kids liking the climbing wall and the “Tarzan” rope. The focus was on keeping the children moving, so other than the brief moments when instructions were given, everyone was active for the full hour.

The party then moved into one of three function rooms that look over the gym space. These are pretty basic rooms that allow for snacks and a rest after the play time. They are equipped with picnic tables and benches, and are located very near the washrooms and tiny kitchenette. As Starr does not offer any refreshments, those in attendance brought stacks for a potluck snack extravaganza. We did have access to the fridge and kitchenette to store and prepare any of the food that needed it. I imagine that these rooms could also be used by parents to watch over parties with older children, but I was having too much fun to consider this. a look at the party rooms

All in all it was a great experience. The children got to try new things, were active for an hour, and had lots of fun with new friends. The staff members and leaders were very helpful, energetic, and constantly encouraging their charges. I would definitely go there again, and would consider hosting a party for either of my children. There were two things that I would like to change, the first being the volume of the music, so the leaders didn’t have to yell to be heard by the children. The second is the flow in the entrance. The way it was set up you sat on a bench to remove you boots, then crossed the very wet floor to hit the play rooms or gym space. This problem will hopefully go away soon, with spring’s arrival.

After the fun - for more pictures, see the KITC flickr pool

Krista is married to Willy and mom to a 3 year old son, Woo, and 2 year old daughter Goose. You can find her at Life in the Hutch or on Twitter @kgraydonald

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Thanks Krista! Are you a fan of Starr Gymnastics? Would you like a chance to find out?

Starr Gymnastics is giving away one two-hour birthday party package, including one hour of gym adventure and one hour in a party room, for up to ten kids.  The birthday party package can be redeemed at any Starr Gymnastics location, pending date and time availability.

To be entered in the giveaway, leave a comment letting us know which Starr Gymnastics location you would pick for a birthday party. For an additional two entries follow Starr Gymnastics on Twitter and like their Facebookpage. Please leave a separate comment for each entry!

The giveaway ends Tuesday February 22nd at 11pm. It is open to residents of Ottawa and the surrounding area.

Good luck!

After school blueberry crumb muffins

by Vicky When Joel gets off the school bus, he's ravenous. He walks in the front door and immediately asks 'what did you make today'. I don't always have time to bake after school snacks, but when I do I know he's a happy boy!

Recently I found this recipe for blueberry muffins with a crumb topping. I can honestly say they were the best muffins I have made, and they didn't last long! They were moist, loaded with blueberries, and the crumb topping was a nice touch! I highly recommend them:

Blueberry Crumb Topping Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Before you start, preheat oven to 400. Spray a muffin tin with Pam or use muffin liners.
2. Mix the flour, sugar salt and baking powder and set aside.  In a 1 cup measuring cup, place the vegetable oil, the egg and fill the rest of the cup to the top with milk. Stir carefully, and mix the liquids with the flour mixture.
3. Fold in blueberries, and spoon the mixture into the muffin cups.
4. Sprinkle with crumb topping. (Do not overload the muffins with the crumb topping or they will sink).

To Make Crumb Topping (optional):

1. Mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter (room temperature works best), and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl. Wisk with a fork and sprinkle on top of the muffins before baking.
2. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

When I followed this recipe, it made 8 very large muffins. I think the next time I make it, I will put a bit less in each muffin cup and stretch them out to a full dozen (since the crumb topping does add a bit more to the muffin).

I hope your kids will enjoy these as much as mine did!

Vicky is the mom to 4 year old son named Joel and 1 year old daughter named Mieka. You can read her blog at blog Some Kind of Wondermom.

Embracing winter with a trip down memory lane

by Carly As I trudged out the door to shovel for the third time today, I was quickly struck by how beautiful it was.  The sun had set, the streets were quiet, save for the sounds of shovels and the falling snow was alight with sparkles.

Since I'd already been out twice, this last shovel of the day was an easy one (for me, at least - no so for Dad as he was stuck with the plowed-in end of the driveway).  When the driveway was clear, and with the Little Man happily stumbling around helping me, I started a little project of my own.

As a child, my favourite winter memories are of the snow forts, slides, homes, tunnels, stairs and chairs we'd spend hours building, refining and tweaking in the snowbanks along the driveway.  We have snowball fights with the neighbourhood kids across the street, then all pitch in to clean up one another's "bank" before heading in for the evening.  We did this all winter, just about every day.  Our forts ended up being quite elaborate and sometimes we'd even be allowed to use water to set the walls and furniture.

I couldn't resist a quick trip down memory lane this evening, and so we made some stairs and a slide from the biggest snowbank down to the driveway.  He was thrilled to have his very own sledding hill, and even though the hill wasn't very big, it was enough to shoot him all the way across the driveway so he'd end up crashing into the opposite bank.

The Mom in me really can't recommend the tunnels, or the slides we made that shot us into the street rather than the driveways back in the day, but the rest of the play was great fun.  For our Little Man who isn't the best sleeper, this was a great way to tire him out before bed and fun and healthy way to spend an evening as a family.

Carly has red hair and occasionally the temper to match.  She loves potatoes, rainy nights, photography, her husband and her 4 year old son, Jacob.  Probably in reverse order.   She also blogs.

Kids in the Capital is conducting a survey this week to learn more about our readers and better understand what kind of information you’d like to see here.  Please take 5 minutes to answer, and you’ll be entered into a draw for a free photo from Sara McConnell Photography at the Red, White and Love event on February 12. Click here to take survey

Parachutes

by Sara Last week we celebrated our first snow day of 2011 and my 4.5 year old firefighter discovered the joy of parachutes with his dad.

Using thread they tied different size matchbox vehicles to four corners of a plastic bag.  There was also a legion of rescue matchbox vehicles waiting at the bottom of the stairs to lend a hand should the parachute drop result in injuries (they took the whole exercise very seriously).

Both boys took turns dropping the parachutes from the upstairs hallway and different points along our stairs.  They watched to see which ones fell the fastest, which ones made the most noise, and figured out the best way to hold the parachutes so that the thread didn't get tangled up.

They also tied a kleenex box to the plastic bag and then loaded it up with different items to see how fast it fell.

How do your kids experiment with gravity?

Sara is a photographer and mom to a 4.5-year-old ” firefighter” and 2.5-year-old “monkey”.  You can also find her at her blog, My Points of View.

Valentine's Day love

by Brie and Lara Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! We hope that you are giving and getting lots of hugs and kisses from family today. Because that (not chocolate) is what Valentine's Day is all about.

Since it is a day for love, we want to say thank you to all our lovely readers and contributors that took the time to complete our survey. It was great to find out what you like about Kids in the Capital and to know what you want to see more of.  You love reading about Ottawa-based activities, events, attractions and services. You also want to read more about Ottawa-based activities, events, attractions and services.

We will be working on incorporating your feedback and suggestions into upcoming posts. You know, as soon as neither of us are sick. Don't worry, we won't wait until the kids are all healthy. Then it would never happen!

What we love about Kids in the Capital, though, is that it is a blog about what you love. Not just us. So if there is something you love to do with your kids or that your kids love to do, please email us at kidsinthecapital(at)gmail(dot)com to blog about it here! We want to share what you love with other Ottawa parents whose kids might love it too.

In the spirit of love, please leave a comment letting us know what your family is doing to mark Valentine's Day today. Are you eating heart shaped pancakes for breakfast? Tucking notes in lunch bags? Scrambling to finish addressing twenty Valentine's Day cards for one of your kids that "forgot"? Getting a babysitter and sneaking out without the kids for dinner?

Whatever it is, we want to hear about it!