Spaghetti and Marshmallows

by Sara Thankfully this is not a cooking post!

The idea to build structures out of marshmallows and spaghetti came from our wonderful mother's helper, Liz, who spends one day a week with us.  I provided the materials and the pictures while she and my 5 year old firefighter came up with a masterful creation!

All you need is large marshmallows (you can incorporate small ones too but they're probably best for older kids as their size makes them harder to slide pasta through) and pasta.  Liz suggested linguini noodles because they're thicker than spaghetti but still slide into the marshmallows easily.  I do reccommend white pasta over whole wheat as its tougher and less likely to snap. 

Its a sticky process but kids are only limited by their imagination.  The firefighter designed the tall tower and then decided to attach a garage (see the above image).  The small creation inside the garage is the car he built. 

As you can see from the image above, the creations tend to collapse easily so they need a lot of supporting 'beams' to hold them upright. 

Preschool children might find it easiest to make simple shapes or people and animals while kindergarten kids (with assistance) can build towers or buildings.  School-aged children might appreciate the challenge of trying to replicate the different types of bridges using marshmallows and pasta. 

Have you ever built anything out of marshmallows and pasta?

Sara is a photographer and mom to a 5-year-old ” firefighter” and 2.5-year-old “monkey”.  You can also find her at her blog, My Points of View.

Welcome to the Ottawa School of Speech and Drama!

by Brie We are thrilled to welcome The Ottawa School of Speech and Drama as  a new Kids in the Capital sponsor!

The Ottawa School of Speech and Drama is Ottawa’s pre-eminent acting school for children, youth and adults. They offer classes for kids of all ages in acting and musical theather. I love that they even offer classes for the 18 month to 3 year old set.

The Ottawa School of Speech and Drama also offers March Break Camps and Summer Camps for kids ages 6 and older. With Summer Camps ranging from five to fourteen days, they offer the perfect way for interested kids to get immersed into the world of theater.

Having attended acting classes for fours years as a kid back in Winnipeg I have a soft spot for drama school. Drama classes play off the inherent creativity of kids and provide them with an environment for their ideas to flourish. And let kids have fun at the same time!

A big welcome to The Ottawa School of Speech and Drama!

Kids in the Capital Spring Break Meetup

Spring break is coming and that means all kind of fun activities for kids off from school. It also means disrupted routines and tired parents. Which is why you should join us to a Kids in the Capital parents-only meetup! When: Tuesday, March 15th at 8pm Where:Woody's Pub at 330 Elgin Street Why: It will be fun!

We hope to see you there!

Tobogganing. Is. Awesome.

by Zach  Our two year old boy clung to me, weeping. "It's okay," I said. "I'm going to go on the tobbogan with your sister, okay? You can wait up here with your grandpa."   "No!" he said, and held on tighter. "Okay," I said, "alright." His four year old sister was sitting patiently at the front of the toboggan, ready to tip over the edge of the tiny, tiny hill. I tried to think of some way to compromise.   "Do you want to sit on my lap?" I suggested, not for a second thinking he'd accept that. "Yeah," he said. He wasn't happy, but apparently preferred to think that at least we would all go to our doom together.   I folded my legs and sat him down on my lap, held on tightly, and pushed off.   On the way down, he giggled. "Again!" he yelled when we slid to a stop. So we did, again, and again, and again.   I had high hopes at the beginning of the winter for tobogganing, but I'm a little embarrassed to say that last weekend was only the second time we'd gone tobogganing. The first time amounted to a kind of warm up, with the girl agreeing to watch me slide down a miniscule hill on the toboggan by myself. She laughed, but didn't particularly want to participate. The boy choose to sit in the stroller, out of the wind, and watch us skeptically.   This second round, though, was an enormous success. The girl hopped right on our toboggan that we had bought at a garage sale, probably around five years ago, ready to hurl herself down whatever hill might be closest. Though the boy had been excited when I suggested tobogganing, when he actually saw what it involved, he decided this really was not a good idea after all. However, I think to everyone's relief, he eventually came around and thoroughly enjoyed himself.   We were at Patterson Creek, at Bank Street just south of Patterson Avenue. The former creek bed sits a few feet below the level of the surrounding roads, which means that the park area is almost entirely ringed by toboggan hills perfect for the four year old-ish age group. The area is popular, and I've often seen the corner of the park by Patterson Avenue and Bank Street overrun by families and various snow-sliding devices.   The large amount of space also means that a four-year old can move restlessly around the edges of the park, picking and choosing new places to slide down. There's plenty of street parking, and the Glebe is just a short ways south for hot chocolates and other snacks to bolster little sledders.   Of course, there are loads more hills in Ottawa, and I look forward to dragging the kids to as many as they will tolerate as they get older ... or possibly they'll be the ones dragging me. The city of Ottawa has put together a great list of the hills, which includes details like nearby parking, some of the features of the hills themselves, and potential hazards.   What has your experience been with tobogganing in Ottawa? Do you have a favourite hill, especially for a particular age range? When did you start with your kids, and what were their reactions?

Zach is a dad to a four year old girl and two year old boy. He sometimes blogs. He is often blogged about by his wife over at Capital Mom.

Budsie Shares His Porridge

by Ezmy From Monday to Friday, it’s just me and Budsie for breakfast time (A. leaves early for a workout before work because he’s ambitious and amazing like that). Before having kids, ‘breakfast time’ was me fumbling about with the coffee grinder, blindly dumping hot water into a French press, and sitting my pajama clad self in front of the computer for a morning write. My eyes did not open until the first sip of jet black coffee hit my mouth.

Breakfast time is an entirely different affair now, of course, but I’m still pretty groggy first thing so when Budsie started eating people food, I had to figure out a breakfast that was fast and simple, yet healthy and delicious. Oh and fun! Because my boy likes to be entertained. Enter ‘Budsie Porridge’, a super fast recipe that, when combined with sound effects, makes for a fun morning with my little man.

Budsie Porridge - serves one hungry baby boy

-1 1/2 tbsp ‘Bob’s Red Mill Scottish Oatmeal’ - this is small grain oatmeal that works for babies as young as 6 months -1/4 cup or so water -1 cube pureed prunes* -pinch cinnamon -splash homogenized milk or breast milk

*Every couple of weeks, I lightly boil and then puree a container of prunes (make sure they are sulphite-free!). I pop this prune-y goodness into ice cube trays and then transfer the prune cubes to a freezer bag. Incidentally, the water the prunes are boiled in makes a tasty dinner time beverage for babies.

Now. It is possible to microwave this porridge (put all ingredients together - except the milk - and stick in microwave for 3 minutes). But I’m going to outline the details for cooking on the stove because believe it or not, we didn’t have a microwave until a couple of weeks ago.

First, pop the water in a pot and put on stove to boil. When pouring water, make rushing water sounds - whoosh! - and explain what you are up to.

Water will boil very quickly. Turn the heat down to low and slowly add the oats, stirring as you add. Make shaking oats noise - my noise of choice: shooka shooka weeee! - and explain what you are up to.

Once oats are stirred in, add your frozen prune cube - Boop! (Budsie loves this noise)

The prune cube will start to melt. Once it is all melted, your oats are done (about 2 minutes). During melting time, I like to do a little dance in the kitchen. It perks me up and sends Budsie into fits of laughter. When the porridge is done, take off the stove, pour into a baby breakfast bowl and stir in your pinch of cinnamon and milk. By the time you get this and your breakfast gear to the table, the porridge should be cool enough for baby to eat. Check first of course.

Result: One porridge covered baby!

 

Happy Breakfast Time!

Ezmy is a new mum to son Ewan (aka Budsie). When she isn’t working on her master’s thesis, or playing games with her boy, she’s blogging furiously about life as a stay-at-home mum in our nation’s capital. Follow Ezmy on Twitter (@ezmytweets) where she posts daily resolutions and updates on life with an active and very vocal baby.