An Arts & Crafts Rainy Day Survival Guide

by Natasha If you live in Ottawa, you know the weather has been very unstable lately. One minute it snows, then it rains, then it goes up to 5 degrees C and everything melts. Sometimes you wake up and find your entire street covered in ice like one giant skating rink. These odd and annoying weather days make it very hard for me to occupy Baby H with any outdoor activities. I could sit him in front of the TV for a while, but that could turn into a boring activity when done repeatedly.

A few days ago, I decided to make a “Rainy Day Survival Kit”.  I went to Wal-mart and purchased a medium sized rubbermaid container to store all of the supplies I was gathering for this kit.  My version of this survival kit contains:

• Construction paper in a variety of sizes and colors;
• An assortment of colouring pages, which you can find online for free;
• Crayons;
• Foam letter, numbers and shapes;
• Blunt edge scissors, and if you feel particularly creative, get the design and shape cutters;
• Non-toxic glue, as you can never be safe around children;
• A variety of stickers;
• Watercolour and brushes in a variety of sizes;
• A paint cup that has a lid and a hole for the paint brush to go through with minimal spillover;

I also have an art smock as well as a craft mat in there to help reduce the mess that’s definitely going to happen.

For yourself, have a few sealable folders around to store your little Picasso’s art in and display later on.

I recommend checking Michaels for some of these products as well, especially with their weekly deals and discount coupons. A cheaper alternative is the Dollarama chain of stores.

Do you have a survival kit for these indoor winter days? I would love to hear what you have there.

Natasha is a new mommy to her first born, Baby H. She runs ShopHaven, a blog that reviews products and profiles local businesses and individuals from the Ottawa area. Natasha is also the creative force behind ShopHaven Baskets; a highly customized gift baskets service.  Follow Natasha on Twitter (@shophaven) to keep up with her daily adventures and Baby H’s mischiefs.

Tables and Chairs

by Ezmy Before having Budsie, A. and I enjoyed many a pub night with our friends from grad school and work. Since having Budsie, these nights have obviously become less frequent. But while few of our friends in Ottawa have children, this has thankfully not stopped us from getting together for the odd beverage. The fact that Budsie can now sit in a high chair, happily entertaining himself with food and chattering with passing waitresses, helps immensely.

When we discovered that a few of our old haunts had high chairs, A. and I were ecstatic. The perfect example? D’Arcy McGees on Spark St., a pub A. and I used to meet at after particularly long days at work. During Winterlude, we decided to see if they were family friendly. We were delighted to find out that not only did they have a highchair for Budsie, they could also set us up at a semi-private table with room for the stroller and everything. Most exciting.

So food was ordered and beverages were served. And then the inevitable happened - Diaper Explosion. Budsie and I headed to the loo. I did my usual scan to find the changing table. Was it on the wall? Nope. How about in one of the stalls? Hmmm, no. Well, maybe there was a space next to the sink? Oh dear. Thankfully, Budsie is a good sport and managed a diaper change half in the sink and half out. He found the shiny taps quite amusing.

Sadly, this is not the first time this has happened. It turns out that a number of family-friendly pubs with high chairs, and even kids’ menus, do not have change tables. I’m not entirely sure why this is. But I think it’s important to warn my fellow Ottawa parents, particularly those of you who, like me, are new to this gig: When asking about chairs, remember to inquire about tables as well.

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.

A Gym Tale: A community, not just a place to play

 by Lara Our relationship with A Gym Tale began three years ago at the end of cold and flu season. Stinky Monkey was just 2 months corrected age (4 months chronological) and I was finally going to be allowed out in public with him. I needed to find other moms and other babies to socialize with after a long, snowy winter of hospital stays and doctors appointments. Regardless of Stinky Monkey's prognosis I was determined to give him the best life with the most experience.   During an online search I found A Gym Tale, at the time it was just a few doors away from our Pediatrician's office. They had a program entitled "New Magic" for babies 3-10 months. I thought I would call and see if I could enroll for the end of the Spring session or at least pay per visit. I spoke with Lindsay, the owner, and explained my situation and the need for as germ-free environment as I can possibly get with little children. She reassured me about their policies and was great about prorating our enrollment. The class was small, the moms were welcoming and Stinky Monkey and I were quickly embraced into our new community of mom's and babes in Barrhaven. Songs, rhymes, learning and development activities, sensory activities and allowing babies to explore their new world in a safe, kid friendly environment. This was my first experience as a mommy, a non-NICU mommy, and A Gym Tale helped us to build bonds and friendships in Barrhaven.

  Three years on we have done MANY an organized playgroup with A Gym Tale, Stinky Monkey attended all levels of groups, some with me, some with The Husband and some with Nana...he's finally reached the age where its time to just go and play in the pirate ship and castle. He's even mastered the "Big" slide (the slide I won't go down). Bella Bear started the classes at 2 months old and she has made her own friends now in her groups and enjoys every minute of the time in class and enjoys the under 3 play area when Stinky Monkey is enjoying the slides and larger structure.

  Lindsay has become part of our family, she always takes an interest in the kids she see in her groups. She engages the kids and the parents, offers helpful tips and reassures those of us with little ones who don't always want to participate in the groups that no its not a developmental issue, he's just 2!

What I appreciate the most about Lindsay and her business partner/husband Alan is that they are following their passion and are committed to making the best memories for kids and their families in a positive and rich learning environment. Whether a special event scheduled on Father's Day or creating a safe space where parents feel comfortable dropping their kids (3 and up) for a fun Friday night, offering preschool, before and after-school care, summer camps, or participating in the Barrhaven Santa Claus Parade or helping our little people celebrate their birthdays. Every child is important to them, every child's experience is considered a priority.

  To this end A Gym Tale is really committed to creating a community for parents in Barrhaven and beyond, creating memories, enriching learning and helping families sharing parenting experience. This commitment has now expanded to just moms too! Lindsay has recently started a monthly Moms night of scrapbooking at the centre and it is great to get together with other Moms (without our babes) and enjoy stories, pictures, memories and parenting advice.   Visit a Gym Tale in Barrhaven or follow their blog, details at www.agymtale.com.

Lara is mom to Stinky Monkey (3) and Bella Bear (1).  She enjoys making the best memories with her active cardiac preschooler and a healthy heart toddler.  Lara also works, volunteers, shops (way too much), and is new to blogging at www.parentingwithheart.blogspot.com

Polar bears and penguins, oh my!

by Zach My kids love the Canadian Museum of Nature, but there's been a distressing new development: as they get more familiar with the place, they're making their way through the exhibitions faster and faster. One day a couple of weeks ago we had flown through the Blue Water, Fossil, and Mammal galleries, and I was wondering if we were going to finish early, and how exactly I would keep things afloat for the rest of the afternoon.   Then, on the third floor, we bumped into a sign in front of the Special Exhibition gallery that stopped the kids cold. This wasn't any old foam board-in-Plexiglas sign. It was a mini-display in itself, with a large, rotating model of the earth slowly turning over and over. Sitting on the south pole was an oversized penguin, and on the north pole was a polar bear. We had found the new temporary exhibition, Ends of the Earth: From Polar Bears to Penguins.   After convincing the kids not to try wrenching the penguin and polar bear off the globe, we made our way in. The first thing that greeted us was a life-sized polar bear (a relative of the one in the Mammal gallery?), surrounded by several other interactive displays and games. The kids were a bit nervous of this new polar bear, but quickly moved past, and started exploring. And what a lot there was to explore.   The highlight of the exhibition was probably the penguin slide, in one of the back corners of the exhibition. It's a low, gently-sloped ramp, shaped like a big chunk of ice hauled up from the Antarctic. The really adorable part, however, is the many penguin costumes stored on benches to the side. The idea is for the kids to dress up as penguins and slide down the ramp on their bellies, using the soft fabric of the costumes to go a touch faster than they otherwise would.   The first time we went, the kids were game for the costumes, and I bitterly regretted not having my camera as they waddled around the exhibition, pretending to be penguins. I also tried not to think about how often the costumes might, or might not, get washed.   We've had a couple of visits since, and my kids, like most others, don't really attempt the costumes anymore, but just start launching themselves down the slide, running back, and doing it again in this kind of perpetual motion machine thing that young kids are capable of. You can really see the different parenting styles coming out in these kinds of situations; do the parents wander off and look at other displays? Do they hover (like me)? Do they let the kids climb directly back up the slide, or do they have to go around? Note there's no attendant here, and no posted rules, so it's something of a Darwinian playground.   There's a whole lot else to see, too. There's a replica of the kind of scale that scientists use to weigh polar bears, and that visitors can use to see how their weight matches up to that of polar bears at different ages (there's no numbers, just a chart). The kids together weigh about as much as a six-month old polar bear cub, while I'm the equivalent of a remarkably mature bear. Yay.   There's loads more to see and do, including a mini-den for kids to crawl into, a penguin-chick feeding game (with a guilt-inducing message when you don't manage to feed the chicks), a replica of the hut used by early explorers of the Antarctic, and several video displays describing the animals and geography of the two poles. At least I think that's what they do, as the kids tend to run by videos of scientists talking, however passionate they are about their work.   The exhibition began way back on January 28, and is only open until April 10. If you want to check it out, head out there soon.   If you've seen the exhibition, what did you think? And, what are yours and your kids' favourite sections of the Museum of Nature?

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.

Streamer Paper Mache

by Sara For his fifth birthday the firefighter chose rainbow coloured streamers to decorate our house.  After all the celebrations were over I rolled the streamers back up for our art and craft project.

We used one of the balloons left over from his birthday party to create paper mache out of the rainbow streamers.  While the firefighter taped his balloon into a plastic cup (so it wouldn't roll around the table), I cut the paper streamers into 3-4 inch long strips

There are endless choices when it comes to making paper mache 'goop'.  I decided to mix equal parts hot water with flour and a few tablespoons of salt (apparently it inhibits mold growth).  The mixture was quite thick so I added another 1/2 cup of hot water and then stirred it with my whisk.

In hindsight the pieces of streamer probably would have been easier to work with if they were smaller (maybe 2 inch squares) 

The firefighter loved trying to cover up all the blue space on the balloon but we quickly discovered that streamer paper is too delicate for dipping in the 'goop' and needs to be applied with a paint brush. 

We worked our way through two rolls of streamers before deciding that the blue balloon was well and truly hidden. 

He's quite proud of his masterpiece and will now get to keep a little bit of his birthday in his bedroom all year long!

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.