Prehistoric World

by Rebecca This post originally appeared on Bit of Momsense. Thank you to Becky for sharing it here too.

In June, when we took the kids to Upper Canada Village, we passed by Prehistoric World – a place I had been as a child, but had completely forgotten about. We made note that we should take the Boy there someday. In August, we did!

Prehistoric World is all outdoors and has big and small statues of dinosaurs. Naturally, the almost 3 year old and almost 6 year old loved it. All the adults agreed, it was really well done and worth taking the kids (including my husband who was very doubtful about it’s ‘cool’ factor, but he was wrong! ;)

The path passes through a bush/treed area and is clearly defined, and very well maintained. It’s about 1 km in total distance, and takes about 45 minutes to an hour to do. There is a large sand box with ‘bones’ buried to dig up too!

Cost: $8 for each adult, $4.25 for kids 4-15 and children under 3 are free. Bring insect repellent/outdoor lotion because there are mosquitos!

Distance from Ottawa: About an hour

Prehistoric World

Exit 758 from Highway 401 Upper Canada Road Morrisburg, Ontario K0C 1X0 Telephone: (613) 543-2503

OPEN DAILY Late May through September 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

You may want to call first to be sure they are open.

Other Notes: Stroller accessible. Bring Mosquito Repellent (although they had some on-site, if you prefer something other than Off, bring it.) It is very close to Upper Canada Village/Chrysler’s farm, so it may be worth planning a whole day and bringing a picnic like we did.

(The white one above is a work in process…)

Rebecca blogs about family and motherhood, is a self-professed foodie, and dabbles in online engagment and community giving.  She has a strange love for maple syrup that can possibly only be matched by her love for chocolate and coffee.

I'm Bored

by Alanna In our house "I'm Bored" is more than a four letter word.  It's a FIVE letter word that is banned.  No one is allowed to use it!! Period!!!  The result of using the word is choosing either to lose points on My JobChart or picking from the dreaded jar of chores!!!  Apparently the jar of chores is the lesser of two evils.

In order to encourage self stimulation and motivation to find activities that do not include computer and TV, I have come up with a list of activities to pick from BEFORE we decide there is nothing to do.  I went through the children's toys and books, found the least used items and put them on the list.  I also added a list of activities to learn ie:skipping with a rope and hoola hooping.  There are scavenger hunts for missing puzzle pieces, things found to make a craft with and letter hunts.  All of these things can be altered based on you child's age and skill ability.

This is the checklist I made

So far it has worked wonderful.  It has turned out to be a great clutter buster since I decided that if those rarely used items get put in the giveaway pile if they are not something they ready don't want to do.

Alanna is a mother of two beauties, Nora age 3 (aka coconut) and Avery 5 (aka polka dot). Former ECE turned mother, party planner and blogger.  Never a dull moment around this house.

Make It Earth Day Every Day

by Gwen

Earth Day 2012 has come and gone, but just because it is over, does not mean you can’t continue to be earth friendly every day of the year.

The Earth Day Network website is available year round and is filled with valuable information and activities (aimed at both adults and children) to get you thinking about how each little thing you do impacts the earth. Check out the Ecological Footprint Calculator designed to calculate your impact on the planet.

There is also the Billion Acts of Green section of the site which is packed with green acts you can do all year round from the very small (using cloth bags at the grocery store) to larger scale green acts such as making your home solar powered. Take a look through the site for some inspiration.

Here are some more eco-friendly things you can do with your family year round, from the Nayla Natural Care Pinterest Boards:

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk Recipe - So it's not quite "chalk" it's more of a paint, but the kids will love it just the same. The best part? You can make it with 3 simple ingredients you most likely already have in your kitchen: water, cornstarch and food colouring.  Image credit: Smashed Peas and Carrots Blog

Homemade, Non Toxic Gunk Remover Recipe - Sticker residue and miscellaneous gunk that a regular cleaner will not remove has met its eco-friendly match. The commercial counterpart to this mixture is highly toxic, flammable and has ridiculous fumes. Not something you or your children should be inhaling. Image credit: rosy blu handmade

Vegetarian Taco Salad Recipe - I made this taco salad a few days ago and it was a huge hit, even with the kids. It's quick to put together, it's healthy and it's delicious. Take it 1 step further and make it vegan by replacing the cheese with a cheese alternative such as Daiya Pepperjack Style Shreds. Finish it off with avocado chocolate pudding and everyone will be smiling. Image credit: Eating Well

Celebrating the earth every day is a great way to teach kids the importance of being environmentally conscious. What things do you do with your kids to encourage them to be more green?

Gwen is a mom of 2 and owns/operates Nayla Natural Care, an online store that specializes in carrying the best organic, natural and eco-friendly products.

Question of the Month: Preventing Bad Habits - Pop

by Karen

Lara and I were talking about pop today and she told me that she doesn't drink it (except in certain rare circumstances) and she proceeded to explain why:

At three years old, Lara wanted to try her mother's root beer when they were at A&W. Her mother let her, but shook it up first. The result was root beer going up Lara's nose and to this day, she cannot drink root beer and rarely touches pop.

Her mother has admitted she shook it on purpose. (The woman is clearly brilliant. I'm not sure I would have thought of doing that!)

Lara went on to tell me about her friend who was making lemonade one day when her daughter insisted on having some. She hadn't yet put in the sugar, but there was no convincing her little one. So, she poured her a glass. (My jaw is locking up as I write this. Seriously, I'm not even kidding.) Her DD took a big sip and was horrified by the taste. So, her mom told her it was pop.

Devious? Perhaps, but it was also a funny stroke of genius.

So, let's swap stories today. Have you ever taken cunning steps to make certain food or drink unpalatable for your child(ren)? Did it work?

Activities for Kids: Understanding Plants & Colours

Every once in a while we like to do a learning activity that is somewhat outside the box. This week, one class was working on understanding colours and understanding how primary colours made secondary colours.

The second class was biology understanding how plants processed water.

So, to make it fun to learn both, this is what we did:

We took a bouquet of white carnations, some small vases, food colouring and some water.

We put blue and red in two different vases for primary colours. Then mixed blue and red to make purple and the last one was yellow and red mixed to make orange. By putting the food colouring in the water it show how plants “drink” and the colour moves up the stem to the petals, eventually changing the petals to the colour of the water.

Then we watched the process evolve over the next 24 hours.

The above photos were taken in 6 hour increments.

And 24 hours later I get a nice and colourful bouquet for me :

Heather Burke is a very involved Aunt of 6, who loves to make learning fun while being educational and can also be found at smartspaceorganizing.ca.