A Trip to the Ottawa Food Bank

  I’m embarrassed to admit that I have never really thought much about volunteering with my children. We donate to charity and gather clothing for different organizations but I have never really come face to face with the concept of hunger and not having enough to eat. Neither have my children. That changed today with a trip to the Ottawa food bank.

In honor of a friend’s birthday, my daughters and some friends got together to help unpack, sort and box donated food at the east-end warehouse.  None of us had ever been there before and it was certainly an eye-opening experience.

In a tour of the facility, we learned that, on average, the Ottawa Food Bank helps 45,000 people per month. They have clients of every race, sex, part of the city, and age – including 37 per cent of whom are children. Some of their clients work, while others don’t. Some live alone, others live with families. Some have homes, and some sleep in shelters. We learned that there is no “type” when it comes to hunger.

This experience really made me see the positive impact that volunteering has on kids. I think they actually enjoyed the whole experience. It also opened up a discussion about people who are less fortunate than we are and how hard it is for some to make ends meet, even when they have the best intentions. I think it helped my girls appreciate what they have too. It made us all think about how the whole world is connected and that even one person can make a difference.

The Food Bank couldn’t exist without the support of volunteers and donors, gifts of food and the gift of your time. Please check out their website to learn about the ways you can get involved.

Have you ever thought about volunteering with your children? At what age do you think they are old enough to understand the concept of fortunate and less fortunate?

Dino Idol at the Museum of Nature

By Kamerine I was lucky enough to attend the media preview of Dino Idol at the Museum of Nature last week. It's now open to the public so you should go!

Dino Idol is a fun initiative by the museum to stir up interest and intrigue. Like American Idol the public gets to vote on their favourite, but the contestants are dinosaurs!  The museum has more than 200 fossils in storage and a new palaentologist got to pick 5 to star in the show. The fossils are encased in rock and sealed in plaster, and are now on display at the museum. They've all been given catchy names and a description of what lies beneath the plaster. The almost 100-year-old field notes are sometimes vague so the descriptions could be right on or way off.

Kids and their parents will have fun looking at the pictures of the dinosaurs and reading the descriptions, and finally choosing a favourite. The five contestants are Mystery Jaw, Stumpy, Regal Ed, Headrosaur, and The Canadian Club. There is a ballot box set up beside each to cast your vote.

The winner will be announced March 19th and will be opened at the museum's research facility. The process of extracting bones and preparing them is tricky work and can take up to a year so the museum will be blogging with updates periodically. What a fun way to get involved in the next dinosaur bones to be displayed at the museum!

Dino Idol is open to the public and included with the price of admission to the museum. It runs until March 17th. This is your chance to have a say in what dinosaur is cracked open next so go vote!

Disclaimer: I was provided free admission to the Museum of Nature to attend the media preview of Dino Idol. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions are my own.

Artkiving your kids artwork

by Lara I don't know about you but the amount of artwork that goes through my house from all three of my kids - from school, from daycare, from home, from playdates....  it's overwhelming.

As much as I'd like to be the mom who carefully kept the most precious ones and then put them into a nice album, I'm not.  So I did what I usually do to solve my problems - I looked up a solution online!

What I found was a great app - Artkive.

It lets me take photos of my kids'  art, categorize it by kid, and add comments.

Then, I can share it with circles of people.  I have my husband and grandparents linked in to the app and they get an email of the artwork I think they'd like to see.

The best part is one I haven't tried yet but that I'm really excited about - you can have them print the artwork into a book for you!

Check it out!

How do you guys archive your kids art?

Green Eggs and Hamadeus: A Children's Theatre Review

Saturday February 9th was a very busy day in downtown Ottawa!  Winterlude was in full swing, the canal was hopping, and the sun was shining beautifully.  My son and I however were at the NAC for the performance of Green Eggs and Hamadeus, the second in a series of 3 performances that we purchased tickets for back in the fall.

This was a much more interactive performance (bilingual as well!) with audience participation!  The conductor of the orchestra broke down one of Mozart's pieces, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525, Allegro, Romanze: Andante, Menuetto: Alegretto, Rondo: Allegro for the audience to explain how a piece of music was put together, the difference between the melody and they accompaniment, and how it all fits together in the end.  He explained that even the instrument, in this case it was the viola, with the most basic notes to play, was very important to the entire piece because they might have one "surprise" that stands out when the orchestra plays together.  He invited two children up onto the stage to conduct the orchestra after giving a little lesson on how it was done.

Then it was onto the story of Green Eggs and Ham.  It wasn't a very long performance, but it was well done, funny, the actors were very expressive which the kids in the audience loved!  There were a few times when the operatic singing was a little bit too much for the little ears, I did notice my son and a few other children a few times covering their ears.

As usual there were activities preceding the event, they had a large train set up for the little ones to look at, they were very strict about their "no touching" policy, which I could understand since the pieces were very delicate, but not exactly conducive to a bunch of kids who naturally want to explore with both their eyes and hands.

It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon!

http://nac-cna.ca/en/orchestra/event/2397

Amanda was born and raised in Ottawa where she continues to live with her husband and son “J”. Amanda is bilingual and interests include reading, blogging, socializing, and advocacy on children and teen issues.

Family Day Fun at Old Navy

Monday, Feb 18th, is Family Day and many of you are looking for things to do with your family. For the second year in a row, Old Navy is hosting a free party for families in their Rideau Center store to celebrate family togetherness. This Family Day event, which offers kids a day of crazy, creative, fun where they can invent anything they can imagine.There is tons of stuff for kids of all ages:

• 3 Craft Stations
• Cookie and Juice Bar
• Twister-style Dance Floor where kids can show off their dance moves!
• One-on-one wardrobe consultation with a stylist
• A gift with purchase while supplies last

Victoria Kirk, an Old Navy Representative, said that “This Family Day, Old Navy wanted to create an over-the-top special and super fun event, where kids can use their imaginations and families can enjoy the holiday together.”

If you’re in the area, stop by Old Navy in the Rideau Center between 1 and 4 pm and have some good, old-fashioned family fun!

*This post was sponsored by Bunch Family and Old Navy.