Toys Your Children Will Play With

I've never been a great housekeeper - I keep my home clean (i.e. I try to keep up with the dirt, spills and crumbs), but I don't do so well when it comes to clutter. And clutter is what seems to happen once you have children. It starts slowly - family will buy your child gifts, because hey, it's fun to buy for children. Before you know it your child is being invited to birthday parties and handed bags full of small plastic things that you step on when it's 11 p.m. at night and you're trying to find your way to the bedroom. The mountain of toys begins to pile up and soon you're feeling overwhelmed.

Chances are, your child is feeling overwhelmed too. Kids enjoy structure and order as any adult would, and they'll often play with toys that are in view, as opposed to the ones in the overflowing bins (the bins that were actually meant to organize your stuff in the first place).

Recently I'd had enough, and filled several big boxes full of toys that I knew my girls didn't play with. I took time to observe them in their play, and noted what they actually used.  The rest were donated to Value Village. The lists below are obviously individual and will depend on your child, so leave a comment and tell me what your family can't do without!

TOYS THAT WILL BE USED EVERY DAY

• Books: I realize these aren't exactly "toys" but they do take up a lot of space in playrooms and bedrooms. Choose books for the quality of their writing and graphics, and regularly purge the ones your child doesn't read.
• Crafts: playdough, markers, paper etc. We've got several craft drawers full of stuff my girls can access whenever they want. Paints are kept up higher so that I have control over when these are brought out

TOYS THAT WILL BE USED REGULARLY

• Play kitchen with fake food
• Cash register
• Child's camera
• Dress-up clothes
• Blocks, Lego, and other stacking toys
• Vehicles: cars, trucks, trains, tractors etc.
• Dolls
• Dollhouse
• Cards and games (only if parents make a point of playing!)
• Outdoor or indoor sports/active equipment

TOYS THAT WILL RARELY BE USED

I find these are the toys that come out whenever we have guests over. Other children are good at looking through bins and finding things your child hasn't played with in a long time. It's debatable whether you keep these ones around the house!

• Anything with batteries
• Anything that makes noise
• Ride-on toys (bicycles not included)
• Children's tents
• Year's "hottest" toy that you bought on a whim
• Plastic crap - this includes all random plastic figurines, jewelry, Barbie accessories

What would you add to these lists?

Charlie Brown’s True Meaning of Christmas Brought to Life in the Living Nativity

curvy board1

by Wendy

Remember when Peanuts’ Linus took the stage in the classic holiday special, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and explained “what Christmas is all about” to Charlie Brown? His monologue described the Nativity; the very first Christmas according to Christian tradition.

On December 12 and 13, you’re invited to “Step Into Christmas” to experience the Nativity with a tour of “Bethlehem” as Linus described in the words of Luke 2 of the Christian holy book, The Bible. Here’s a sample of what you’ll experience on the tour:

• See haggling merchants and their wares in the market place • Chat with the Innkeeper, but don’t expect to get a room – it’s super busy in Bethlehem tonight! • Meet the shepherds, pet their woolly sheep and donkeys, and hear about their amazing encounter with angels. • Experience the wonder and simplicity of the stable - first-hand!

Volunteers have been working since August to bring the Nativity to life: hand-sewing costumes for the 41 actors; gathering props; and constructing the town site. This has all been accomplished through donations and the personal investment of members of Redeemer Alliance Church, who will also be performing as part of “Step Into Christmas”.

curvy board1

Why this labour of love?

Says Coordinator Heather Lamarre, “We want the community to not just have a concept of the first Christmas, but to truly experience the gift that it was to us all”.

And “Step Into Christmas” is, indeed, a gift: the 30-minute open air tours are FREE, as are the hot chocolate and sweet treats that will be offered afterwards inside the cozy warmth of the church building. Pay it forward by bringing a donation for the Ottawa Food Bank.

You’ll find “Bethlehem” at Redeemer Alliance Church at 4825 Innes Road from 6:30-8:30pm on Friday and Saturday, December 12 and 13.  Thirty-minute tours start every 15 minutes.

Celebrating the Nativity is a tradition observed by Christians during the holiday season. What traditions do you celebrate?

Curvy Board: Waldorf-inspired toys

If you've read any of my previous posts, you'll know that my dear husband has spent this last year as a stay-at-home dad, taking care of our girls and working towards an electrical apprenticeship. But what I may not have mentioned is that he is also a very talented woodworker. He's recently had some requests from friends to create several Waldorf-inspired toys - toys that are made from natural materials, aimed to inspire imagination, active play and are aesthetically pleasing (we all know how nice a handmade doll is compared to a hard plastic doll!) One toy that's been requested is a curvy board (or Waldorf Rocker Board). This is a piece of wood that's been bent (actually, it's many layers of plywood glued together), and can be used for balancing, rocking, sliding, and climbing. We've already found another use for it as a puppet theatre:

But of course, climbing is always fun:

It's hard to find toys that children will use again and again, and even harder to find something that's eco friendly! The curvy board seems to fit these criteria, and I'm really excited hubby has gotten into making toys - it feels like we have Santa in the house! :)

Tom's currently taking orders for curvy boards ($120 each), and you can contact him via his Facebook Page.

Tell me, what's the one toy your kids play with all the time?

Twice Upon a Time

Reading with the kids is something that is so important to me. For that, we need to have books around. We have lots of books because we're fortunate: we're able to buy them, but we also get a lot given to us. Not all families are as fortunate and I was happy to learn about a non-profit group in Ottawa that gives away books to kids. Twice Upon a Time have given away more than 1000 books since they opened in May. They have a pop-up book store, staffed with volunteers, to give out new and gently-used books for kids up to age 12 in Ottawa.  They are located in Vanier inside Heartwood House at 404 McArthur Avenue.

This weekend they are having a fundraiser, a concert of holiday music with Voices in Harmony. Full details below.

Sunday, December 7, 2014 at 4pm Trinity Anglican Church, 1230 Bank St Doors open at 3pm – join us for coffee and a holiday bake and craft sale

Tickets: $15 – children under 12 free Available at at the door and in advance from: Kaleidoscope Kids Books, 1018 Bank St Ottawa Folklore Centre, 1111 Bank St Trinity Anglican Church, 1230 Bank St

Sounds fun! And if your kids have outgrown any of their books, please consider donating them to Twice Upon a Time and share the love of reading with less fortunate children in Ottawa.

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post. I think this is a great program and am glad we have it available for the kids of Ottawa.

25 Days of Christmas: Activity Calendar

The countdown begins...although many of us have been thinking about the holidays since November 1st, December 1st marks the official start of all things Christmas (and if you are Christian, the preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas). We're doing a family-oriented lead-up to Christmas by borrowing the 25 Days of Christmas idea from Andrea over at A Peek Inside the Fishbowl. I think this will be the first year both my girls will be able to take an active part in Christmas activities, and I'm really excited!

So, in no official order (I'll come and cross these off the list as we do them!):

1. Make REAL hot chocolate

2. Do a random act of kindness

3. Put together our Christmas Hamper

4. Go to the Ottawa Tea Festival for a Children's Tea Party!

5. Write and mail our Christmas cards

6. Make Christmas chocolates

7. Go get our real Christmas tree!

8. Decorate the Christmas tree

9. Visit the Cumberland Museum Village of Lights

10. Go see the Nutcracker

11. Purchase a special gift from Plan Canada

12. Bake some Christmas cookies

13. Spend all day in our PJs doing whatever the kids want - nowhere to go, and nothing to do but play!

14. Head to the library for some Christmas books to read

15. Have a family game night - pull out all the games we have and choose a few to play after dinner

16. If there's snow, take some food colouring outside and decorate the snow! (if no snow, drop food colouring into ice cube trays and play with coloured ice in the bath tub)

17. Make popcorn and watch Christmas movies

18. Go for a nighttime walk to see the Christmas lights

19. Santa and snowman crafts

20. Make a gingerbread house

21. School Christmas "spectacle"

22. Put together a Christmas stocking for the dog :)

23. Go sledding (c'mon snow!)

24. Go to work with Mommy for the morning

25. Christmas day! Cook, eat, open presents, and most of all....feel grateful for our wonderful family and loved ones who are far away.