New Food Challenge

by Misty

A friend of mine recently snapped a picture of this book at the grocery store the other day and tagged me on Facebook. Two days later, a different friend sent me this handy chart.

Hmmm, could my friends be trying to tell me something? It’s no secret that my oldest daughter is Picky with a capital “P.” We tried baby-led weaning with my youngest and I suspected that’s why she turned out to be much more adventurous at dinner time. But I’ve been told by many other parents that personality often plays a big part in children’s fussiness at the dinner table.

My five year-old is certainly one determined little girl. Meltdowns occur daily over things like itchy tags, socks with a “bump,” pants that are too baggy, and hair that gets in her face. When it comes to food, she doesn’t like things mixing on her plate, food touching, weird textures, and specks or flakes (i.e. herbs and spices). But most of all, she doesn’t like anyone telling her what she should/should not eat. She definitely thrives with control.

So I’m excited to start a new food challenge with her this year. Using a combination of the chart above and the book, we’ll be trying as many new foods as we can manage. She’ll have a hand in designing a little chart, choosing new foods she would like to try (pomegranates and blood oranges are at the top of my list of new suggestions!), and helping to prepare them. I can’t wait to see how this goes!

Do you have a picky eater? How do you manage mealtimes with your family?

Arctic Alive! Giant Arctic Floor Map at the Museum of Nature

There is a giant map of the Arctic at the Museum of Nature. You can go check it out over the holidays and let me tell you: it's really cool. I got to see first hand the impact this map had on students' awareness and perception of the Arctic. It was impressive.

When we think of the Arctic we think cold, snowy, and quiet. Those are some of the exact words students from a grade 5/6 class used in the beginning. After spending 20 minutes walking over the map and learning about the plants, animals, fossils and minerals found in the Arctic, you know how they described it? Vibrant, colourful, and alive. Just how the plant scientist who collected specimens there did. Their understanding of the great white North had completely changed.

From December 26th to January 4th anyone visiting the Museum of Nature can take a stroll through the Arctic. Five copies of this 8mx11m map and real specimens will spend 2015 traveling across Canada to schools where students will learn about the Arctic. In fact, there are lesson plans available from kindergarten through grade 12.

While you're at the museum I strongly encourage you to check out the special exhibit called Arctic Voices. There were lots of great hands-on things for kids, beautiful images, and interesting info.

Arctic Alive! is a joint venture between the Canadian Museum of Nature and Canadian Geographic Education. The map and specimens will be available to the general public from December 26th to January 4th as part of the holiday programming at the museum.

Arctic Voices is a fascinating new exhibit at the museum that runs from December 5th, 2014 until May 3rd, 2015

Disclaimer: I was able to check out Arctic Alive! and Arctic Voices free of charge. All opinions are my own.

Pinterest Round-Up: Keep boredom at bay over the holidays!

I'm one of the lucky ones who will have time off in between Christmas and New Year's. And the way the holidays fall this year, my manager has given us an extra day so that we head back to work the same time the kids head back to school - Monday January 5th. So that's exactly 11 days we have at home as a family. I imagined us getting outside a lot - sledding, hiking and maybe even trying out some skiing. But alas, the weather man is predicting a very rainy Christmas in these parts. No snow, and possibly ice once temperatures drop again.

So I'm turning to Pinterest in an effort to plan some fun activities that will amuse my girls all week. We have no family visiting - no meals we have to cook (other than for our family of four), no outings scheduled and no "awww, Mom, do we hafta go?"

So here are several great Pinterest pins, appropriate for younger children:

Make your own play dough!

Get little bodies moving indoors

Indoor physical activities

Make a kazoo!

DIY Moon Sand

Tell me, what do you have planned for the holidays?

Cumberland Heritage Village Museum: Village of Lights!

Last weekend we finally got a chance to check out the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum - what a gem! Their village of lights is on for the final weekend THIS weekend, and I really urge you to get out there with your kids! We debated having an early dinner and then heading to the museum around 5:30pm (it's open from 3pm - 8pm so that you can experience the beautiful lights when it's dark out). But given that it was a Saturday and we expected the museum to be busy, we headed there for 3:30 pm. By the time we left at about 5:45 pm the place was packed!

We started off at the giant sled and reindeer, just as the sun was setting.

Village of Lights

My girls have no interest in Santa Clause, but he's there in one of the buildings if your children want to see him! Instead of Santa, we chose the sleigh ride with these beautiful horses.

Village of lights 2

To warm up, we snuck into the old schoolhouse where staff were handing out gingerbread cookies, icing and sprinkles for the kids to decorate.

Village of lights 3

Hot chocolate and a roaring bonfire finished out the night.

Village of Lights 4

We stayed for two hours, and still hadn't finished looking in all the buildings. There is TONS to do and see. If you'd rather not purchase drinks or snacks (they do have a little snack bar - be warned, the hot chocolate was deadly sweet), I saw one family bravely eating a picnic dinner outside!

And bonus, that I didn't even realize - small dogs are allowed on leash! So we could have brought my little pug, but I think she might have been cozier sleeping at home :)

You need to HURRY to catch this wonderful outing - this Friday, Saturday and Sunday is the last weekend for the Village of Lights!

Have you been to the Village of Lights?

Winter Solstice

Do you have religious and non-religious traditions you would like to share with our readers? Email kidsinthecapital@gmail.com for more information!

If we were to give our family’s beliefs a name, we’d probably fall into the eclectic group of Pagans. We rely on the circular cycles of the rising sun and the ever-changing seasons, we try our best to listen to the earth, and we believe that less really is more. The Earth is our Mother, and we are her children. It is our duty to treat Her and everyone on our journey with the kindness and respect that all creatures deserve, for we know, that everything comes back to us in its own time. Remember that old adage “what you give is what you get”? Well, we say it’s true.

It’s December, and while the earth is cold and barren, we acknowledge that this time is meant to be the quietest part of the year (which may be why some find the hustle and bustle of the season so overwhelming). It’s a time when we turn inwards, into our homes and into ourselves. We reflect. We consider what changes we may wish to make in the coming year, and we create, whether it be soulful foods for our families or gifts to give to celebrate the Solstice, or as we also call it, Yule.

December 21st marks the longest night and the shortest day of the year; together with friends, we will celebrate the return of the sun, the spring! We’ll eat, oh we’ll eat! We’ll offer food to our ancestors by leaving a plate of treats on the back step, and new to this year’s itinerary (and much to our daughter’s excitement), we will decorate a tree outside with dried foods and other edible decorations. Most importantly, we will tell the tales to our children that have been told and retold since the beginning of time. We will be sure to share the wisdom of those who came before us, teaching lessons learned along the way.

Although my husband and I were both raised with plenty of Christmas traditions, we are infusing our family’s celebration with more of the things that represent what is true to our beliefs. So this year for Yule we’ll:

Celebrate with a live Yule tree, bringing our connection with nature indoors.

Bring as much light as we can to our home on the darkest eve of the year using Christmas lights and candles - perhaps even in the windows (a pagan tradition). And our favourite - lighting the lanterns at the four outside corners of our home from the hearth fire.

We’ll weave in the tradition of the Yule log this year. Although it used to be an entire tree trunk, we will choose a hardwood section to throw onto our fire, sending out our intentions for the coming year. Afterwards, we will collect the coals from the log and save them for next year’s fire, just as our ancestors did. We’ll give as many handmade gifts as we’ve been able to create, since everyone knows, those are the most meaningful.

And of course, we’ll attempt to catch the first crack of dawn on the 21st, the beginning of the New Year.

rsz_solsticeblog4

HayMama is an artiste (pronounced with an 'eeste') tackling a multitude of works, mother raising three kiddos, lover of books, seeker of knowledge, consumer of great coffee, follower of nature, lover and friend to her one and only. You can find the beginnings of her work here