Easy Valentine Craft for Kids

Every year my daughter brings home creative homemade Valentines from other kids and I often think two things 1) Where do parents find the time to help their kids make these and 2) I should help my daughter do something like that next year.

So, this year, my daughter mentioned she wanted to make butterfly pencil holders for her classmates. She insisted it’s easy – and frugal (I think that’s my word for 2018), and she was right!

Butterfly Pencil Holder Valentine

What you need:

-       Construction paper - choose whatever colours of construction paper you want (my daughter is partial to blue).
-       Scissors
-       Pencils (you can get some really nice Valentine’s Day ones at the Dollar Store or, as my daughter chose, glittery ones that are good for any time of year.
-       Markers, stickers, pipe cleaner, etc. for decorating

Instructions

Fold the paper in half and then along the crease draw a butterfly wing shape (you may be able to fit two in one 8.5x11” sheet of construction paper. Cut along the line, careful not to cut along the crease.

Once the butterfly shape is cut out, make a 1” slit near the top and bottom along the crease to slip the pencil through.

Decorate the butterflies using whatever materials you have on hand: pipe cleaners, googly eyes, markers or stickers.

Stick the pencil through the slits and voila! Valentine done!

Do your kids make their own Valentines every year? If so, we’d love to hear what you create and how! Leave a comment and let us know.

Beat the February blues and join a class!

January is loooong. And although February is technically shorter, it can feel like eternity when we're stuck in a deep freeze.

It's so important in winter months to stay active (both physically and creatively!) and keep your spirits up, especially for those of you who are more affected by the lack of sunlight. Our fab blog sponsor Nepean Creative Arts Centre has provided us with an awesome list of classes for both adults and kids to help you lift your spirits!!

An old altered image

Altered Images: Photo Transfer Workshop

Image transfer techniques are an easy, modern and creative way to add dimension to any work! Create a unique family photo display on wood artists' panels to take home. The benefit of this class is that applications are endless. Supplies included.
When: Saturday February 3rd, 10 am-4 pm
Cost: $96.50

Canvas and Cocktails Workshop

(Misty here: I have personally taken this workshop and LOVED IT!!) Explore your artistic side with this night out! Learn the very basics of acrylic painting, completing a 16 x 20 canvas while exploring and savouring wines from around the world. Supplies and two glasses of wine included. Professional art instructor and wine sommelier guide you and answer questions.
When: Friday February 16th, 6:30-9:30 pm
Cost: $73.25

You Bet You Can Act!  Workshop

Learn effective stage presence. You can make 'em laugh and make 'em cry. Teachings include: acting skills and enunciation, projection, postures, and character development. In collaboration with Suzart Productions.
When: Saturday February 24th,  12:30-4 pm
Cost: 10-14 years                           $60.75
15-16 years (code 1109213)            $68.50

Belly Dance – Level 1

Explore fluidity, grace, and strength through this ancient and sensuous dance form developed in the Middle East. The fundamentals of posture, isolations, steps and accents of belly dance are stressed.

When: Tuesdays, February 7-28, 11 am-noon
Cost: $44.75     

Olympic themed crafts and activities for kids

The Winter Olympics are set to start on February 9th, which means our newsfeeds and televisions will once again be filled with stories of elite athletes from all over the world competing in everything from figure skating, curling, skiing, and more!

We love watching the Olympics in our house. I find the Olympics bring with it a natural excitement and a strong sense of national pride. It’s also a great opportunity to teach kids about sports and activities they may not otherwise be familiar with, such as bobsledding and luge.

If you watch the Olympics in your house, the following activities and craft ideas make help you make them even more fun:

1)    Make your own Olympic medals

Making Olympic medals is an easy and fun activity for kids of all ages. A few years ago, I helped a local Sparks group make these medals. We used a simple salt dough recipe to create ours, similar to this one from Living Well Mom: Salt Dough Olympic Medals. However, instead of stars, we used a smaller circular lid and had the kids create their own Olympic rings (they used marker to colour them in once they were out of the oven and completely cooled).

2)    Make your own Olympic torch

If you plan on watching the opening or closing ceremony with your kids then they need an Olympic torch! Making a torch is simple. The only supplies you need are brown construction paper as well as red, orange and yellow tissue paper (for the flames). You will also need scissors and glue (or tape). Momstown.ca shares an easy torch craft here.

3)    Visit CBC Kids Olympics online

CBC has created a fantastic Olympic website for kids that includes everything from a Mascot colouring book, quizzes, facts to instructions on how to make your own table-top curling rink. They also have a section that teaches kids all about Korean food and other interesting things about the 2018 Olympic games. It’s a must-visit website during the Olympics.

4)    Make Olympic bracelets

My daughter loves this Origami Olympic Bracelets craft – and it’s so easy! You can make them the colours of the Olympic rings or show your national pride and make them the colours of the Canadian flag!

5)    Host an Olympic-themed celebration or mini-Olympics

Now that you have all these fun Olympic-themed activities, why not host a super fan Olympic-themed get together for kids!? They can make their own torches, make Olympic inspired bracelets, participate in a torch relay, play table-top curling, compete in age-appropriate Olympic trivia (anything from what do hockey players wear on their feet during a game to what is the name of Canada’s torchbearers) and cheer on their favourite athlete competing that day.

There are many ways to celebrate the Olympics - and our athletes! Go Canada Go!

How do you get into the Olympic spirit? Share your ideas by leaving a comment.

When I just can't anymore...

There are days when I feel, as a parent, I can’t get a single thing right.

I can’t get my kids to school on a regular basis (and I so desperately wanted to help them have a better school experience than I did.)

I can’t stop other kids from being mean to my kids.

I can’t separate my own childhood experiences from theirs when they talk about being excluded, teased, or feeling unhappy and overwhelmed at school.

I can’t try to get one kid to feel more empathy for me and tell them how sad I am without making another super empathetic kid who happened to overhear spend the day worrying about how upset I am.

I can’t let one kid stay home from school because they’re having a really hard time and I don’t want to push them to breaking, without another kid realizing that mimicking very similar behaviour can get them the same results. And I don’t know how to have different consequences for different kids (that are blatantly unfair differences to me… ) even though in some cases I think it’s probably necessary.

I can’t feel good about not having juice in the house for the kids because the doctor thinks I’m letting them have too much milk.

I can't manage to keep screen time limited as all the experts recommend.

I can’t find the energy to do more fun things with the kids on a regular basis because I’m so emotionally tapped out by the hard stuff.

I can’t stick to my intentions to be the “because I said so” parent because there are so many other factors to consider with regards to their mental health (and mine.)

The irony is that I know there are other people out there who see the photos I post on Facebook of our cottage vacations and other trips we take and think “wow – how does she do it all?!” Meanwhile I know they’re taking their kids to weekly activities and helping them with their homework on a daily basis and I can’t even fathom managing that.

My kids are getting older so I can’t go into the nitty of what’s going on or how I’m dealing with it , but I felt compelled to share.

If you ever feel this way, you aren’t alone.

If you feel like you can’t do it alone, that’s totally normal. I can’t do it alone – I’m pulling in every resource I can figure out how. Assessments and doctors and parenting coaches, and the school resource teacher and social worker and my friends and my extended family. Without a support network I would be completely broken by now and knowing that it’s OK to need and ask for (and sometimes pay for) help has been key.

Asking for help is strong. Admitting things aren’t easy is strong. Finding people to lean on makes us all stronger.

Today is a hard day, but as one of my great supporters always reminds me, we can do hard things (originally said by Brene Brown I’m told). I’m keeping on keeping on, and grateful for the opportunity to keep doing so. If things are hard for you today, (or tomorrow, or next week) - reach out to someone. People truly want to help.

Making New Year's Resolutions with Kids

We're twelve days into the new year - how are your resolutions going? I actually didn't do any formal resolutions this year. Some years I've chosen a "word" (or more than one word) that will help to define my path for the year, but this year I'm just going with the flow.

What I have taken time to do is sit down with my family and map out some resolutions for all of us. I thought I'd share some ideas related to kids' resolutions, and the ways we can support our kids and guide them through the process.

Let your child guide YOU

Sure, you're there to point out resolutions that may not be realistic or attainable. But if your child is old enough (7+ is probably a good age) then they can ultimately decide their own resolutions with a little bit of input from you.

Don't make any resolutions you know you can't keep

Keep things down to earth and simple. For instance, if you are a family that allows a healthy amount of screen time, resolving to cut out all screen time with your child will probably fail. Instead, why not chat about "no screen weeks" and schedule several over the entire year?

Making family resolutions

Your child may express a desire for an individual resolution, but it's also fun to do resolutions as an entire family. Sit down to a family meeting, and map out your life - what seems to be working? What's not working? What kind of resolutions may help to solve the problems you are facing?

For example, mornings are always tough here in our house, as I'm alone with both my kids. We've made a resolution to help each other out more - my girls are pitching in with lunches at nighttime, and I'm setting aside time in the morning to have 5-10 minutes of snuggles before we all face the day.

Avoid resolutions that have to do with food

You may have your own healthy resolutions that you want to make, and that's great. It's super important that we chat with our children about healthy food choices and what nourishes our body. But avoid making any restrictive types of food resolutions with your child - this is especially important for girls ages 8-12 years. Those pre-pubescent years are a tricky time for girls (and boys) and dieting or cutting out certain foods (a.k.a "junk food") may be setting your child up for some challenges.

If you're really keen on working with food and resolutions, consider something fun. For example, make a resolution that the whole family has to try ONE new food each week. Make a list of possibilities and have your child visit the grocery store with you to purchase the new food. Or make a resolution that you will have a super fancy homemade dessert one day each week - cook or bake together in the kitchen and teach your child that ALL foods have a place in our lives!

Use a visual representation for your resolutions

Grab all those old magazines, and have your kids make a collage  - ask them to cut out images that really speak to them and help them think about the things they want to accomplish. 

Follow-up on your goals

As with our own personal resolutions, it's good to continue to check in on your kids' or family's resolutions and:

1) see what we have accomplished; and/or

2) where we need to keep working

Regular family meetings a great way to check-in. You could do this weekly, monthly or even quarterly! Having a meeting that coincides with the changing of the seasons is also a great way to create meaningful ritual in your family life.

Does your child have any resolutions? Share what has worked for them in the comments!