Getting kids outside in crappy weather

A popular Norwegian quote says that "there's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing."

The Norwegians are well known for their year-round love of the outdoors, unlike us North Americans who run inside at the tiniest drizzle. As a Canadian, I've been there - I know how hard it is to encourage some children to get outside on the best of days. Add snow, sleet and ice to the mix, and it can be extra tough.

We've had our share of yucky weather here in Ottawa, with a huge February melt and regular freezing rain. Although this may signal an early Spring (yay!) it's been tough for those who enjoy winter activities like skiing and snowshoeing. The ice has also made it hard to walk within the city and my daughter has taken a couple of big falls.

When I start getting depressed about weather, I always stop and try to observe my children. Here are a few things to consider when trying to encourage more outdoor play.

Kids don't care much about weather

Caveat: as long as they're dressed well! This early spring means you need to be prepared for anything. Plastic ponchos can keep kids warm and dry. Switching to rain boots instead of snow boots can result in cold toes, so I would suggest you buy some packs of disposable foot warmers. Pop those into your child's rain boot and they'll be good to splash in the puddles without risk of wet and cold feet!

I find it's often the adults that are running inside at the slightest threat of bad weather, and this kind of behaviour gets passed onto our kids. School is also tough, as administrators keep the kids indoors for recess for so many different types of weather (too cold, too hot, too rainy, too icy etc.) Try to encourage your child to play outdoors after school if this is the case!

Kids find joy in ANY weather!

While I'm cursing my way down the icy street, my 5 year-old is meandering slowly behind me. She is fascinated by the melting water under the ice; the air bubbles slowly rising to the surface. She has a great time poking holes in the snow with a stick she found. My daughter doesn't see the negative things that I tend to see: the dog poop, the yucky snow, the risk of falling on the ice.

We can learn a lot by observing our children and taking their lead. Slowing down helps me to hear the birds, observe the changes in the clouds and accept the weather as it is. Because let's face it - weather is ALWAYS changing and it's never in our control. We just need to make the best of it, and our children can point us in the right direction

Get out of the city

I love my city life, but as mentioned above, I find the changes in seasons can bring a lot of challenges. Lately it's been all of the melting and freezing (and freezing rain!) that's made my daily walks with the dog a lot harder.

Consider finding time to get away from the messy streets and head out to some green space. The snow may still be a bit icy, but I guarantee you won't get splashed by a passing car ;) Some fun ideas here in Ottawa include:

Mer Bleue

Hiking Trails

Parc Omega

Conservation Areas

If you're looking for an amazing program that will take kids outdoors (regardless of the weather!) check out Earth Path. My daughter has been doing forest school with them all winter, and she comes home exhuasted and soooo happy. They have March Break and Summer Camps as well as weekly programming!

Easy and cute Valentine's Owl

On Sunday we hosted a group of 5 year-old girls for a special Valentine's Day party at our house. There were cupcakes, Valentine's Bingo, and a couple of crafts - including this sweet little owl!

What you'll need:

• toilet paper roll
• pretty Valentine's paper (or paint)
• red and orange construction paper
• googly eyes
• hot glue gun

I didn't have any fancy Valentine's paper, so I ended up having the kids paint their toilet paper roll white. If I ever do this craft again I will *not* use paint, as the glue was having a lot of trouble sticking! Wrapping your roll in patterned paper would be a better option.

Once the paint dried, we bent the top of the roll to create the owl's ears. Next, I helped the kids to glue all of their individual pieces on. You COULD use white glue I'm sure, but 5 year-olds are not exactly patient when waiting for glue to dry. I also pre-cut all the pieces for the kids, but older ones (like my 8 year-old) would be able to cut her own pieces no problem.

Finally, I let the kids decorate their owls by colouring hearts or adding stickers on the body. Again, the paint did not help us out here - paper would be much easier!!

What should we watch on Netflix? A Family-friendly Reality Show Edition

I don't know about you, but I see many Facebook posts asking, "What should we watch next on Netflix?"

This month I thought I would save you the ask and share some of our favourite reality shows to watch as a family.

These are the shows that we watch when I don't want to watch any more Naruto or Dicky, Ricky, Nicky and Dawn (or whatever order their names go in), Victorious, and Richie Rich.

These reality shows are a good compromise for us because there isn't too much adult content for the kids, but still interesting enough that the adults don't want to immediately leave the room. :)

Note: My kids are almost 9 and 11 so some of these shows might not be appropriate for younger kids.

Reality TV Shows We Love

We've watched a lot of cooking shows lately and there are some really fun ones:

Zumbo's Just Desserts makes us all think we can become incredible pastry chefs, and we love the drama of the "mean guy" - because there's always a mean guy in a reality show with eliminations right? :)

The Big Family Cooking Showdown - Teams of three people, all family members, come together to compete against another family to create a meal for under $10, family favourites (made in their own kitchens) in under 90 minutes, and a meal to 'impress the neighbours' in an hour and 15 minutes. They may be good cooks, but are they good cooks under pressure and on a timeline?! Is Gramma helpful or just bossy? Was bringing the teenager to help you a good idea or should you have brought your cousin instead?!

Skin Wars - While there is a bit of nudity in this show, it is all very tasteful and the artistry is FANTASTIC. My only concern with the show is that the kids wanted to see RuPaul's other reality show, and RuPaul's Drag Race is not appropriate for my kids yet (though I watched it after Skin Wars and admit, it is totally fantastic).

Beastmaster - This is kind of like American Ninja Warrior. We love watching the competitors from different countries try to make it through this race that we couldn't make it through the first four feet of!

Are there any other family-friendly reality TV shows on Netflix that you watch that we should add to our list? Have you watched any of our favourites?

Disclosure: We are part of the Netflix Stream team and receive perks (like Netflix giveaways!), but all opinions are our own.

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.