Babies In Bloom with Ms. April

Yesterday momstown moms had a chance to check out Babies In Bloom for a special preview of the Play School Program offered by Ms. April. The session was so popular that we quickly filled up 2 sessions, with a wait-list of eager moms wanting to check out this very unique Play School. 

The first thing we all commented on when we entered the facility was the tranquil environment. It was lovely! It felt like a spa for children. 

The Play School program provides families a unique, enriching, indoor play and learning environment.

It is designed for children... allowing them to explore, including climbers and rocking toys all for 0-3 years of age. These materials encourage children to develop their gross motor abilities that include the ability to crawl, sit, stand, and walk in a fun and safe play space.

Total class time is 2.5 hours, which includes Circle Time... singing songs, finger plays, educational games and bubble play. Ms. April explained to us just how important circle time was to children as it assists in them accepting transitions, helps them work as a group as well as builds their confidence and social skills.

Ms. April explained to us the Montessori philosophy, how it benefits the child and showed us examples through hands on interaction with each of our children. It was incredible to see my child sitting and playing (and learning!!) with ONE toy. I'll be the first to admit that my home is filled with way too many toys and my children quickly lose focus, jumping from one toy to the other. 

Babies In Bloom is an amazing and unique concept. It is a perfect place for children who are not in a daycare or preschool setting to attend as it allows them to prepare for kindergarten and the school years. It also allows children to work at their own speed and development. Not to mention providing networking and peer support among parents, which we all know is so necessary! The sessions are also flexible in that parents, grandparents or nannies can attend with the child. 

The next session starts this October. Be sure to visit the open house this Saturday, September 15 from 11 am to 1 pm. momstown members, be sure to show your momstown badge to receive a special discount! Members save on the registration fee for the fall session.

For more details on Babies In Bloom and the different programs offered visit www.babiesinbloom.ca

The Biggest Loser Has Been Crowned!

12 weeks, over 20 moms. One common goal. To shed the pounds and be fit and healthy.

momstown Winnipeg started a Biggest Loser Competition during the summer. Moms got together every couple of weeks to go over success stories, challenges, and to weigh-in and measure themselves. To be part of it, members had to pay in $20 (enough to keep you motivated) to have a chance to win it. Two winners split the pot. Winner of the total % of weight lost and winner of the total % of inches lost. The fabulous Baby Boutique, Lux for Sprouts, graciously hosted us. We even got to leave our scale and measuring tape there in case any mom wanted to pop in throughout the summer to weigh-in on her own time.

It was a challenge alright. We all found summer to be a tough time to eat healthy. Something about vacations, hot summer days, drinks on the patio, and BBQ's that make it extra tough. Some of us, myself included, dropped out. Slowly the mom's remaining in the competition went down in number. And leave it to momstown to have a contestant withdraw because she is expecting. Best reason to withdraw from a weight lost competition!  :)

So here were the remaining Biggest Loser Contestants, weighing in for the finale.

Prizes courtesy of Lux for Sprouts and Candies & Dolls!

So who was crowned the Biggest Loser?

Congratulations to Micheline and Carmyn! Micheline won for the greatest % of weight lost and Carmyn won for greatest % of inches lost.

Look at all that money that they won! Well deserved ladies!

Baby Sensory: Little Nature Lovers

This week we held a baby sensory playdate for little nature lovers at Assiniboine Park.  It was a lot of fun to collect the items that were used for our sensory.   

We used:

• mud (a little messy)
• sand
• cattails/ bulrushes
• skunkweed
• dried leaves
• pine cones
• grass clippings
• water
• water bottle rattles with rocks inside

When we arrived at the park, we all gathered around in a nice shady spot and the kids dug right in! 

It was neat to think of the ways that our senses were being used: the touch of the textures, the smell of the pinecones, the sound of the rocks, the different colours of the items - and even a little tasting!!

Find other sensory ideas here.

It was a great day at the park! 

This blog was written by Camille, our creative and crafty Event Coordinator!

The Variety Heritage Adventure Park is now open and it's spectacular!

The Variety Heritage Adventure Park is a world class, one-of-a-kind adventure park whose play elements are based on the natural and human history of The Forks (and, by extension, Manitoba and Canada). Children and their families can see, touch and experience 6,000 years of Manitoba’s history through hands-on play, and on top of that, the adventure park and its play elements were designed to be accessible to children of all abilities. Access to the Variety Heritage Adventure Park is free, making this an affordable activity for all families! 

The adventure park features seven distinct play zones: The First Peoples, the Fur Trade, the Métis, the Settlers, the French Quarter, the "Iron Horse" and the Metropolis, each encompassing a distinct period in the region's history. Kids can climb on fort walls, take a slide out the back of a Red River cart, blow a train whistle and "row" a York boat. There a large musical instruments, an historic French streetscape, a tipi and a trading post. 

There is also a special river area featuring water spray pop-ups which operates from mid-June to September 3, which will be flooded and frozen in the winter to form a skating rink.  

What is great about this park is that it's a new and innovative way of getting kids interested in our history by combining learning and active play. momstown members be sure to check out the calendar. We've set up a few playdates at the park on August 12 and 26.

You can find out more information at http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/mb/forks/activ/papv-vhap.aspx.


All images are copyright to Parks Canada. Use of these photos without Parks Canada's permission is forbidden.

Member Meet & Greet Mom's Night Out

momstown has been around for just over a year now here in Winnipeg. Mom's have a chance to connect online through the message board but also face-to-face at events. But sometimes schedules don't jive, or mom's head back to work and never get a chance to meet all the members, or go months and months before they see one another.

So we switched up our member meet and greet this month. Normally it's geared to the new members and we go over momstown, the website, answer questions and get to know one another. Long time members are welcome to come and join in the fun but for some reason they don't!! Not sure why? But I'm seeing a trend here this year. All mom's love to get out at night without the kids!! We all need a break. So we had our first Member Meet and Greet Mom's Night Out event. And man oh man, was it a fun night!

It was great for mom's to finally connect who may have only met through the message board.

I decided to place them into three groups. To avoid the 'I'll talk to you because I know you' syndrome. I wanted them to mingle with everyone. So I randomly numbered them 1, 2 and 3. Each group gathered in a separate room of the house. I gave them ice breaker questions and they went around and answered questions about themselves. A great way to get to know things about one another that they may not normally share!

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Can you tell which group was the rowdy group? :)

It was so popular that we are planning to do this once a quarter! So stay tuned on the calendar for more fun filled mom's night outs like this!

Baby Basics: Fitness & Nutrition

Our last Baby Basics for our Spring / Summer session was on a great topic. We had Lisa Back, RD from Nest Family Centre come speak with our group about pre and postnatal nutrition and fitness. 

We talked about various questions that many new mom's often wonder with regards to fitness before and after baby comes. ‘Should I be exercising? How often? How hard? Until when?’ ‘How soon can I return to exercise after I deliver?’ 


Lisa showed us some great stretches and exercise moves that we can easily do at home. It sure felt great to stretch those tight muscles. 

We also discussed nutrition. Lisa went over the Canada Food Guide for both us moms and the whole family! We also got a brief 101 on introducing solid foods. 


It was a great information session. You can check out more of the great workshops and series that Lisa, Hillary and the whole Nest Family team offers at http://nestfamilycentre.com.

Baby Basics: Child Development

Last week at our Baby Basics program we had a great informational seminar on sensory, visual, gross motor and auditory learning. Melinda Ives from Discovery Toys came out and broke down in age groups the best types of toys that help kids with their development from birth to school age. 


We talked about the importance of play, literacy, socializing and sensory experiences. 

Melinda brought with her some great samples of Discovery Toys for the babies to play with. It was great to see what the kids enjoyed so we could see first hand which toys caught their attention! 

Melinda talked about what to look for in toys, what to avoid, and the stages of toys for various age groups. Even simple things, like colour, have so much influence on our children's learning.


You can check out more information about Melinda and Discovery Toys at http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/melindaives

How to make Oobleck!

Believe it or not, there are some science activites that can be found using Dr. Seuss Books. The book "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" is a good example of learning about comparing solids. The Oobleck acts like both a solid and a liquid. For our momstown's Little Scientist's program we got messy and made oobleck!

For this experiment, you'll need to make some Oobleck.

Recipe:

2 cups cornstarch

3 drops food coloring

1 cup water

Mix ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. (Add water slowly as it may not need entire cup!).

Observation:

Mix the ingredients and allow children to play with the mixture. When"pushed" together, the mixture will appear dry and solid; as children let go of the mixture, it flows like a smooth liquid.

It's a really fun recipe to use as a science experiment. Is it a solid? Is it a liquid? It's a liquid until pressure is applied. Hit it hard and it feels like you are hitting a wall! Touch it gently and the material will flow around your fingers like water! Have fun using different utensils to play- see what form it takes while using different cups, spoons, bowls, etc.

Conclusion:

Using what they have learned, your kids can decide if it is a solid or a liquid.

Some other fun things to observe about OOBLECK

~ Oobleck is a solid and a liquid at the same time.

~ If you make a ball and throw it up in the air, it loses shape and becomes flat in the air.

~ Oobleck can be molded in a container and when taken out does not keep shape.

~ If you fill a balloon with Oobleck, the air presses or forces the Oobleck back out.

~ When you leave Oobleck in the sun, the color evaporates, it turns hard like cement on the top and like jelly on the bottom. When heated this also happens and it is sticky.

~ Oobleck does not bounce.

Tales for Tots: Clifford at the Circus

This month’s theme is at the circus so we have had a chance to talk and learn about some of the things that we might see at a circus.  At our tales for tots we read a story from Scholastic Canada that was called  Clifford at the Circus  by Norman Bridwell which was a great story about Clifford and Emily helping out at the circus. 

At first the owner didn’t think they could do much, but Clifford and Emily surprised him by really saving the day.  Check out the rest of the book review here.    

Afterward we talked about going to the circus and some things we might see there.   We also got a chance to sing about going to the circus and we did a rhyme:

Funny Clown Tune: 

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn Around

Funny clown, funny clown, spin around

Funny clown, funny clown, jump up and down

Funny clown, funny clown touch your toes.

Funny clown, funny clown, honk your nose.

Then we had a draw for the book that we read and our lucky winner was Jaxson!  Congrats Jaxson!

We also did a craft afterward and it was a clown’s hat.  Click here to find out how to make this craft.

The tots busy crafting.

The end result! Adorable!

Playing with a nice present from the staff at Chapters Polo Festival!

Babies hanging out while the big kids made their craft.

Thank you Chapters Polo Park for having us and providing some snacks and freebies! 

momstown Celebrating 5 Years Across Canada

Have friends across Canada near a local momstown Chapter. Invite them to attend their local momstown Birthday Bash!

If you live in the Winnipeg area join us:

When: Sunday, August 19th

Where: Earl Grey Community Centre

Address: 360 Cockburn Street North

Winnipeg, MB  

Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm 

For more details on Winnipeg's Birthday Bash click here. 

Hope to see you there!

Come help us celebrate momstown's 5th Birthday!

WE ARE HAVING A PARTY AND EVERYONE IS INVITED!

If you thought last years birthday celebration was a Blast......

you're going to be BLOWN AWAY by the party we've got planned for our 5th year celebration!

When: August 19, 2012

Where: Earl Grey Community Centre

Address: 360 Cockburn Street North

Winnipeg, MB  

Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm 

National sponsors such as Today's Parent, Kids CBC, Scholastics, Fisher-Price, Britax, Melitta, ConAgra will all be there to help make this our BIGGEST BASH yet!

That's just the start! We have tons of local businesses sponsoring the event such as Nest Family Centre, Two Rivers Chiropractic Centre, Prelude Music, Consumer Care Maid Services, Baby Butz Cream, Hair Do Zoo, Cake-ology Gabrielle Touchette Photography, Eye Impact Face Painting, Par-T-Perfect, Exhale Dance Studio, Booster Juice, Tim Hortons Community Cruiser and more!! 

There are more in the works too. Follow us on Facebook for updates on our sponsors, including awesome prizes and activities!

There will be lots for everyone to do. Demos (like music, baby massage, kids dancing, nutrition), circle time including songs, parachute play, crafts, a play zone, science & discovery zone, loot bags (to the first 100 guests) , door prizes and a cake cutting ceremony (courtesy of Cake-ology). We will also have a Nursing Station (courtesy of Nest Family Centre) for our moms and a Baby Changing Station (courtesy of Baby Butz Cream) for the wee little ones.

Let us know you're coming by signing up today on our momstown Winnipeg Facebook Fan Page - A great way to keep up with all of the latest and greatest announcements leading up to the main event! 

Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/momstownWinnipeg

It's a month long celebration across Canada with parties taking place in:

If you're a business and would like to help us celebrate please contact us at advertising.winnipeg@momstown.ca for details of our sponsorship packages. Spaces are limited!

Hope to see you there!

Baby Basics Program

Today was our first Baby Basics get together. momstown Winnipeg moms with infants 0 to 12 months of age got together to do a keepsake craft and sit around and chat while the babies played, or in my sons case, attempted to break away from the group to go explore.

We brought out the washable, tempera paint and made some hand and foot prints. Was not an easy task with the squirmy babies, but we paired up and made some masterpieces!

What is our Baby Basics Program? This program is designed for moms with babies aged 0-12 months looking to connect with other moms with infants. With a discussion theme led by an expert every other week, various topics related to parenting will be covered. Alternating weeks, momstown will lead you and your child in a short “Baby Picassos” art session and you and your baby will create a keepsake craft – it’s never too early to introduce creativity. Each session also includes loads of chat time to get to know your local moms in momstown.

So join us every week for some fun and interesting chats. Just one more fabulous program that is included with your momstown membership! Register today at momstown Winnipeg.

Junior Chefs: Parfaits

This April our Junior Chefs got together to make parfaits. It is a simple and nutritious snack that all toddlers can help out with at home.

All you need is yogurt, some fruit, cereal and / or granola.

The kids picked their topping of choice and made their very own parfaits. We moms polished off the leftovers!


What is our Junior Chef Program? It is just one more program included with your momstown membership! momstown kids get busy in the kitchen creating their own mini meals! Come and learn fun new ways to create your child's favourite snacks in this hands-­on program.  This event is aimed at children 18 months and up.

Register today at momstown Winnipeg to sign up for our next Junior Chefs!