And the winner is...

The winner of the September Book prize is: Laura! I am sending her an email to arrange to give her her prizes and I will have a new contest soon so keep checking the blog for that.

Thanks to everybody who entered.

Sweet Love Bake Shoppe

This bakery doesn't seem to have a storefront, but if you are on facebook you can find them, friend them, and see the gorgeous products they bake in their photos. If you aren't on Facebook, here's the essential information you need to know:

Based in St. John's Newfoundland, Sweet Love Bake Shoppe creates yummy and oh so pretty cupcakes for petite parties and opulent occasions. Our dreamy and delicious cupcakes are baked with love. We use high quality ingredients including, organic cane sugar, unbleached flour and pure vanilla bean extract, making sure to leave out harmful trans-fats and cholesterol. This makes our cupcakes good for the soul and kind on the heart.  Orders can be placed by emailing sweetlovebakeshoppe@gmail.com

Small Magazine

If you haven't seen this gorgeous magazine about all things beautiful in the world of childrens clothing and design it is worth checking out, if for no other reason than they lay out and innovative approach to children's products.... even if you can't afford any.

Nice graphics and stellar photography as well. Sometimes it is a little slow to load as the images are high quality but it worth the wait.

Best Books IV

Here is the fourth installment of the ALSC Best Books List.

Little Mouse Gets Ready. By Jeff Smith.  Little Mouse narrates this story with humor and excitement as he dons clothes and dreams of adventures to come. (A 2010 Geisel Honor Book.)

We have this one and my little boy loves it! ~ Erika











Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea. By Greg Mortenson and Susan L. Roth. Children of Korphe, Pakistan describe their world and how they worked with an American to build a school for their village. Stunning collages enhance the story.












Mommy, Mama and Me. By Lesléa Newman. In this gentle board book two loving mothers share daily activities with their baby.

Get prepared

Hurricane Igor made me open up the emergency preparedness kit we have in our basement to pull out a lantern (battery-operated) and the old phone with the cord since cordless won't work in a power outage. I also found the wind-up radio slash flashlight. Our power never went out so I didn't have to use these items but it made me think about what was in the kit and what wasn't. Our kit isn't anything fancy, an old Rubbermaid tub with some stuff thrown in that I heard you should have. Our kit is in no way complete, but I am going to address that now that we have had our first taste of a real emergency situation since our child was born. For one thing, the government web site on what to put in your 72 hour kit suggests that you have some non-perishable food. we do, but nothing my kid will eat. So I need to address that. If you don't have an emergency kit, have a look at that web site. If you have any brilliant ideas and products that you think should be in an emergency kit send your ideas in.

I know one thing I am going to add... a really good bottle of wine. Or two.

Eco Friendly Kids Stuff

CBC Radio aired an interesting two-part series on eco-friendly kid products a couple of weeks ago and here are some of the sites they referenced for good eco conscious products:

Lavish and Lime

Raspberry Kids

Amusement companies

I saw this company called Red Rocket Amusements doing a charity event at Lester's this summer. They look like an option for birthdays and other kids events.

I have also seen this company, Sky High Amuesments at various events around St. John's. They have a Toddler section on their web site.  If you have experience with these businesses send a note or write a review, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I don't know about you, but I still haven't gotten around to labelling all my kid's clothes for preschool. But I found this awesome site, Mabel's Labels and ordered some really cute tags for his clothes.

If you have some good product tips to share, send them in or post a comment, I'd love to hear!

Car Seat Safety - Please spread the word

I normally don't post things like this, but driving around this week I saw this dangerous thing so many times I thought I would post this reminder:

When you place rear-facing infant car seats into your car, the handle must be DOWN or the seat cannot work properly to protect your baby.* (*In most cases, so check your manual to be sure).

Usually the seat is intended to 'clamshell' against the back of the seat in the event of an accident and thereby protect your baby. If the handle is up it cannot do this and the plastic handle can break become a danger to your child. Some car seats may be designed differently, but if you are leaving the handle up, make sure it is appropriate for your car seat.

When we were new parents we used to leave the handle up until the people at Kids in Safe seats (KISS) informed us of our mistake.  I highly recommend you check them out, for the most part we had done the correct installation and read the manual properly, but there were some good tips and advice we couldn't have gotten in a manual.

I am no car seat expert, so check KISS out or some of these other saftey web sites if you have questions Car Safety Org and Canadian Pediatric Society.  Anyway, I hope this safety tip helps someone ensure there child is safer in their seat for their next drive!  If you have safety tips or resources to share, please send them in!

Best Books III

Here is the third installment of the ALSC Best Books List.

Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children's Day/Book Day By Pat Mora.Latino children invite children of other cultures into their book fiesta, leading the reader on a visual journey that shows how reading sparks the imagination and unites us all. (The 2010 Belpré Illustrator Award Book.)











                                  The Curious Garden. By Peter Brown. Liam discovers a patch of lonely plants in an elevated train track and encourages them to grow into a magnificent garden that spreads throughout the drab city.












                                 
                                 I Spy Fly Guy! By Tedd Arnold. A disastrous ending to a game of hide and seek finds Fly Guy hauled away to the local dump in this new take on a lost pet. (A 2010 Geisel Honor Book.)

New Products at Baby Gear to Share

I recieved an update email from Baby Gear to Share that I thought I would post:

Hi Erika,
We have some exciting new travel products available for rent at Baby Gear to Share! To date, we have mostly provided products for those traveling to Newfoundland and Labrador. However, we have had many requests to offer products for families in this province wanting to take trips! Here’s a couple of great products now for rent:

CARES Child Aviation Restraint System is a harness seatbelt for children one year or older and weigh between 22-44 pounds. It is the first and only alternative to a car seat approved for use on most major airlines worldwide! As in vehicles, we want to ensure our children are protected while traveling and their little bodies can be jolted about with turbulence that is common in routine air travel, much less emergency situations. CARES secures children in the seat with the same level of safety as car seat- much safer than the one size fits all lap belt! This device also helps parents travel lighter as the harness weighs just one pound and fits into a 6 inch sack. It is easily portable, simple to install, and adjustable to every size airplane seat (except in the emergency exit rows and some seats in executive class). For more information, check out: http://www.kidsflysafe.com/

TRUNKI is a fun suitcase that children 3-6 years old can ride on when traveling! It is certainly nice during long stopovers to have a ride-on toy that can be conveniently packed with lots of other fun activities too! It is also an easy and quick way to tote toddlers the often lengthy distances between gate to gate! Trunki is very light weight (3.8 pounds) but has an 18 liter capacity- making it very easy to carry on and store in overhead compartments. It is made of the same durable plastic as adult suitcases and can take up to 50KG load. Trunki has many safety features that prevent fingers from being caught when shutting the case and stabilizers that prevent children from falling off easily! For more information, check out: http://www.trunki.co.uk/
These products are a little pricy to buy for the occasional trip (especially with shipping and handling factored in). It is definitely more economical to rent! We currently have limited quantities available for rent but will be purchasing more as demand warrants- so book well in advance to ensure you are not disappointed! Check us out at: http://www.babygeartoshare.com/
Thanks!
Heather

September at the Fluvarium

I found this on the St. John's Tourism Calendar, not the Fluvarium web site, and I can't tell from the description if it is a two-day program or a one-day program being run on both days of the weekend. So if you are interested,  I would call them and get the scoop.

Saturday, September 18 - Sunday, September 19  and Saturday, September 25 and Sunday, September 26

Fluvarium Kids Club - "Dabblers and Divers!"
Program runs Saturdays & Sundays at 1:30pm approx. 45-60 minutes
It is the beginning of fall migration and a great time to discover ducks!
Join us as we learn more about Dabblers and Divers how they all are getting ready for their long journey south.

This Fluvarium Kids program is Family Fun and includes an outdoor component, game, story and craft!

Fluvarium Kids programs are complimentary with admission.
Ask about our Annual Family Pass.
The Suncor Energy Fluvarium
5 Nagle's Hill, Pippy Park
St. John's, NL
Tel: 709-754-3474

dhennebury@fluvarium.ca

Fall Calendar for DEEDFRI Playgroups

The September calendar is posted. These sessions are a great way to spend a rainy morning or afternoon during the Fall.

Back to School Recipes

Epicurious has a back to school feature this month... lunches and quick after school suppers and snacks. You can read about it here... then send me your ideas for peanut -free school snacks and lunches.

Best Books II

Here is the next installment of the ALSC Best Books List:

Birds. By Kevin Henkes.An young unseen narrator explores colors, shapes, and sizes as she watches red, blue, yellow and green birds outside her window. Perfect for the youngest.











A Book. Mordicai Gerstein. Part of a family who live inside a book, a young girl travels through fairy tales, mysteries, adventure yarns, and historical novels in search of a story of her own.

Open House The Munchkin Music Factory

The open house is today. Not sure if all the spaces are filled. Give them a call and see if you can get a last minute spot: 709-738-3082

GeoCentre KidZone

Has any one used this play space at the GeoCentre? It looks like a decent playroom, but is it worth the price of admission? I would love a review?

Puppet Theatre Class

This is on the edge of being too old for St. John's Toddler's demographic, but I thought I would post anyway for the preschoolers and older siblings:

MUN is offering a course in Puppet Theatre (ages 5-8)
Saturday 9:30 am - 11:30 am;
November 27, 2010 to December 4, 2010
Tuition: $25.00
More info here.

Fall Workshops for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Early Achievers has a number of Fall / Winter Workshops posted. There is no description for each workshop, which is too bad, because I'd like to know more, but they do look interesting.
Young Children (Ages 3-6)
*These workshops are intended for children who are already comfortable leaving their parents for short amounts of time.

September 25th - Alpha-Fun 1.5 hrs

October 30th - Spooktacular Fun 1.5 hrs

November 27th - Teddy Bear Picnic 1.5 hrs

December 18th - Destination North Pole 2 hrs

January 22nd - Fun in the C-C-Cold 1.5 hrs

February 12th - Lots' a Lovin 1.5 hrs

March 12th - Leapin' Leprechauns 1.5 hrs

April 16th - Let's Get Crackin 2 hrs

May 14th - Spring Has Sprung 1.5 hrs

June 11th - Let's Spring Into Summer! 1.5 hrs


Cost: 1 1/2 hour workshop $20

Cost:: 2 hour workshop $30

http://www.earlyachievers.com/

Sundays at the Botanical Garden

Kid-Friendly Sunday Programs at the Botanical Garden - from their web site.  There was nothing to indicate if these programs are just for the summer.

Sunday Program Activities

(These are drop-in programs; pre-registration is NOT required):
• Nature Hike - every Sunday, 10 a.m.
• Meet the Critters - every Sunday, 2 p.m.
• Family Days – once a month
To participate in Sunday programs, please check-in, 5 minutes prior to the start time, at the visitor services desk located in the Garden’s field centre.
Nature Hike:
Explore Newfoundland barrens, boreal forest, or bog as you hike one of our nature trails with education staff. Learn about Newfoundland plants and animals while you enjoy plenty of fresh air and exercise. Meet in the field centre at 10 a.m. This program is suitable for families. The nature trails are not wheelchair accessible.
Meet the Critters:
Be sure to drop by the classroom at 2 p.m. to meet our critters, including Squirt the red-eared slider turtle, giant African snails and more. Learn all about their far-away native habitats and find out why some of these visitors don’t always make good pets for everyone.
Arts & Crafts:
This program may take place outdoors, depending on the weather. You and your family are invited to create some theme-related crafts, play some games and participate in some fun activities.

Story Time / Puppet Shows:
This program may take place outdoors, depending on the weather. Join our education staff for story time, a sing-a-long or a puppet show.

Nature Hike to Oxen Pond/Duck Feeding:
Education staff will lead you on a leisurely guided stroll along the exploration trail, down to Oxen Pond. While you feed the ducks (food is provided) staff will help you identify and learn about the different waterfowl, insects and other creatures that live on Oxen Pond.

Best books for young Children 2010

The ALSC Book list for 2010 includes some gems for young readers. The list is long so I thought I would break it up and spread it out over the next few weeks. Here is the first batch. If you can't wait that long find the full list and other information at the web site.

Here's the criteria and intro blurb:
"Each year a committee of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best of the best in children's books. According to the Notables Criteria, "notable" is defined as: Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to children's books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (birth through age 14) that reflect and encourage children's interests in exemplary ways."
All the World. By Liz Garton Scanlon. The myriad joys of the world are reflected with warmth and affection in this look at a day in a small community near the ocean. (A 2010 Caldecott Honor Book.)











Benny and Penny in the Big No-No! By Geoffrey Hayes. Siblings Benny and Penny encounter trouble when curiosity about a mysterious neighbor leads them into unexpected adventures. (The 2010 Geisel Award Book.)











Big Wolf and Little Wolf. By Nadine Brun-Cosme Big Wolf lives alone until Little Wolf appears. Bit by bit, Big Wolf allows Little Wolf to join him in daily activities. Only when Little Wolf goes away does Big Wolf realize how much he cares for his new friend. (A 2010 Batchelder Honor Book.)

The Physical Literacy Experience will begin again in September 2010.

No actual start date is given, but here is the overview from the MUN web site:

Physical Literacy Experience (Formerly Children's Movement Program)

The Physical Literacy Experience will begin again in September 2010.

The Physical Literacy Experience is part of an experiential learning experience for courses in Physical Education in the School of Human Kinetics and Recreation to provide opportunities for young children and their parents/guardians to explore movement activities, and for undergraduate and graduate students to observe and interact with young children in a movement environment. All those involved with the program have a background in, or are learning about, physical activity for young children.

The Physical Literacy Experience is designed to promote parental participation as children explore a variety of movement experiences. Parents should provide assistance and encouragement to their children when necessary, but should allow the children to freely engage in movement exploration. Students, undergraduate or graduate, will provide supervision throughout the sessions and will ensure that the program environment is challenging and safe. Parents must be present for the duration of each session and are responsible for maintaining their child/childrens' safety, along with the students.

The program is open to all children between walking and their 5th birthday. There is no cost, but registration is required on the morning of sessions. Three sessions are offered - 9:30 - 10:25 am, 10:30 - 11:25 am and the third session from 11:45 am - 1:00 pm which is open only to children registered with Special Olympics Newfoundland and Labrador. Registration is in the main lobby of the PE Building. For more information, please call 737-8130.

The Rooms Weekly Tots Program

This program continues on Tuesdays through the Fall September 28, 2010 to December 7, 2010.
See the poster.

Fall art courses at Anna Templeton

There are lots more classes available for older kids, but here are the ones for the little kids:
Young Artist Classes Fall 2010


Preschool Art Discovery (3-5 years)
Preschoolers will make important discoveries as they explore art and craft activities. Participants will experiment with a variety of mark-making techniques using a variety of different drawing materials and paints. Instruction will also include a basic introduction to color mixing, stitchery, clay, and collage.
10 Saturdays, 10-11 am, September 25-December 4 (no class on October 30), 2010
$80 includes HST and materials
Instructor: Laura Buchholz


Jr. Art Explorers (5-6 years)
This mixed media class is designed as a perfect introduction to art for children ages 5-6. In the class, budding artists will work with clay, paint, collage, print making, drawing materials and more! Basic art concepts, terms and techniques are introduced and built upon. Classes include group and individual instruction encouraging students to challenge their own level of experience.
10 Saturdays, 11:30 am-12:30 pm, September 25-December 4 (no class on October 30), 2010
$80 includes HST and materials
Instructor: Laura Buchholz

September Book Club?

Since in many ways September marks the beginning of the new year for people with kids, (new school, new routines etc...) and in Newfoundland it also marks the beginning of Cuddle Up With a Good Book season, I thought we'd take another crack at a book club after Labour Day.

However, we still need a new book. So send your suggestions in - parenting books, child-friendly cook books, even children's books are welcome. I think we need to see if we can get a little more interaction going this time and any suggestions on that front are welcome too. A book club Facebook page?

You can read more about the book club and the previous book, Raising a Self Disciplined Child here.