Halloween Safety

Health Canada and the Canada Safety Council both offer web resources for ensuring a safe and happy Halloween.

Enjoy your evening with your little ghosties and goblins!

A blog reader needs your help....

I recieved this email yesterday and will share it in case anyone can help. If you can, post your answer in the comments section or send an email.
Hello,
I really enjoy your blog, and have a question I hope you (or one of your readers) can answer:
Where in St. John's (or metro area) can I find Size 4 Huggies Overnights?
It's the only leak-proof night diaper we've found and we're on our last one (purchased at a Shopper's in Ottawa). We went to the Stavenger Dr. Dominion, but size 4 was sold out as of yesterday.
Any leads?
Many thanks! 

Cygnus Gym - Review

St. John's Toddler: Fee: Cygnus Gym Registration - Fall

As an addition to the earlier post regarding Cygnus' Fall session, here's a review I recieved and thought I would share:

I thought it would be fun to introduce my 3.5 year old to Cygnus because I'm thinking about signing him up for classes soon. They offer a drop in free play a couple of times per week. However, for one hour of free play, it cost me $56: $26 for a one-time registration and then $10 per child (and the other child is 1.5). The registration I won't have to pay again and didn't mind, but $10 per child was too much! I am a regular at the rugby gym on Crosbie Road on Tuesdays and Thursdays and it is so much better than Cygnus for two very important reasons: It's FREE and the guys running it actually interact with the kids to get them moving. And it's FREE!

Raise Healthy Eaters

I found this blog the other day that I thought I would share. It is called Raise Healthy Eaters and I think she has some good recipes and ideas about helping your kids learn healthy eating habits. There are lots of practical tips and what seems to me to be sensible, pragmatic advice. The blogger is a dietician so she has some educational background in the subject, besides being a mom.

Sights Before Christmas

Wonderbolt Circus is taking bookings for their Sights Before Christmas show. They can bring this show to your Christmas Party or school. Check the web site for details.

They also have shows available for birthdays.

Prizes!

It's that time of year again! I have one 2011 Busy Body Family Organizer to give away. I gave one of these away last year and also gave them to busy moms I know as Christmas gifts. They were a big hit and I have gotten requests for more this year. So here is your chance to get one too!
I'll draw a name from the list of Followers on December 1st, 2010. If you want to be entered become a blog follower before midnight on November 30th, 2010.

Childhood Obesity

We all know the statistics aren't good. More and more Canadian children are overweight and the future doesn't look bright as people tend to gain weight as they age not lose it.  Here's a helpful web site I came across this week they I thought I would share. It has some simple ideas about how to create a home and lifestyle that builds a healthy foundation for your child as he or she grows, such as the 5-2-1-0 rule.

If you have some resources, ideas, or experience with childhood obesity you'd like to share, send me an email or leave a comment.

Taking Back Childhood

I am reading this and finding it really useful. It reminds me to be vigilant about how much screen time my toddler gets and what the content of the TV shows he watches is telling him about the world. It is also reminding me to play close attention to how single use toys like those connected to TV programs and movies can inhibit imagination and problem solving development. I highly recommend this book and I am not even finished it yet.  I'll add to this post as I continue reading and provide a more thorough review in days to come.

Halloween Costume Ideas

Here are some cute costume ideas I found around the internet:

• Check out this owl costume on Etsy. If you are crafty enough you could make it yourself!
• Prize winning homemade costumes from Parenting.com
• Martha Stewart's Halloween Costume Ideas
• No-sew Costumes  

It's beginning to look a lot like....

Christmas Card season.

I know, I know, It isn't even Halloween yet! But if you want custom cards, best to start planning them now,  what with printing and shipping time and needing to get them in the mail in early December.

I haven't ordered custom cards before, but I did order the cutest little return address labels one year before our child was born and whimsically put all our pets' faces on them in Santa hats. By Christmas two of the pets had passed away and it turned my merry a little morbid.  So much for my attempt at holiday humour. :(

I do send old fashioned Christmas cards every year and try to take the time to write personal messages or at least send photos of our family along. Who doesn't love finding something in the mailbox besides bills and pizza flyers!

This year I am contemplating sending photo cards. Here are some options I found.
Little Star Greetings

Pink Dot Design

Walmart Photo Centre

Any advice or other holiday ideas appreciated!

I've bought my bulbs and I am ready to plant. I think this might make a great activity for my toddler to participate in. It involves all his favourite things, the outdoors, getting dirty and 'helping' mommy. So I am going to give it a try by pre-digging the holes and getting him to drop the bulbs in for me on the next sunny, fall day we get.

In the meantime this got me thinking about other planting and gardening projects that might be kid-friendly. So I found a few good links:

The Kids Garden - Winter and Autumn Gardening Projects.

Gardening with Kids

Got any child-friendly gardening ideas or resources to share?

Parenting Classes

MUN's Lifelong Learning has a number of classes available in thier Online Ed2Go catalogue that might be of interest to parents. You can see the list here. Many start October 20, 2010

Skating Schedule 2010

Mile One's Skating Schedule for the fall 2010 is posted.

One of a kind, handmade...

If you have yet to discover Etsy, let me warn you: before clicking that link you might want to freeze your credit card in a block of ice. Some of the products available on this site are just so cute or so beautiful that it is hard to resist. Now, if you are crafty yourself (I am not), perhaps you can save yourself some cash and get inspiration for your own creations. Check it out and if you end up ordering stuff for your kids, let me know which ones, why, and if you'd recommend to others....

Ape 2 Zebra

This online store looks like a great place to find unique gifts and toys, and they are in Canada! They seem to pay attention to the quality of the toys they stock as well as choosing ones that are different from the usual Toys R Us stock.

Have you got a resource for toys and children's products you'd like to share? Send your ideas by email or leave a comment!

Gluten Free Blogging

I know a lot of people with gluten issues, so I poked around on the internet and found some kid-friendly bloggers who write about gluten-free diets and recipes for kids. If you have some good ideas or resources on gluten-free living - send them along!

Gluten Free Mom
Gluten Free Gobsmacked
Gluten-free Cooking for Kids

Day Care Space Available

Thanks to Facebook for this piece of info:

Confederation Building Day Care Centre has spaces available in the Kindercare room if you know anyone that is looking for Day Care while their child is in Kindergarden. If interested call, 729-6038.

Puppet Theatre Classes at MUN

I saw this posted  on MUN's Lifelong Learning web site and thought I would share. It looks like a cool classs!

Puppet Theatre (ages 5-8) 2000010 Start 11/27/10 End 12/04/10 2 sessions

Saturday 9:30 am - 11:30 am; 2 sessions starting November 27, 2010, ending December 4, 2010 Tuition: $25.00 Instructor: Dwyer

Kids Music - Colleen Power

Local musician Colleen Power has a new kid's album out and the reviews are great.
Know a good children's album you want to share? Send me an email or leave a comment!

Anna Templeton Centre Classes

There are a bunch of kids classes available, but some for the toddler set are already full, here's one for slightly older kids that still has space:
Become Your Own Super Hero! (5-11 years)

This fun workshop will turn your child from a mild mannered reporter for a big metropolitan newspaper into an honest to good gosh Superhero in just 3 hours! Participants, aged 5 to 11 years, will learn about superheroes and how to design and create their own superhero costume, which will include a mask, cape and hero symbol for cape and chest. Super powers not included.

Saturday, 1-4 pm, October 9, 2010
$55 includes HST and materials
Instructor: Wallace Ryan

Find out more here.

Halloween Treats

Epicurious and Martha Stewart both have extensive Halloween sections on their web site. Check them out for great, spooky crafts and treats.

Best Books V

The fifth installment of the ALSC Best Books list

                                  Mouse and Mole: Fine Feathered Friends. By Wong Herbert Yee. Artistic Mole and poetic Mouse join forces to hatch a clever plan for watching skittish birds and create their own book of paintings and poems celebrating their bird-watching adventures (A 2010 Geisel Honor Book.)











                                Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors. By Joyce Sidman. Evocative poems celebrate color and enliven the senses as readers follow a woman and her dog surrounded by myriad intricately costumed and stylized figures through the seasons. (A 2010 Caldecott Honor Book.)











Thunder-Boomer! By Shutta Crum. A family runs for cover on their farm as a hot day brings a frightening storm, then delivers a soaked and shivery surprise.

Pumpkins - No Carving!

Here are some links for some toddler-friendly pumpkin making ideas. No knives necessary!
My kind of Mom Blog - Decorating Ideas for Young Children

HGTV - No Carve Pumkins

Good Housekeeping No Carve Pumkins

Family Fun at the Rooms

Sunday, October 3 Family Fun Drop In:
Fun & Games in the 1600s 2 - 4 pm, Level 3 Multipurpose Space

What did kids in Newfoundland do for fun 400 years ago? How about a game of Fox and Geese? Or maybe a frame of Nine Pins? Or would you like a go at Hunting a Deer in My Lord’s Park? Come by and play while you find out what we’re talking about.