April Fools Day for Kids

I remember April Fools Day when I was a child... my father hid the family car one morning to make us think it was stolen, another year he told us there was a moose in the backyard in our city neighbourhood ("Made you look!"). Most cruelly, he made ice cream sundaes out of mashed potatoes with chocolate sauce poured over them. He didn't even have real ice cream to pacify us with after the joke was over. A life lesson in disappointment! 

Here is a link to some kid-friendly April Fool Pranks. If you have been the victim of a great prank or have pulled a clever one on your kids, please share! Send a comment or an email.

I love cooking and of course eating. Here are a few of my favourite things related to those topics.


Watching your weight? Trying to lose those pounds put on when you were pregnant? Even if you aren't here's a great recipe website - Weight Watchers Points provided...

From the people that bring you PBS's America's Test Kitchen comes a cooking magazine with a difference. Cooks Illustrated. This magazine has recipes that have each been made dozens of time to perfect them. There are great reader and cook tips - like using your bundt pan as a vertical chicken roaster or the net bag that your veggies come in as a scrubber for tough baked on food on your pots and pans... or freezing ginger root to keep it fresh.

The Epicurious App - helps eliminate the need for a shopping list

Dining with Toddlers - The Sprout

We took our toddler to dinner at The Sprout last Friday night. We decided to go right at 5:00 PM when they opened to ensure the least possible delay of our order. We sat in a booth and came prepared with an iphone loaded with fish videos (our toddler's latest passion) and a few little toys. As soon as we were seated I asked for some bread as our child was having a case of hunger crankiness and I wasn't sure how smoothly this whole dinner out idea was going to go. The server brought it right away. I also asked her if we could switch to take out if he didn't settle down in a few minutes. She said that was no problem.

Luckily the yummy homemade brown bread she brought did the trick; he wolfed it down and was a much more pleasant dining companion after that. This is not a franchise operation so the meal took a little longer to come to the table, but it was a totally reasonable wait time. We ordered the cheese quesadillas for him, but in the end he only ate the fruit that came with it. I had a delicious Pad Thai with tofu and my child tried the noodles which were quite spicy, but he didn't seem to mind. My husband had the Give Peas a Chance chick pea burger and the veggie Poutine. You don't have to be a vegetarian to appreciate how good these dishes were and the portions were huge too.

There were lots of dessert options. My son was the only one with room left for dessert and he chose a cookie as big as his head (we didn't let him eat it all!). I highly recommend The Sprout for a family dinner or weekend brunch. It was $50 for the three of us and there was more than enough food and a glass of wine included.

Free Range Kids

I am reading this book right now and I am quite enjoying it. It is a reality check for helicopter moms and anxious parents. It really puts things in perspective (like there actually isn't someone waiting to abduct your child behind every bush) and provides sensible advise for letting go of a few of the things we needlessly stress about our kids health and safety. You have probably already seen Lenore Skenazy on TV in one of dozens of interviews where she was labeled 'America's Worst Mom' because she let her son take the New York subway by himself. The hype turned me off at first, but I gave in eventually and I am glad I did.

In some places she seems to overstate her case, but it is an easy read and a funny one too, so of all the parenting books you might be thinking about picking up as bedtime reading, this one won't strain your brain too much and will probably actually help you (and your kid).  She is on Twitter and has a blog too if you don't have time to read her whole book.

Baby Registry

If only I had found this baby registry when I was pregnant! Register for any store and share your list. Very cool. It's tempting to have another baby just to take advantage of this. But then I remember how little sleep I got for the last two years...

MAX Birthdays

I heard from a co-worker that her 4 year-old's birthday party at MAX was great, hoping she'll send me details to share, but in the meantime here's a link to the deets.

Nifty Newspapers

Family Fun at The Rooms
Newspapers are a great way to find out about the fashions of long ago. Let’s create our own fashion from some nifty newspaper hats! Sunday, March 27, 2 – 4 pm

Bumble Beats Music Classes for Toddlers

 "Bumble Beats - Musical Playtime for Young Children"  - Bumble Beats offers music classes on Saturdays mornings for children ages 0-36 months. Classes consist of age-appropriate activities for child and parent in a fun, musical setting! For more information check the web site.  Spring Registration is now open -  Classes begin Sat., April 9th for 10 weeks. With a holiday on April 23rd for Easter.

Note: We did this class with our son and he really enjoyed it. It was in a great location (Quidi Vidi Lake Boat House) and a great time (before nap!). 

Lights Out! Earth Hour...

Remember how much fun it was when there was a storm and the lights went out when you were a kid... Everyone huddled around the fireplace or in a room lit by candles or flashlights and you played board games and got to eat unusual things for supper because there was no electricity for cooking? Black outs were fun family time. The TV and stereo were out of commission and you were forced to actually hang out together in the one warm and candlelit room.  Well Earth Hour is March 26th and I am going to make a pitch for turning it into a Black Out Family Party! Turn out the lights, turn on the flash lights or candles and pull out a family-friendly game or activity and teach your kids something about the environment and family fun at the same time. There are a lot of  over-commercialized holidays we celebrate over the course of a year, wouldn't it be nice to make a big deal out of Earth Hour? Here are some links to inspire you... and by the way, last year over 50% of Canadians took part in the lights out event.

Earth Hour

Canada Earth Hour

International Food Fair

Looking to expand your family's palate? As a part of multiculturalism week there is an international food fair being held by the Multicultural Women's Organization of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is at the Holiday Inn on Sunday March 27th, 2011. For more info, check out the poster.

A few of my new favourite indulgences:


A new favourite wine of mine, perfect for Friday night after the kids are down for the night: Septima Bodega (Red, Argentina) Here's where you can find it.

I bought a couple of awesome pieces from the Lole Winter Sale. The perfect combination of comfort and style if you ask me - great weekend clothes. You can feel like you are going around in your sweats with out looking like you are ;)

The Black Beast. Best cake on the planet! I just made this for a charity auction and it earned over $100 for the cause - it is the easiest, most delicious chocolate cake in the world. And flourless for all of you with gluten issues.

Have an indulgence to share? Send me an email stjohnstoddler at hotmail dot com

Customized by your kid

Here are a couple of cute ideas for gifts or heirloom pieces that take your kid's talents and turn them into custom, one-of-a-kind pieces:

Kids Artwork Cards   - this is a great idea for birthday invitations or other important kid events.

Child's Own - I featured this in a post a year or so ago, but it is time to share again now that the blog readership has grown so much. Have a look at this awesome idea: this Canadian Company takes your kid's drawings and turns it into a toy. I can't wait until my son draws something that we can submit for creation.

Art into Jewelry - This company turns your child's art into gorgeous heirloom jewlery.

Do you know of a unique product like this? Share! Email me or leave a comment.

My kid loves lentils

... but it is not what you think. We have discovered that dried lentils make the perfect beach, gravel road, snow, or whatever else your little one's imagination can dream up. We pour them on a play mat and he drives his cars and trucks through them, makes piles, spreads them out, and loads them up in his dump truck. They are too small to be a choking hazard, cheap, non-toxic, fairly easy to clean up with broom or vacuum (or hungry dog), and reusable. I would avoid bigger legumes that might be a safety concern, but the little split lentils are great.

Zero to Three

This web site developed by non-profit organization 'Zero to Three', offers lots and lots of articles on everything from child development and behaviour to health and nutrition. It has tip sheets for parents that can help you address some of the challenges of parenting infant and toddlers and all kinds of other resources. There's actually almost too much information here!

Sharing Our Cultures at the Rooms

Sunday, March 20, 2 – 4 pm
Family Fun

Top Picks from Etsy Kids

If you follow me on Twitter you'll have seen that I came across the Etsy Kids page a while ago, but now I have had time to peruse it and here are some of my top Toddler picks:

Veggie Play Food

Crazy Owl Hat

Superhero Capes

Quality Child Care Available Immediately - UPDATED

I received this email regarding available childcare and thought I would share:

Quality Child Care Available Immediately - East End
3 spaces available. Can accomodate 1 year olds.
Your child will be cared for in a clean, modern, smoke free home located in the East End of St. John’s. There is plenty of space inside and out for your child to flourish. Large fenced backyard with an additional playground less than 5 minutes away.

I will provide a safe, fun, nurturing and positive environment with special focus on learning through organized play. Through play, your child will be engaged in vital development activities that will foster growth in social skills, creativity, hand eye coordination, problem solving and imagination.

Nutritious meals and snacks will be provided following Canada’s food guide.

I possess up to date Record of Conduct, Vulnerable Sector Check, Child Protection Record Check and First Aid certification. Receipts will be provided.
(Currently completing home day care licensing process through Eastern Health, City of St. John's and Family and Child Care Connections.)

UPDATE - here is the contact info: jennwalsh5@hotmail.com
I was waiting for Jennifer to advise me if she was okay with putting her address on the blog.

Kraft Paper Worlds

When I was a little girl Smurfs were all the rage and my sister and I created an entire Smurf world simply with markers, tape, paper and our imaginations. We drew aerial views of houses and roads and gardens for the Smurfs. An entire village. We spent more hours creating the plascape then we did actually playing with it!
It was very much like this Kraft paper idea. My son has been doing a lot of pretending lately with his toy animals and cars, so Kraft paper is on my shopping list.

Birthday Party Idea- Martial Arts

I saw this martial arts party idea  the other day thanks to a Groupon link and thought I would share as birthday parties, cakes and other related things seem to be the most popular pages on the blog.

Parents Helping Parents

Here's a new reader question - any info is appreciated:

February 23, 2011
I received an email from a reader looking for recommendations and openings for childcare in St. John's. She is also weighing pros and cons of home-based care versus larger centres. Her child is under 2 years. Send an email to stjohnstoddler at hotmail dot com


Hi!
I just found your blog the other day and have been devouring it. Question: Have you found any good local resources for babywearing? I'd really like to give it a go when my little one arrives (Hopefully early April, late March)
Thanks for your blog (and hopefully an answer to this!)
Natalie

St. Patricks for Toddlers

Before I had kids I used to celebrate St. Patrick's Day by drinking green beer. A little too much green beer sometimes... but after having kids you realize that morning comes a little too early to indulge in much of that. So now we celebrate a different way.  Here are some ideas:

• Green food dye is a must and can be added to everything from milk and apple juice to icing and pancakes. Green eggs and ham, anyone?
• Try a platter of food that is naturally green - green grapes, kiwi, peas...
• Have an Irish Music Dance Party in your kitchen ( I don't know why, but it seems that all toddlers like Irish music and country music)
• Dress everyone in green that day.
• Play with or make green play dough
• Face paint green shamrocks
• Make shamrock cookies or cupcakes

Babywearing advice...

A reader sent me the name of someone who can provide babywearing information and advice, I contacted her and she has graciously allowed me to share her name and email -

Amber Snow  snow.amber@gmail.com

Amber has lots of experience and is considering offering classes in the future, but until then she will take questions by email and may be able to meet with people to offer assistance or advice.

Cooking for your littlest who...

This Doctor Seuss cookbook is quite clever. The recipes are fun and the final results look like the real world manifistation of Dr. Seuss's illustrations. We were given this as a gift and when my son is a little older I think he'll get a real kick out of the crazy looking meals we can make together.

Last Day for the Contest

My child has been enjoying the samples Maria loaned us to try. He especially likes the stacking cups. If you follow me on Twitter you will have seen my Tweets on this. He stacked and nested those cups for 40 minutes at a time on several occasions. Long enough for me to make supper and it feels as though he was really using his brain to experiment with which size cups were needed to make his 'project' work. I recommend these for sure. He also played with the Caterpillar, but has yet to try the bowling game Maria suggested. If you want to enter become a Follower and then send me an email with Discovery Toys in the subject line : stjohnstoddler at hotmail dot com

Grocery Store Game

I bought a big box full of toy plastic food at the dollar store a while back. This week we discovered a great game to play with it. We use the book shelf in my child's room and place all the items on the shelf. Then I give him a basket small enough for him to carry and ask him to go get the groceries. He collects things from the shelf, pays for it with Canadian Tire money and we place it in paper bags for him to take 'home.'  I used small paper bags that I had saved from the real grocery store.

It has been fun watching him play pretend with this and he's been learning new words as he learns the names of the grocery items.

The Art of Crafts

From the Rooms Web site:

The Art of Crafts
Traditional crafts were often created out of necessity from leftovers to create practical, but carefully constructed pieces of functioning art. In this workshop learn how to flip some of our trash into treasure.



Sunday, March 13, 2 – 4 pm

New St. John's Toddler Book Store

I set up a Amazon Book Store (it's free!) to create a list of all the books I recommend or post about on the blog. It will replace the section called Bedside Stack and allow for me to include reviews. If you like a book and order it via the St. John's Toddler Book Store I get a small credit towards book purchases that I can use to offer gift certificates and or books as prizes for you guys. The credit is small per book, so it will take a while to build up the amount to something prize-worthy, but when there is enough in the pot I will create a contest. In the meantime check out the store in the left hand column and send your book recommendations any time!

Clothing Swap

That last post gave me an idea. What would you think of holding a baby and toddler (sizes birth to 5T) clothing swap for St. John's Toddler Followers? Send me a note if this idea interests you. If I get enough feedback I might try to figure out how to pull something like this off.

New to St. John's and needing advice

Hi everyone, I received this email looking for help... any comments or emails would be appreciated. Also, if you are new to St. John's or a mom looking to connect with other moms for play dates or friendship, maybe I could help coordinate something? I have received several emails from people new to St. John's who might be interested in starting something. If this idea interests you pop me a note on that front too.

Hi Erika! I am new here in St. John's and a couple of random people I metpointed me to your site! You seem to know what's going on here, so I have a couple of questions for you if you don't mind. Are there any good (without trying to discriminate against the "bad" ones, but I have found lists of a lot of places and I am looking to narrow it down) kids stores for clothes,
toys and such? Preferable consignment. One of my favorite "mommy tasks" is to go through my kids cloths and take them to a consignment store and trade them in for new-to-me stuff! I do this where I am from a lot - drives my husband crazy!! Also, cloth diapering doesn't seem like a big thing here.
Is that just me, or am I looking in all the wrong places? And lastly, I am having trouble finding mom groups. My poor 4 year old is begging me to find him some new friends and I am having a hard time finding places to go with him.
 Any help with be very appreciated. It's been harder then I thought to move here without knowing anyone.

Children's Lit

This a great new web site for Children's Literature. Thanks to Weekend Arts Magazine's Angela Antle for the tip...

Toddler Decoy

At Canadian Tire the other day, in a panic to find something to occupy my toddler for another 10 minutes so I could finish shopping, I grabbed a hunting decoy duck.  He was enthralled and $8.99 later we were driving home with the biggest 'rubber duckie' ever. I think it will be great for the summer as we can attach a string an pull it around the water in Nana and Grampy's pond, but for now it will swim in the bath tub. This morning my son wanted to make a nest for it with blankets and make eggs from Play Dough. It is kind of comical, but they do make a pretty neat toy!

Easter Camps

Easter Camps for children of all ages (not many for toddlers unfortunately) are now being posted:

•  Anna Templeton
• YMCA
• Fluvarium Easter Camps
• Cygnus Gymnastics
• GeoCentre
• Wonderbolt
• Embarr Stables Pony Camp (starts as early as age 4)

Let me know if I am missing any...

Don't forget to enter the Discovery Toys contest! Deadline is in a week!

More meal planning ideas

I discovered that Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine has a weekly menu plan section that includes a grocery list. I took the magazine to the grocery store this week and bought everything on the list and I am making the recipes each week night. You can also get this on her web site in a section called Grocery Bag . Pick the menu that appeals to you and go from there, seems like the ideal way to try new recipes, make grocery shopping easier, and make the mad rush at dinner a little less mad.

A couple of other reader tips from Michelle:
...The first has to do with meals and making life easier for yourself when trying to feed a family while working. I found a great website where you can enter ingredients and it comes up with the recipe options. I haven't tested it yet so I can't vouch for quality but it's worth a try. Second piece of advice that does work for us in terms of meal planning: Compile recipe wish list on weekend (three reicpes will do), make a list of ingredients needed for said recipes, grocery shop for said ingredients before Monday, cook the night before starting on Sunday night, if possible, and ALWAYS make double so you can have leftovers (if you time it right, you can alternate leftovers so no one's bored). With this method, I only cook 3 times a week and never at 5 pm when I arrive home from work with hungry kids hanging off me while I juggle three pots on the stove.

Your Guide to Pancake Day

March 8th is Pancake Day. This can be a fun day to celebrate because there are very few children that don't like pancakes and the novelty of having pancakes for dinner can be a treat for everyone. Add a little fruit, cream and some bacon or sausage and you've got an easy and filling meal.

According to my internet research, Newfoundland seems to be the only place where baking items into the pancakes is a traditional Pancake Day activity. Here is what the Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Web Site had to say about it:

"...Pancakes were a simple way to use these foods, and one that could entertain the family. Objects with symbolic value are cooked in the pancakes, and those who eat them, especially children, take part in a divinatory game as part of the meal. The person who receives each item interprets the gift according to the tradition: a coin means the person finding it will be rich; a pencil stub means he/she will be a teacher; a holy medal means they will join a religious order; a nail that they will be (or marry) a carpenter, and so on (cf. Hiscock 1990:9)."

Unfortunately these sorts of items would not be safe to bake into pancakes for toddlers, but with a little creativity you can still keep the tradition alive. Try placing a little item under everyone's plate or in their cup to serve the same purpose as the objects baked into pancakes. Choose toddler-friendly items such as Canadian Tire money in place of coins, and a crayon instead of a pencil stub... make up some funny ones like a dog biscuit to mean you will grow up to be a veterniarian or a dinky car to mean you'll be a mechanic. The options are limited only by your imagination.

Here are two of my favourite pancake recipes. I often make them on the weekend and freeze them in Ziploc bags for weekday breakfasts when we are in a hurry. Both are from epicurious:

Whole Wheat Pancakes with Tropical Fruit

Whole Wheat oatmeal Pancakes

A Whale of a Good Time

From the Rooms web site:

Family Fun A Whale of a Good Time
Want to see a giant sperm whale’s tooth? And find out what they eat? Join Julie Huntington for an afternoon of fun activities all about the ocean’s biggest creatures.
Sunday, March 6, 2 – 4 pm

Food: Chick Pea Bruschetta

This looks like a great cookbook. The Gastrokid Cookbook by Hugh Garvey and Matthew Yeomans. You can follow Gastrokid on Twitter too.











Here's a recipe from it that I intend to try:
Roasted Chickpea Bruschetta
Makes 4 Servings
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
A handful or two chopped parsley
1/2 cup finely chopped olives
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 baguette loaf, sliced and toasted

Preheat the oven to 450° F. On a cookie or baking sheet, spread out the chickpeas and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and mix it all up. Roast for 20 minutes or so, or until golden brown. In a large bowl, mix the chickpeas with the chopped parsley, olives, garlic, and balsamic vinegar. Serve on toasted slices of baguette. The spherical little beans tend to roll of the bread if you're eating too hastily, but chasing down stray chickpeas makes it all the more fun.

World Book Day

Better late than never... It's World Book Day today and this web site is designed to help you celebrate. There's an online story time video section and a special kids eb page too. This seems to be a site from the UK, but there are lots of resources that are usable for us Canadians too. From what I can tell in a Google search Canada has basically dropped this event, as has Newfoundland. But I would love to be proven wrong... is anyone celebrating book day? If you know something send me a note or leave a comment.

Next year I will try to be more on the ball about this event and I'll prepare something to help celebrate. I think we shouldn't underestimate the value of instilling a love of books and reading in our children's lives.

In the mean time I invite you to peruse all the Book Posts from the last year or so....

Cirque Du Soleil - July 2011

Cirque Du Soleil is coming to Mile One. Tickets aren't cheap, but these shows are always worth the money. July 6-10th. Get your tickets before they sell out!

Cloth Diaper Event

Here's a letter from a reader that I thought I would share for anyone who might be interested in getting this off the ground:

Hi, I've been researching on the web for tips and info to switch my 4mo daughter to cloth diapers. (The more I read, the more passionate I am about the idea!)



I came across this page, this organization is holding a world wide event on Earth day to set the world record for the most cloth diapers changed simultaneously. This event is going to be pretty amazing, but there are no businesses hosting it here in NL. Meaning no one in NL can participate or be counted for the world record.


I was hoping that perhaps you would have some ideas on who to contact that would be interested in hosting, and also get the word out to moms who might want to attend. I hope you can help find someone in this city to host this worthy cause's event, because I'd hate to see NL left out of something so cool! Thanks so much.

Helping your Toddler Sleep

We haven't made the transition to a big boy bed yet, but we have plenty of experience (try two years) with lack of sleep due to a restless toddler. This article from Babble.com seems to provide sensible advice and I wanted to share it. I can see myself searching for it in a few months when we do transition from the crib.

Childcare Space Available

Here's some information I was sent that I thought I would pass along:

One full-time space available for the Sept. 2011 School Year
(Sept. 2011 – June 2012)

I am a current childcare provider and mother of two looking for a four year old child to spend time with my four year old son. I am extremely professional, loving, caring and enthusiastic! A fun, educational and safe environment will be provided including music, stories and age appropriate activities to enhance preschool development.
I offer a reasonable rate that reflects the level of professional care your child will receive (receipts provided).
I believe that caring for children is the most important job and commit to providing genuine, quality care to your child every day!
Feel free to contact Nancy at 782-5778 for more information.

More About Me!
- Full-time childcare provider for four years
- Bachelor of Education and Science
- Owner/Instructor of “Bumble Beats – Musical Playtime for Young Children
- Child and Infant CPR/First Aid Certified
- Located in Paradise, directly off Karwood Drive

Lil Doodlers

A hot tip from Babyccino pointed me in the direction of these amazing crayons. What a great idea! As Babyccino suggested these would make great party favours. If you aren't signed up for the Babyccino daily tips I suggest you do, but if you can't be bothered, keep checking back here as I will share the ones that catch my eye.