Little Readers (May)

Hello all! This month of May was a first for many fun ideas and events. Some of our exciting additions were a theme for the month, a craft box that hosts could utilize for group events (thanks to everyone who contributed!), many terrific outings, and our new book club for tots.

Little Readers was started in the month of May 2012, for mommas with babes and tots alike... The main goal? To encourage reading in the household. At an event earlier this month, I was reading The Lorax to the kiddos (really, anyone who sat still for a few seconds) and the topic came up of reading to our children. It surprised me how many of our fellow mommas voiced that they did not read on a regular basis. This is completely understandable, given everyone's busy busy lives. I myself have found it very hectic at times and forgotten to read to our little guy. So there came the idea to start a book club for moms and their little ones. We all know about adult book clubs (for serious lovers of literature, or the adventurous), but one for kids? Of course!

Early literacy is SO important for our little children. It helps them connect images with words, language development, learn about feelings, colours, numbers, imagination... So many things! It promotes bonding on a whole other level, and enhances the love of learning and literature! The book we read this month was "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" by Beatrix Potter. I chose this book for a started book because it came in board book, paperback, and disk versions. Every age can enjoy this book! And it is a classic. Parents are more likely to read to their little ones when they too enjoy what they are reading. Most of us have already read this story! How wonderful to share this with our little ones, and grandparents sharing as well.... Building memories through generations. We connect, we share... We enjoy and laugh and love!

When reading to your little one, you don't have to read all the words. Or all the pages. You don't even need to read the words! If your babe is still a wee one, try just pointing at the pictures and talking about them. They don't need small baby words. Just hearing you say words and pointing is already exciting and new to them. Count shapes, locate colours, talk about the feelings associated... Ask questions. Be animated! My little guy LOVES when I use funny voices or hand gestures. If someone is waving a rake in this book, I get him to wave a rake with me! The more involved and animated you are with a story, the more they will be too. Reading is FUN!

June will be a busy month, and most weekends are being filled with vacation plans, etc. I will be posting on our group page the optional book of the month. Take a moment once a day or week to read this book. Build your library! Reading at bedtime with snuggles can be a wonderful ending to anyone's day... Looking forward to writing and reading more for the month of June! Happy Reading!

For more information on early literacy, please go to...
http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/early-language-literacy/earlyliteracy2pagehandout.pdf

May review

Hi Mamas & Tots

This month featured a lovely spring theme about Growing, Gardens and the Great Outdoors. It reminded me that children are like precious flowers, each varied in their own special way, beautiful alone and glorious in a community of peers. So thank you Mamas and Tots for making us all better together!  We had a terrific month full of wonderful events/activities, here is a bit of a brief lowdown of the month

John Janzen Nature

This is a newly discovered gem for myself. Early in the month we explored the forest like indoor playground at John Janzen, my little one especially loved splashing in the stream! After we had a nice chit chat and the kids had time to explore, we took a break for snack time. Once the appetites had been sated we hit the trails in a pram procession. It was lovely to walk through the lush greenery, and easy to forget we were in the heart of the city. Upon our return to the centre, some mamas stuck around to enjoy a lunch and more play time. Miss Fin and I had a fabulous time with all of you mamas and tots! We plan to return on a rainy day soon.

Explore Art

I am getting excited just remembering how glorious this day was! It started off as kind of a blustry gray day to be hitting up Jackie Parker. We arrived to discover some fabulous mamas had secured the indoor pavilion. This was an art project to remember! We painted pancakes with fruit flavoured syrup, or at least some did; mine preferred to simply paint her tongue. By the time the art project/snacks were cleaned up, the clouds parted and the sun came out. The tots hit up the playground and the splash park in style! It was lovely to see the children sharing the toys that we rounded up out of diaper bags and cars. It is truly a special group of mamas to be so giving.

Beanstock Playdate

First of all a huge shout out to Kelly for hosting during inclement weather! For potluck snack time, everyone delighted us with their creativity and brought fairy tale themed snacks! We had Jack's three bean salad, Red Riding Hood's snack basket & muffin basket, Hansel & Gretel brought us their bread crumbs and cookies, The Three Bears oatmeal cookies, The Tortoise and the Hare rolo turtles....mmm so good, The Princess and the Pea salad (if you have not had the pleasure to try the pea salad or the rolo turtles you better hit up Chani and Kelly for the recipe!) Brenda lead us in a science project to grow plants starting with a bean. I can happily say that Finley's beans have started to sprout some roots.

Bookclub & Busybag Swap

Jackie Parker is such a great place to meet up with the littles.  We had a double header as the mamas got together for some fun busybag swaps and a book club for the little ones.  This months book was The Tale of Peter Rabbit - a much loved classic.  Thank you to Chani for leading circle time and sharing a book with us. Reading is a very important skill to have in your mama arsenal, but I will leave more of this subject for a later blog.  

Photos & Playtime  

The lovely Kaylin hosted this event in Millwoods Park, and regaled us with her amazing talents. She captured the essence of our little darlings and we had fun in the park while doing so. If you have not seen her  blog run don't walk and check it out - www.kbphotography.posterous.com  

Rhymes that Bind 

We headed off to rhymes that bind at the suggestion of a mama who has done this a few time, thank you Jennifer!  While I am certainly not a singer by nature, I enjoyed watching the littles dance around and enjoy themselves.  They even had a snack and water break (which was provided for us).  Chani hosted a potluck lunch afterwards (I could live for these potluck lunch days!).  Thank you to all the Mamas out there who are always inspiring me in the kitchen department!  

May was such a fabulous month for us, I really enjoyed the seasonally appropriate theme of growing and nature.  We are looking forward to June's theme of baby animals!  

Taking it one day, diaper and daisy at a time.  

Explore Art

    Today we explored a different way of creating art, painting pancakes with colored syrup! What kid doesn't love getting all sticky, painting, and actually getting to EAT their work, right? I am very blessed to have an exceptional group of moms as friends, really. The day's forecast was to be cloudy,but nice, and I certainly did not expect we would be battling the wind. One particular mom managed to arrange an indoor venue for us within minutes of arriving to our outdoor spot, and for that I am extremely grateful. So like the helpful mamas we all are, everyone pitched in to bring supplies in, and set up tables and chair for the kids to begin working on their creations. Another mama helped make some of the paint, and that was truly awesome of her, since there was no way I was going to make more than 4 colors. Do you know, by the way, that the name blackberry is very deceiving? It looked almost like the paint I made with the raspberries?hahaha. Home made pancakes were used as the kids' canvases and the mixture of pancake syrup with different fruit/veggies was used to dye them different colors. I like how instead of using food coloring, we decided to go a more natural way, but if I had to do it again, I would reccommend using clear corn syrup as suggested to me, so you get a truer color. Regardless, the kids had a lot of fun painting and eating, which is the whole purpose of all of this, to see the smiles on their precious faces.
    Afterwards, we gathered at the toddler park and also ventured into the spray park as the day got nicer. Thank you to all the wonderful mamas and tots that made this day special. I am truly lucky to call you our friends.

Nature

     In honor of Earth day, April 22nd, we decided to make "Nature" our theme of the month. From gathering for playdates at John Janzen Nature Centre, going for walks and a  fun filled Earth Day Picnic, I'd say April was a busy month.  For those unfamiliar to the John Janzen Nature Centre, it houses an indoor playground,while encompassing a forest like feel. In it, there are beehive tunnels, caves, giant treehouse, a beaver damn, and my favorite, the giant mushroom. I am a mother of a toddler, and I have to say, this playground by far is the best I've seen my little potato enjoy. I think us mothers who got the chance to take our kids here, welcomed the fun atmosphere and opportunity to chit chat about life. The centre also houses a classroom where our kids got to don insect back packs, pretend to be squirrels burrowing, and even color against a faux tree bark footprint of various animals.
    Our Earth Day Picnic was our first big event since the birth of " Mamas and Tots", and I'd say it was a success, despite the cold rain of the venue. Mamas and their tots, along with a very helpful daddy, gathered at a favorite park, for a potluck picnic, with Earth Day considerations in mind. I for one, brought chocolate cupcakes (to look like mud) with gummy worms on top for this occasion. I organized and led an arts and crafts project consisting of the reuse of coffee filters, to depict earth from the view of our toddlers. My cohost, Chani, organized and led the making of binoculars out of toilet paper for our last activity of the day, which was a nature walk/scavenger hunt. And while we ate, Chani read " The Lorax" to the kids.  The coffee filter craft involved coloring a filter with green and blue markers (grass and sea) and then spraying with water, once allowed to dry, beautiful earth projects turned out great. It was amazing to see all the different pictures created by our little ones who range so much in age (under 1 yrs old to 3 yrs old). The binoculars were made by reusing empty toilet paper rolls, taping two together, coloring with bingo markers, ingenious idea. Them hole punching a couple of places and running a long piece of yarn through it,so each child could carrying it around them. This was especially cute to see used during our walk. Chani made a picture list of things we were suppose to find on our nature walk, very child friendly, from a pinecone to a tree.  May's theme is "Growing, Gardens, and the Great Outdoors", so stay tuned to see the events and activities taking place right now. In the meantime, here are some pics of April's happenings, arts, and crafts.

                   

                 Happy Earth Day!