Are you stumped as to what to serve your baby for snacks. Especially stroller-friendly snacks you can pack to go! Jazz up the menu with these super simple, super healthy and super yummy muffins. With no sugar, no butter and no oil they are perfect for baby (and mom too)!
Zucchini Muffins
(Use a mini-muffin tin to make them the perfect size for little hands)
Do you feed a kid when they come over for a playdate? Usually a snack needs to happen, but what do you feed them? Something healthy-ish and fun is a good call. It’s not a sugar-busting birthday party, just a fun play. Homemade Granola Bars fit the bill!
Easter is looming and other than chocolate and the Easter Bunny there is one constant theme you will see on the Cadbury Easter Egg commericals, on Easter cards, in the plush stuffy aisle and—it's baby animals!
Soon, your preschooler is going to ask where the chick is from this morning's scrambled eggs. Let's divert from answering that question and distract with a craft idea? Sound good?
Maple Candy. Maple Syrup. Maple Bacon. Maple Cookies.
Canadians love maple flavours, it’s built into our heritage! We eat lots of pancakes and cover them in maple syrup! It's a standard in our Canadian cupboards.
Are you Irish? Part-Irish? On St Patrick’s Day you are!
St Patrick’s Day is a fun holiday to celebrate with families—there are rainbows and leprechauns for the kids and beer for the adults. How much better can it get?
The independent playdate. It’s a milestone worth noting. After years of mom tagging along to group playdates or playgroups that were really a coffee date for mommy, it’s time for your child to go on her first solo play. And in turn, you need to reciprocate (the unwritten law in playdate land!).
The entire point of Valentine’s Day is to show people that you love them. What better way than to roll up your sleeves and actually put heart and soul into a gift? Kids are dying to be creative and show their love with art.
Instead of buying another box of precut valentines, encourage your children to put their real hearts into the action! Yes, this will involve more work for parents. But the act itself shows your love for your children—sit down with them and get busy creating!
It's baby's first Christmas and you want to find the perfect gift for grandparents, or to keep for yourself to remember just how special this holiday was.
Here are some great ideas to create DIY Christmas crafts with baby:
At momstown Burlington's Baby Basics program, we are all about sensory activities, and one of the best activities for your baby is to create a sensory bin. Sure, it sounds like a great idea, but so many mamas brush it off as being too hard or too messy. But babies love new experiences, textures, shapes and colours, and making your own sensory bin doesn't have to be hard.
Whether there's snow outside or not, you can bring snowflakes into your playroom with momstown's Eight Great Snowflake crafts!
Tis the season for snowflake making! My kids are on a cutting spree, as they love to use scissors, and cutting snowflakes is right up their alley! If your child is learning to use scissors, give them a hand and make your snowflakes together. They will love the surprise when you unfold them and see the uniqueness of each one.
We all need a good dose of Poppy Perspective this Remembrance Day.
It’s Remembrance Day week—a time to take a minute (please!) to remember and recognize the reality and sacrifices that our veterans and current Canadian forces have sacrificed on our behalf.
Sometimes, recognizing the small things is an act of Remembrance. It’s showing appreciation for the privilege of being Canadian. This 12-11-11 take a moment to embrace this kind of Poppy Perspective.
With the leaves falling all around us and our rakes working overtime, it's a great chance to teach our kids about why the trees lose their leaves and the transitions through the four seasons. We took a corner in our basement playroom and we talked about making it a full four season tree.
Get started with Fall: momstown got busy creating a large wall tree on the playroom wall and spent a morning making apples and leaves to fill it.
I think it’s a pretty common feeling parents have in that they sometimes wish their kids were more independent or find that they can't wait until they get a bit older and can do more things for themselves. I'm in this camp too, however lately I found myself not even realizing that in some cases I am already there. But I'm still not enjoying it!
momstown Edmonton South owners Kristin and Janine provide a great perspective on why we all need to strive to be more empathetic parents and friends. It's easy to judge, and yep, we all do it. But when you're on the receiving end, things look a little different. Read what they have to say after years of watching moms and kids interact.
With the 2012 Summer Olympics behind us, many kids may be newly inspired by the champions they saw on TV. And back to school brings with it a big parks and rec guide in many towns and cities across Canada. As we peruse the guide (they are offering fencing in my town now!) we tend to think back to what inspired us as kids to take part in and try out new sports and activities.
It's back-to-school time, and back to routines and schedules. It might be a good time to introduce (or re-introduce!) the concept of chores and responsibilities in your house, too! momstown Mississauga owner Sarah is the mom of twins, so she gets double the chores done at her house (right?... well, read on to find out!)
Do you have a little one starting preschool this fall? Nervous about the transition (for both of you)? It might help to hear the story of momstown Burlington owner, Lisa, and her experience with the big first-day-of-preschool, last year!
Well, the big day has come and gone, and we're all still in one piece. My big guy, Oliver, has officially started preschool.
We're inspired by momstown communities across Canada who paint every week with kids—at Picassos in the Park, at an Art & Play program, at Baby Picassos. Painting is a great learning experience for kids. Painting lets kids explore their creativity and express themselves. Painting with kids gets moms involved too.
