For A Limited Time - Books in McDonald's Happy Meals!

momstown Oakville's monthly Tales for Tots got a special edition this month as we celebrated the new books found in McDonald's Happy Meals.  The promotion began on November 1 and will last for two weeks.  McDonald's is also releasing monthly e-books, which are available on McPlay™, McDonald’s Happy Meal app.

Reading Deana's Big Dreams

The launch of books in the Happy Meal is part of McDonald’s ongoing commitment to evolve the Happy Meal to reflect customers’ changing wants and needs, while championing children’s happiness and well-being.  Happy Meal offerings include a Danino® Strawberry Yogurt, the choice of apple slices, small or mini-size French fries, and the choice of a low-fat dairy option like 1% white or chocolate milk. All four of the limited edition books focus on nutrition and imagination. Our group loved Deana's Big Dreams which has a big dinosaur pull out at the back of the book.  In addition to taking home three of the Happy Meals books, momstown Oakville members also got coupons for a free Happy Meal and a free smoothie, coffee or wrap! In addition to Deana's Big Dreams, we also read the new Robert Munsch book titled 'Swamp Water'.

And thanks to the mama who sent in a picture post event of her kids enjoying a Happy Meal from the coupons they received!

momstown Oakville's Rhyme, Rhythm & Read with Scholastic Canada

Oakville moms and babies got to read a wondeful book called 'Never Let You Go' by Patricia Storms at the momstown Oakville Rhyme, Rhythm & read program in October.  This book just launched and is getting rave reviews!  Lucky James and his mom were the winner of our book raffle and get to take the book home to read again and again.

A big thanks to Scholastic Canada for providing fabulous books to give away each month and to Little Sprouts Cuts for Kids for having us in to use their space.  Rhyme, Rhythm & Read is just one of the many programs included in a momstown Oakville membership for just $45 a year.  Some of our other programs you and your little one can enjoy are:

-Baby Basics (mom & baby program)
-Tales for Tots
-Art & Play
-Toddler Time

Our 24/7 message board is also a great source of support and information on every topic from teething to naps to the name of a good local plumber!  Click here to check out our website and join us.

Making Alphabet Soup At Alphabet Play sponsored by Post Alpha-Bits Cereal

momstown Oakville's monthly Alphabet Play program falls into our Literacy program pillar. Designed around simple crafts, each month this program explores a different letter of the alphabet through stories, play, and crafts.  This month's program was super charged as we learned all about the letter S with an special bonus from Post Alpha-Bits cereal.

Not only did Oakville moms and kids enjoy snacking on the Alpha-Bits, they made a great addition to our craft - Alphabet Soup!  Before we got to crafting, we read a great book called 'Stone Soup' and mixed all kinds of vegetables into our mixing pot.  We also brought out the surprise bag!  Each child got to reach in the bag (no peeking!) and pull out something that started with the letter 's'.  The surprise bag revealed a seal, Spiderman, a skeleton, stickers and more fun items that the kids got to play with.

To make our Alphabet Soup craft, each child glued a bowl and spoon cut out of construction paper onto a coloured piece of paper and then used white glue to stick on the letters of their choice using Alpha-Bits cereal. While the kids crafted away, the mamas chatted about eating Alpha-Bits as a kid and also how it not only works for breakfast but is a great addition to a trail mix snack as well.  The Alpha-Bits website has got some fun recipe ideas too, check them out here. Everyone went home with a box of Alpha-Bits to snack on after all the hard work learning about the letter 's' and crafting some Alphabet Soup!

When should my child take an interest in reading?

The benefits of reading to your children are well documented. While it’s a good idea to do many other things to enhance your child’s education, reading is a simple, effective way to boost brainpower while bonding with your child.

Here are just a few of the many benefits:

• Reading to children increases their vocabulary. A recent study of eight month old babies conducted by the Child Development Center at Rhode Island Hospital showed that the ones whose parents read to them frequently understood far more words than children who were not read to as often.

• Language, speech and communication skills improve when children are exposed to books. By reading to your children, you will be helping them learn to speak correctly. In addition, you will be improving their mastery of the language, and teaching them different ways to communicate.

• Young children love to snuggle up for a bedtime story, but even older children benefit from reading time with a parent. In today’s hectic world, reading together can be a special time, an oasis that allows you to share a meaningful experience.

• Students whose parents read to them tend to be academically advanced. Several domestic and international studies, including an article published by the British Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, found that children who are read to before preschool have a better chance of performing at above average levels throughout their school careers. That’s because reading helps them to master other skills too, like logic and empathy.

• A love of books is one of the benefits of reading to your children that has lifelong implications. People who love to read will continue learning throughout their lives, and this will enrich their world and make them more interesting people. Teaching your children that books are wonderful and reading is fun is one of the best gifts you can give them.

While the benefits of reading to your children can be obvious, what is less obvious is the best way to make sure they get off to a strong start.

If you are unsure as to how your child is doing or you want to be certain they are well prepared for JK/SK or Grade 1 then you should consider some outside help.  The Education Directors at the Sylvan Learning Centre in Oakville have a great deal of expert knowledge and experience and also offers FREE useful online resources at www.sylvanlearning.com.

For children who do seem to be struggling and need a little bit of extra attention Sylvan Learning offers a Beginning Reading program as well as a Handwriting Course to teach a young child how to hold a pencil and to how form letters carefully and confidently.

If you are interested in improving your child’s reading level at any age or grade or are looking for a reading, writing or math tutor then give your local Sylvan Learning Centre a call today at (289) 813-2054.

Tales for Tots: Exploring Apples With Oakville Moms & Kids

momstown Oakville's monthly Tales for Tots program welcomed lots of Oakville moms and kids this week at The Little Gym to explore our theme of the month - apples.  Our craft got the kids glueing and letting the creativity flow with the creation of their own tissue paper apple.

We used paper plates as the apple base. Red tissue squares to fill in the apple, green construction paper for leaves and brown card board for the stem- an easy, adorable apple craft for kids! After our apple crafting fun we sat down to read a wonderful story called Fox and Squirrel. The book is all about appreciating differences in others. Since September is also back to school month, this story was very fitting as there is so many new people at school to get to know and each of us are unique.  As always, we gave away a copy of our Scholastic Canada book to one lucky Oakville mom.  Congratulations to Melissa and her daughter Emily, they were the big winners this month.

Every month we give away a Scholastic Canada book at our Tales for Tots and our Rhyme, Rhythm and Read program.  Come and join us next time!  Click here to purchase your one year membership for just $45. Membership includes all of our programs, a 12 month subscription to Today's Parent magazine and so much more!

Learning To Read: Sight Words For Kindergarteners

My son starts JK in just one short week.  And while I think he's pretty prepared to start the program, I've also been looking into what I can do to assist him as he starts this big new adventure.  My sister (who must have been a teacher in another life) is super organized when it comes to getting activities together that will help her kids learn the outcomes intended for their age group.  Thankfully she is happy to share with me!

Learning to read is such a huge accomplishment for a young child and I can't wait for my son to reach this milestone.  I loved reading as a kid and that enjoyment has followed me all the way through my life and I hope my kids feel the same.

My niece reading to my daughter when she was a baby

Once your little one has a grasp of the alphabet and of letter sounds, a great next step is to move on to what is called 'Dolch Pre-Primer' words and the ability to recognize certain words by sight.  These are commonly used words that will help pave the way towards learning to read.  A list of these words can be found here. Another term used when helping kids learn to read is 'popcorn' words.  These are words that 'pop up' often in every day reading and writing and can also be referred to as sight words.  Here is a great online game for kids to help with sight word recognition - Monkey Madness Movie Theatre.

Here is a quick and easy craft to assemble at home to help learn sight words is a 'word wall'.

What you need:

-Bristol board
-Scissors
-Glue stick
-White paper

Get your child to pick out their favourite coloured bristol board.  Write or type the pre-primer sight words (a, and, away, big, blue, can, come, down, find, for, funny, go, help, here, I, in, is, it, jump, little, look, make, me, my, not, one, play, red, run, said, see, the, three, to, two, up, we, where, yellow, you) on a piece of white paper and cut out each one so that each word is a separate piece.

Post three pre-primer words using tape or glue onto the bristol board and hang it in your child's room. Practice those three words and then on the start of the next month, post three more.  Kids get so excited when they start to be able to recognize the words when they see them out at a store or in a book.  Happy reading!

Activities That Teach Kids About Shapes

momstown's educational theme for the month of June is shapes.  Oakville moms and kids gathered for our monthly Tales for Tots program at The Little Gym and explored all kinds of shapes.  Since our family homes are made of many different types of shapes, the momstown Oakville crowd made shape houses to explore this months theme. We used construction paper cut into multiple shapes, foam shapes, sticker shapes and plenty of glue to put our houses together. We finished our houses with markers and crayons to add special detail touches. Well done little shape builders!

As always, our Scholastic Canada book of the month compliments our theme and so Night Light by Nicholas Blechman was a perfect book to read.  The book is full of shapes that turn into fire trucks, tug boats and school buses just to name a few. Miss Emily was our lucky Scholastic Canada book winner this month- congratulations and have fun finding many more silly fun shapes!

momstown's July theme is The Desert!  Come and join us to explore this fun theme and connect with other Oakville moms.  Sign up for your free trial or buy your membership today for just $45 a year.  All one year memberships include a 12 month subscription to Today's Parent magazine!

momstown Oakville's Mom & Baby Program - Sing, Rattle & Read!

It always surprises me how children of any age just love music.  Momstown Oakville's Sing, Rattle & Read program is always very popular and June was no exception.  Thanks to Little Sprouts Cuts for Kids for hosting us - their vibrant birthday party room always sets the mood for lots of fun!

This mom and baby program involves some dancing, singing and movement songs, exploring instruments and reading our baby book club book of the month from Scholastic Canada.  This month the book was called 'Away We Go' which teaches basic shapes through bold designs and inventive die-cuts on every page - perfect for our theme of the month - Shapes!

One lucky momtown Oakville mom and baby always go home with a copy of the book of the month and our June winner was Olivia!

Next month we'll be taking our mom & baby Sing, Rattle & Read program outside!  If you'd like more information on how you can join momstown Oakville and participate in our 40+ events each month, click here.

Alphabet Play Program for Oakville Kids - The Letter 'O'

momstown Oakville's May Alphabet Play event was all about the letter 'O'!  We had a great session at the Oakville Soccer Club today and explore all the things Oakville moms and kids had brought that started with O.  Then we sang "Old Macdonald Has A Farm" and "If You're Happy and You Know It" using actions for things that start with O.  Our letter 'O' craft was making an octopus so to get us into a sea-like mood we read "Into the A B Sea" and "Commotion in the Ocean".  Each child got to make their own octopus using a paper plate, ribbons and little 'o' shaped stickers.  To make your own octopus craft, draw a face on the paper plate, cut ribbons/streamers into 8 legs, glue them around the plate, and then make suction cups on our legs using the o stickers.

The grand finale was when we talked about 'o' being for orchestra and made a marching orchestra, using shakers and bells and we used the tapping sticks to practice tapping to the beat and going fast, slow, loud and quiet.

For the month June we will learn all about the letter 'P'.  Come on out and join our early literacy programs, click here to sign up and get in on the fun!  Did you know that when you buy a one year momstown membership you also get a 12 month subscription to Today's Parent magazine?  No better time to become a member!

momstown Oakville's April Tales for Tots Program with Scholastic Canada

April brought a new location and new theme for momstown Oakville's monthly Tales for Tots program! The Little Gym in Oakville has moved (now located at 2172 Wyecroft Rd., Unit 23) but it's new spot was equally welcoming and Oakville moms and kids had a great time.

The theme for April is Little Explorers, which was very fitting given that we were exploring a new location. What better way to explore with than making your very own compass! We used paper plates, pipe cleaners, markers and sparkle glue to make the most creative compasses possible. Kids even learned how to remember directions - North, South, East and West - by learning a catchy saying that goes "Never Eat Shredded Wheat.  They are ready to go exploring outside!

We followed our compass making with plenty of play and ended our fun with a wonderful story provided by Scholastic Canada called "Lucky Ducklings".  The story is a tale of little ducklings exploring new habitats and getting into trouble, however with help were all saved and ready for the next adventure.

As always, one lucky mama went home with a copy of our book of the month.  Interested in joining us for Tales for Tots or one of our other great programs?  Your $45 a year membership includes all of our monthly programs and a 12 month subscription to Today's Parent Magazine!  Join us today!

Tales for Tots at The Little Gym in Oakville - 'Goodnight Canada'

momstown Oakville's educational theme for the month of March is space.  Oakville moms and kids gathered at The Little Gym for our monthly Tales for Tots and we explored space and did some learning about where we live. The morning started off right with a space themed craft using white crayons to draw stars and space shapes onto white paper. Then a 'space' coloured paint was applied onto our crayon creations and like magic all of the crayon space shapes appeared! This is a super fun and easy craft, so much so that we made many more to take home to show our friends!

Space themed Tales for Tots

After all the space shape crafting, momstown Oakville moms and kids got busy playing with friends and chatting about upcoming end of winter plans, including finding Easter eggs soon! We ended the morning reading about all the provinces and territories of Canada with a story called "Goodnight Canada". This sweet little book was won by sisters Isabella and Gabriella! Thank you to Scholastic Canada for the fantastic books each month too!

Tales for Tots and all of our other mom and baby and mom and child programs are included in your momstown Oakville membership for just $45 a year.  Purchase your membership here and join us next month!  As an added bonus, you will get a 12 month Today's Parent magazine subscription too!

Books for Babies with momstown Oakville - Welcome Baby!

momstown Oakville had a wonderful Sing Rattle and Read program this morning at Little Sprouts Cuts for Kids.  We started by having all the Oakville moms and babies introduce themselves and share the latest challenges with regards to having a baby.  Not surprising, but sleep issues seemed to be the biggest problem these days!  Good thing we have a sleep consultant coming to our Baby Basics program next Monday!

momstown Oakville is happy to partner with Scholastic Canada be able to give away a book to one baby each month at our Sing, Rattle and Read program.  This month the book was called 'Welcome Baby' by Barbara Reid.  It's a very sweet book about welcoming a new baby, and how important and special they are to their family.  Jacqui was the winner of the book this month, as a prize for Acadia's adorable Valentine's inspired outfit. We also read 'Please Read Me A Book' by Barbara Reid, and discussed the importance of reading everyday to your baby.

Winner of 'Welcome Baby' by Barbara Reid

To finish our morning, Oakville moms and babies sang some action songs, sang and played shakers along to Raffi, and at the end of the program, played with bubbles and scarves while catching up and connecting with each other.

momstown Oakville gives a way a Scholastic Canada book each month at both our Tales for Tots and our Sing, Rattle and Read Baby! program.  Interested in joining us?  Purchase your momstown Oakville membership here - only $45 for the year and includes these and so many other programs.  And as a special bonus, all new 1 year memberships get a 12 month subscription to Today's Parent!  Looking forward to having you join us soon!

momstown Oakville celebrates Family Literacy Day

momstown Oakville moms and kids got together this morning at Canlan Ice Sports to celebrate Family Literacy Day that was this past Sunday, January 27th.

We started the morning by making a family book that we put together with photos and drawings of our loved ones and friends! Both Oakville moms and kids really got into the family spirit and used all kind of materials such as alphabet stickers to spell out the names of special people in their books, markers, glitter glue and colourful string to tie it all together. All agreed it turned out to be a very special family keepsake to take home and share.

Craft time was followed by reading favourite books brought in by the kids to share with the group. Since it was Ainsley's first birthday, she brought her favourite happy birthday book, which given to her for her big day made it all the more special to read. Happy birthday Ainsley!

We ended the morning by reading and then raffling off six books from Scholastic Canada!  'Hot Rod Hamster' and 'How Do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies' were particular favourites! Thank you Scholastic Canada for  helping momstown Oakville celebrate Family Literacy Day!

Did you know that our partners, Scholastic Canada provides us with books for our babies and kids to give away each month and supports our Mama Book Club?  To find out more about our programs, click here!

New momstown Oakville event includes books for babies!

momstown Oakville's Sing, Rattle and Read program for Oakville moms and babies has just gotten even better!  We are pleased to announce that Scholastic Canada is providing us with a new book geared towards babies each month to read to our little ones which will help us integrate literacy, one of our key momstown program pillars into our programming for babies 0-12 months.  At the end of the program the book is raffled off to one lucky family.

We started the morning with shakers, bubbles and songs.   The mamas had to work a bit this morning as we got up to do a moving around song called "Zoom zoom zoom" where you get to pretend your baby is blasting off to the moon and you zoom them way up high.

Then we read our book of the month, 'I Love You' by Caroline Jayne Church and Zachary was the lucky little guy that got to take the book home with him.

Are you an Oakville moms with a baby aged 0-12 months?  Join us next month for our Sing, Rattle and Read program where will be reading and giving away a book called "Welcome, Baby" by Barbara Reid.  This program as well as over 40+ other events per month and a bonus subscription to Today's Parent magazine is included in your momstown Oakville membership for just $45 a year.  Join us today!

momstown Oakville's Tales for Tots Program: My Friend Henry

momstown Oakville had our first Tales for Tots program of 2013 this week! Oakville moms, babies and kids started the new year off right by creating a craft aligned with our 'That's Silly' theme for this month and then enjoyed our Scholastic Canada sponsored book of the month entitled "My Friend Henry".

So...what is white, wintery but down right silly? Why clown snowmen, of course! We used all kinds of materials such as colourful construction paper, sticker shapes and letters and all kinds of sparkle glue to make the silliest snowmen clowns possible!

Silly Clown Snowman

After craft time there was plenty of silly fun among the babies, toddler and kids within the Canlan Room at Canlan Ice Sports. We ended our morning by reading our story mentioned above, sponsored by Scholastic Canada. As always, one lucky mama and her family won a copy of our book of the month.

Our lucky winners!

Interested in joining us for our next Tales for Tots program?  Did you know we also give away a book for babies aged 0-12 once a month too?  Join momstown Oakville here or sign up for a free trial.  Purchase a one year momstown membership and get a subscription to Today's Parent magazine as an added bonus!

Alphabet Play with Oakville Moms and Kids - J is for Jingle!

Every month momstown Oakville moms and kids of all ages get together for our Alphabet Play program.  This month we explored the letter 'J' which tied in very nicely with the holiday theme as 'J' is for jingle!

We used corks to paint red and green jingle bells onto a paper letter J.  We read Christmas stories, played with ABC games, built towers our of ABC blocks, and talked about what different things started with J.

 As an added bonus, our kids got to make their own jingle bells today, using a paper cup with two holes cut in the top.  We threaded shiny red ribbon through the holes and then tied on a jingle bell.  Our Alphabet Play program is hosted by West Oak Village, a long term care facility and the residents come down and enjoy the program too.  This time we made extra jingle bells and shared them with residents and then we had sing song of Christmas songs and shook our bells along to the beat.

Alphabet Play is a popular program and kids of all ages have a great time!  Join us next time as we explore the letter 'K'.  Sign up for your free 4 week trial or purchase your momstown Oakville membership here.  A membership also makes a great holiday gift!  Contact us to learn more about gift certificates.

Tales for Tots: Alphabet Soup

momstown Oakville's theme for the month of November is alphabet soup.  This morning our Oakville moms and kids got together for another great morning filled with painting, playing with friends and reading about letters!

The morning started with the babies and toddlers getting to use their fingers for painting.  After getting crafty and working up an appetite, it was time for a snack break!  Everyone had brought something yummy to share. There was also lots of time for free play and for Oakville moms to catch up with one another.

 

Our book of the month was 'I Spy Letters' provided by Scholastic Canada, a perfect fit for our alphabet soup theme for this month.  Congratulations to Lisa who gets to take home a copy of the book to enjoy with her daughter Alexandra and son Thomas!

Come and join us for Tales for Tots in December.  We'll be giving away a wonderful holiday book!  Our Tales for Tots program is just one of the many programs included in your membership for just $45 a year.