Using Books To Celebrate Holidays With Kids

Momstown's partnership with Scholastic Canada enables us to give away two books a month to some lucky mamas.  I loved the books that we got to read in December, both were perfect for the time of year and the holiday season.  Books about any holiday or season seem to become special favourites at my house as my kids look forward to pulling them out year after year.

For our December Tales for Tots program, our book of the month was called The Night Before Christmas by Barbara Reid.  Our winner, Sarah, will have so much fun reading this book with her children each Christmas season!

We give away a Scholastic book each month at our Tales for Tots program and our Rhyme, Rhythm and Read program.  To join momstown Oakville and participate in our programs, click here.  Our January Tales for Tots book is called Superworm  and you can enter here to win a copy!

momstown Oakville's Rhyme, Rhythm & Read Program

momstown Oakville offers a few programs just for moms and babies as a way for new moms to connect and find support within the Oakville community.  In addition to our weekly Baby Basics program, we also run a program that focuses on early literacy and musical fun held at Little Sprouts Cuts For Kids called Rhyme, Rhythm and Read.  Each month we read a new book from Scholastic Canada and then one lucky mama gets to take it home to read it over and over again with their little one.

This month we read 'Kiss, Kiss Good Night' by Kenn Nesbitt which is an board book that tells the story of how mommy animals say good night.  A perfect snuggle up, bedtime book that shows baby bunnies, lambs, chicks, kittens, and cubs settle down for a good night's sleep while their mommies give them nuzzles, cuddles, and good-night kisses!

In addition to reading our book, we break out the parachute, let the babies shake and play with instruments and sing a few fun songs that gets the little ones bouncing along to the tune.  Join us next month by signing up on our events calendar!

Mama Book Club: Oakville Moms Discuss Inhuman By Kat Falls

momstown Oakville's calendar always has lots of great moms night out events each month but this week the fun was around our Book Club.  Thanks to Scholastic Canada for providing us with some great fiction to read by Kat Falls.  The book was called Inhuman and takes us into a dangerous world as we follow the main character, Lane, into an adventure as she tries to save her father.

The United States has been divided by a war that has left the eastern part of the country ravaged by mutation where many of the people exhibit varying degrees of animal traits. But Lane must travel into the forbidden savage zone to recover lost artifacts or her father will be killed.  The story is filled with awesome imagery and you can't help but visualize what a half man, half tiger creature might look like.  It was both fascinating and creepy to think about the mutations that may live in the feral zone.

In discussing the book, our mamas thought it was an engaging read and enjoyed the story.  There are two love interests in the book and we joked about who was 'camp Rafe' and who was 'camp Everson'.  There were also comments about the great writing by author Kat Falls, as she used the main character's Dad, Mack, to be a key piece to the story that wove everything together but he himself was hardly in the book at all, just mentioned through flashbacks or people talking about him.

Inhuman is the first book of a triology so there will be more to follow about Lane and her adventures in a darker world, one so different than where she grew up. My guess will be that Mack (Lane's Dad) will be a bigger key character in the second book as the past that Lane doesn't know about will come full circle and she will discover things she wouldn't even have dreamed about.

It was a great night out with wine, cheese, some treats and fabulous company and conversation.  Stay tuned for our book club picks for 2014!

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.

momstown Oakville's Rhyme, Rhythm & Read Program Gets Oakville Babies Giggling!

Who doesn't love to hear babies giggle?  Oakville mom and babies sure do!  momstown Oakville's Rhyme, Rhythm & Read program enjoyed bubbles, games and a giggle filled story time at Little Sprouts Cuts For Kids this month.

Our baby book of the month was called 'Giggle' by Caroline Jayne Church.  Momstown loves our partners at Scholastic Canada who provide us with a copy of our book of the month to give away to one lucky mama. Congratulations to Joanna and Daniel who were our winners this month and get to take home 'Giggle' and push the button to hear the giggles coming from the book over and over again!

momstown Oakville gives away a book each month at both our Rhyme, Rhythm & Read Program as well as our Tales for Tots program.  And coming up this Fall is our Mama's Only book club - a big thanks to Scholastic for providing us with some awesome book choices!  To find out more details, make sure you check out our jam packed events calendar.

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!

momstown Oakville Celebrates Turning Six With Oakville Families And A Huge Birthday Party!

On Saturday, August 17th, hundreds of Oakville families came to Coronation park to celebrate momstown Oakville's 6th birthday.  This free family event welcomed over 1,000 people and had something for everyone from face painting to arts & crafts, prizes and of course, cupcakes!  A big thank you to all the Oakville parents and kids who came out to celebrate with us.  We also want to thank all of our sponsors, partners and volunteers for making this our biggest and best party yet!  Thank you also to Danielle Wilson Photography for capturing all the fun.

The line up started about 30 minutes before the party began!

Kids CBC's Daniel Tiger was on hand to greet guests as they arrived.  Thanks to Rachel Bailey Photography for being on hand to snap pictures of kid with Daniel!

The party kicked off with a few draw prizes for our guests who were first to arrive and then we got the crowd moving and grooving with music from Suzy Sunshine.

The crows was also treated to a few more amazing presentations from No Limits Martial Arts, Annex Dance Academy and Little Kickers.

WOW!  The crowd loved the moves from No Limits Martial Arts

Annie, the hippo mascot from Annex Dance Academy got all the kids participating in their dance demo

All the kids starting to line up to get their turn at a penalty kick with Little Kickers

There we so many activities for people to participate in!  In addition to the interactive presentations going on throughout the party, we also had a bouncy castle sponsored by Kyle & van der Steen LLP, a sensory station from Reeves Financial Services, colouring station from St. Mildred's Lightbourn School, a SupperWorks Picasso painting station where kids got to paint using fruits and vegetables, bubbles with Kidex Academy, glitter tattoos from Hopedale Community Nursery School, face painting from Little Rascals Indoor Playground, great recipes for healthy snacks from Dr. Michelle Peris ND, science & discovery fun with Physioremedy, a chance for kids to try out rugby with Rugby Tots Canada, an obstacle course from Monkeynastix and our own momstown Oakville station giving out balloons and Klutz sticker sheets!

Can't forget to mention the always busy Fisher Price Little People Play Zone that had four awesome toys for kids to play with.  And four lucky winners each got to take one of the toys home with them!

Thank you also to our partners, Red Cross Canada for bringing a very cute fishing station and the Oakville Public Library for having their puppet theatre and tons of books to share with our party guests.

And what's a party without presents and cake?  Well, we had tons of happy families going home with some awesome prizes.  In addition to giving away four Fisher Price Little People toys, we also gave away a Britax B-Agile stroller and organic baby carrier, four tickets to Dora Live show coming this Fall, a Scholastic Canada book pack, a Monkeynastix's birthday party package, a year of free dance classes from Annex Dance Academy, a certificate to have legal wills and power of attorney done from Kyle & van der Steen, a session of classes with Rugby Tots and the list goes on!

Some of our lucky winners!

Then the time came to sing happy birthday (thanks for the help Daniel Tiger & Suzy Sunshine!) and our guests lined up to enjoy a delicious, nut free, cupcake from Cupid's Cupcakes.

We feel very lucky to have had such a wonderful celebration and that so many Oakville families came out to join us. To see more pictures from the event, click here.   This event was the perfect end to summer and we're are getting excited for all the fun things momstown Oakville has planned for the Fall.  We invite you to join our growing community!  Sign up for your free four week trial or purchase your membership here. Every 1 year membership includes a 12 month subscription to Today's Parent magazine! momstown Oakville offers support to moms and families with young kids and provides a great opportunity to meet and make connections with other Oakville moms.  We offer over 40+ events each month and would love to have you join our momstown community.  

Prizes To Be Won At Momstown Oakville's Free 6th Birthday Community Event on August 17th!

The momstown Oakville's 6th Birthday Party is less than 2 weeks away!  We are in full birthday party planning mode and are so excited to share the celebration with you.

One of the amazing things that will be part of this event is all the prizes we have to give away!  Which of these prizes do you have your eye on?  Keeping checking back for new prizes added to the list!

Britax B-Agile Stroller, Valued At $270

Britax Organic Baby Carrier, Valued At $150

Fisher Price Little People Animals Sounds Farm
Fisher Price Little People Happy Sounds Home
Fisher Price Little People Stand & Play Rampway
Fisher Price Baby Skin Products Prize Pack
Family Pack of Tickets (4) to see Dora Live!
Birthday Party Package from Monkeynastix Canada
One Year of Dance Classes at Annex Dance Academy
Scholastic Canada Prize Pack
Pampered Chef Rectangular Baker
Two Personal Training Sessions From Oakville Naturopathic Wellness Centre
$50 Gift Card for SupperWorks
$50 Gift Card for Whole Foods
Gift Card for getting a Will done with Kyle & van der Steen LLP

Thanks to all of our sponsors for providing such awesome prizes!  Make sure you RSVP for the event as that will get you an extra ballot for the prize draws!  Please note, you must attend the party to win.  We will be drawing prizes at three different times throughout the event.

Good luck!

momstown Oakville's Mom & Baby Program Heads Outside To Sing, Rattle & Read

momstown Oakville has lots of programs each month perfect for moms and babies.  In addition to our weekly Baby Basics mom and baby program, we also have a Sing, Rattle & Read program that gets Oakville moms and babies moving and grooving!  This month we gathered outside to enjoy the beautiful summer weather and were thrilled to have such a large group join us.  Not surprising, but 20 little ones can make a lot of noise!

Everyone was up on their feet and participating in action songs and rhymes before we broke out some instruments and let the babies shake til their hearts content!  Each month we read and then give away one copy of a Scholastic Canada Book at our mom and baby Sing, Rattle & Read program.  This month the book was called 'No more puppies jumping on the bed' and the winner was Sylvia and her daughter Ariana!

We finished the morning blowing bubbles and watching them get carried away in the gently breeze.  Bubbles are always a hit and an easy way to get some giggles!

momstown Oakville's mom and baby programs run all summer long and you can join at any time.  Visit our website to start your free 4 week trial or purchase your yearly membership for just $45.  Your membership also includes a 12 month subscription to Today's Parent magazine!

July Tales for Tots - momstown Oakville's Parented Early Literacy Program

The hot, hot and more hot weather this month really fit our momstown theme at Tales for Tots this month: The Desert! momstown Oakville moms and kids packed the party room at The Little Gym to get crafty and enjoy our book of the month from Scholastic Canada.   

A very common sight in the desert is, of course, the cactus so we decided to make our own version minus the prickles! We used pre cut cactus shapes cut out of green construction paper, pink and white tissue paper for the flowers, stickers to jazz it up, google eyes so that our cactus friend could see and finally markers to create a big smile! As with every Tales for Tots program run by momstown,  Oakville kids had plenty of free play and to end our morning we read a very special story that celebrated the hot sunny days of summer called "Let It Rain" sponsored by our friends at Scholastic Canada.

Every month one lucky little one takes home a copy of the book we read and this month Cooper was our proud winner and could not wait to read it again with mom- congratulations Cooper!

Momstown's theme for August is birds!  Join us as we explore all things related to our feathered friends.  Sign up for your free momstown Oakville trial today - click here.

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.

Rain, Rain, Go Away - momstown Oakville Moms And Babies Sing, Rattle & Read!

It was a hot and sunny day for momstown Oakville's May Sing, Rattle & Read program so our moms and kids were thrilled to read a book that went along with our theme for the month of 'wet, wet. wet' helped them think about cooling down.

Our Scholastic Canada book of the month was  Rain, Rain, Go Away by Caroline Jayne Church.   Our Oakville babies loved their time reading and exploring instruments, singing songs, dancing, some visiting with some puppets too!

Congrats to Zoe, the winner of our Scholastic Canada book of the month!

Both Oakville moms and babies love the songs with actions and movement

Thanks again to Little Sprouts Cuts for Kids for hosting us and to all our moms and babies who came out for a fun morning.  Our theme for June is shapes and we've got another great Scholastic Canada book to give away.  Sign up now to join us and get a 12 month subscription to Today's Parent magazine with your one year momstown Oakville membership!

May Tales for Tots - Early Literacy Program for Oakville Moms and Kids

momstown Oakville moms and kids gathered at The Little Gym for our monthly early literacy program sponsored by Scholastic Canada.  This month's Tales for Tots book was called 'Split! Splat! by Amy Gibson. The book went very well with our theme for May which was all about getting wet, wet, wet!  And as much fun as water can be, the best way to keep dry is to make sure you have an umbrella so the kids made their own!

Here is what you need to make these cute umbrellas:

-Coloured foam for the umbrella base
-A pipe cleaner for the handle
-Plenty of sticker shapes, pom poms or whatever you have on hand to jazz them up!
-Glue stick
-Tape to keep the handle in place

Congratulations Alex!

We admired our creations during snack time and then read 'Spilt! Splat! which is a really great story about celebrating and enjoying a rainy day.  As always at our Tales for Tots program, we gave away a copy of the book and Alex was our proud winner this month-congratulations Alex!  The kids also enjoyed some free play time which allows Oakville moms a good chance to connect and chat.  We'd love to have you join us next time!

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!

momstown Oakville Mom Wins A Copy Of - 'Alligator Baby' at Sing, Rattle & Read Baby Program!

momstown Oakville mom and baby program, Sing Rattle and Read held at Little Sprouts Cuts for Kids always draws a big group and April was no exception.  This month Oakville babies got a chance to play with scarves, shakers and bells before being read a classic book, 'Alligator Baby' by Robert Munsch.

Babies love making music!

We always give away our Books for Babies book of the month provided by Scholastic Canada and this month Trudy and her son were the lucky winners!

While the babies explored making music, there was lots of time for moms to chat and connect - always a great part of any momstown Oakville event!  Would you like to join us for this and other mom and baby programs?  Join for just $45 a year which gets you access to ALL of our events and so much more (including a 12 month subscription to Today's Parent Magazine!)

Oakville Moms Book Club - The False Prince

momstown Oakville loves supporting literacy and reading for all ages and so we were thrilled to have Scholastic Canada provide our members with a book to read for our Mama Book Club.  The book was called 'The False Prince' and it got positive reviews from all the Oakville moms that read it.  'The False Prince' is the first book of three by Jennifer A. Nielsen and had our momstown Oakville members intrigued and loving the mystery and deception that flowed through the story.

The Mama Book Club host pulled together some discussion questions and the group had quite a dialogue about the story that started off as a potential rags to riches tale but soon turned into a tale about royal sacrifice and secrets.  There were plenty of twists and surprises that lead to a very edge of your seat ending that we discussed throughout the night. Since this is just the first of the trilogy we all agreed it was a great set up to the next, which we all cannot wait to get our hands on!

Thank you Scholastic Canada for such an action filled adventure that we had a very hard time putting down! momstown Oakville moms love getting together for mom's night out events and in addition to book club we also have craft nights, poker night and nights out in Oakville as well.  Would you like to join us for a night out or for all of our daytime programs for Oakville moms and kids?  Sign up here for your trial membership.

Oakville Mom and Baby Program Reads 'My First Hockey Book'

momstown Oakville's mom and baby program Sing, Rattle and Read held at Little Sprouts Cuts for Kids is always very popular.  Its so great to see the babies getting so excited when they get to use bells, shakers and of course, bubbles!  And thanks to Scholastic Canada, each month an Oakville mom and baby get to take home our baby book of the month.

Bells and shakers!

Bubbles!

We sang some songs and had fun with bubbles before setting down to read a few stories including our book of the month for babies, "My First Hockey Book", by Ian Crysler.  Congratulations to Jacqui and baby Acadia who were the lucky winners this month.

Are you an Oakville mom who has recently had a baby?  Sign up here and give momstown Oakville a try. We offer a weekly Baby Basics program as well as our Sing, Rattle and Read program and many other events each month all for just $45 a year.

Tales for Tots - The Very Hungry Bear

It was all about celebrating love at momstown Oakville's Tales for Tots today. Given that Valentine's Day is fast approaching, both mama's and tots were very much in a loving spirit making hand made valentines for their loved ones and friends!  momstown Oakville moms and kids will be taking some of these Valentine to hand out to residents at West Oak Village nursing home on Valentine's Day. There were plenty of hearts for everyone to make special cards using plenty of stickers, paper cut outs, glitter, markers and crayons to really express there Valentine's day love! We followed this with plenty of free play for the tots and catch up time for Oakville moms.

Since the theme for February in addition to celebrating Valentine day is all about polar animals, we ended our morning reading "The Very Hungry Bear" which involved both a brown bear and a polar bear helping each other by sharing fish and finding the perfect place to live. This lovely book about sharing and lending a helping hand was won by Liam. Congratulations Liam! Thank you Scholastic Canada for the great books each month and to Little Gym for a wonderful place to spread out with our momstown Oakville mama's and tots.

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!