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!

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!

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!

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!

Oakville Camps and Sessions for kids during the 2012 Holiday Break

Santa has come and gone but Oakville kids don't go back to school until January 7th.  What to do over the holiday break?  We are lucky to have so many fabulous options, Oakville moms have plenty to choose from!

Register now for these great Holiday Break sessions!

Holiday Dash Sports Multi Sports Camps
December 27 - 29 and Jan 2-5 (scroll to the bottom of their page for info)

The Busy Genie
Dec 27-28 and Jan 3-4

The Little Gym - Holiday Camp Schedule
Dec 27 - 28 and Jan 2 - 4

4 Cats West Oakville Potter Camp
Dec 27 - 28 and Jan 2 - 4

Canlan Ice Sports Hockey Camps
Jan 2 - 4

Little Rascals Indoor Playground
Dec 27 & 28th

The Little Gym Waiving fees until April 29

The little gym is waving their membership fee when new members register for their spring program. This offer is only valid until Friday, April 29th.

Apple Craft Playgroup

Apples Apples Apples! September is here! momstown Oakville had barrels of fun at the Little Gym party room during our Crafty Kids playgroup last week. We had crafts for varying ages and toys for our youngest members :) Panic ensued when I brought out the paint and apples for "apple stamping", but nothing a little wet wipe or maybe seven couldn't fix!

Next month join us for our Turkey themed Crafty Kids playgroup for more fun and more craft-time!