Lots of Ideas for Family Fun on Family Day

Family Day started in Ontario in 2008.  Over the last four years the options of how to spend the day have greatly increased.  Do you have a Family Day tradition or do you look for new and exciting things to do every year? 


Whether you are hoping to stay close to home or take a little adventure, here are a few events that should pique your interest.


1.  The Town of Oakville in collaboration with other community partners such as the YMCA and the Public Library have created a jam packed schedule of free family fun for their annual Make your Family Move Day!  Skating, story time, fitness and a pizza or BBQ lunch or just a few things you'll find as part of the day's festivities.  


2. Old Navy is hosting a FREE Family Day event at its Etobicoke store across from Sherway Gardens on Monday February 20th from 1-4 pm. The store will turn into the Funnovation Imaginarium, a place where the whole family can get wildly creative! Activities include dancing to a live DJ on the Funky Floor, strutting your stuff on the Crazy Catwalk, accessory designing and creature creation, as well a Kooky Cookie and Juice Bar. There is a special discount for purchases over $50, as well as a swag bag while supplies last.

3. All Aboard!  For all the train lovers out there, you may want to make your way into Toronto to check out the Model Railway Show.  I've heard that this show is HUGE hit with preschool aged children and although there is a cost ($8 per adult and $4 per child - cash only) I think we may venture down as I know my son would love this event.

Whatever you decide to do, enjoy the time with your family and be sure to visit our Facebook page and tell us how you spent the day!

Goodbye Nagging! Another learning opportunity brought to you by momstown!

My son just turned three.  Overall, he is an awesome kid.  But as I just mentioned, he is three (trying 3's I think they call them?)  Lately I feel like I've been having to tell him things many, many, many times just to get simple things done.

"Put your boots on please." (No response)

"We need to go now, I asked you to put your boots on please."
(I get a glance, but no action.  Playing cars and trucks continues.)

"I don't want to have to ask you again...get your boots on please!"

And it's not like we were going to the dentist's office or something, we were going to a playdate!

So how can I get him to listen without nagging?  Thankfully momstown and Postive Parenting have teamed up to bring you another one hour webinar training course called "Get Kids to Listen Without Nagging, Reminding or Yelling."

This event is open to everyone so feel free to share this information with friends and family.  All you have to do is register and then log in from the comfort of your own home on Tuesday, February 21st.  There are two times to choose from - 9pm or 11pm.

And did I mention that its FREE?!  Seats are limited so I encourage you to register today.

I have already registered and have my notepad all ready to go.  There will be concrete tips and tools guaranteed and I cannot wait to put them to good use!

The scoop

I like to cook and I like to bake.  A few years ago I took some continuing education classes in the Chef School at George Brown College.  One of the courses was called "The Art of Cookies", and after each class I would come home with two big boxes of cookies I'd made.   In amongst all that butter and flour, I definitely picked up some useful tricks and also acquired a few kitchen tools that have become staples in my kitchen. Now when I bake cookies and share them with others, I often get asked how I get them all to be the same size and to look so uniform.

So here is the scoop on the scoops!

These are called Cookie Scoops and come in all sorts of sizes.  Their popularity has grown in the last few years for sure.  They really do help make a uniform looking cookie and they bake much more evenly.  Before I had these tools, there would always be one cookie that would come out a bit burnt because I had to make sure that another cookie on the same tray wasn't still raw!  I have one more size that is larger than the two pictured here and I use that one for muffins.  The other awesome benefit - I find it makes putting cookies on a cookie sheet so much faster!

My son loves to help me bake.  He likes to operate the stand mixer and, of course, enjoys the end product.  But I also find the scoops are a great way for him to help me out.  I scoop the dough and he likes to push the release button to put the cookies onto the cookie sheet.  It's always fun to have him help me, even if way more flour ends up on the floor.  Okay, not just flour, but brown sugar, egg shells, etc!

And here is the finished product.  Delicious, uniform and evenly baked cookies!

What are your kitchen tips and tricks?

Winter Days with Momstown Oakville!

I know I find Mondays to be a very long day sometimes. After the excitement of the weekend, and the help of having my husband home with me for 2 days, I never really look forward to Mondays....unless I have something fun planned! Getting together with so many other great moms, having our kids run, play and interact can change my Monday right around!

That's exactly what our moms did this week! We had a playgroup at Dazzle Art! Lots of room for the energetic kids to run. Also - momstown provided a great craft table for the little ones to create "snowflake snowmen". This was a momstown arts and crafts inspired project. For details about this craft or other "winter" themed crafts you can do at home with your little one, check out our arts and crafts blog.




I love watching the kids interact, and play together.


This event is never complete without Sherri's circle time and parachute songs! Thanks to Sherri from Circle Time Parties, our kids were jumping and dancing.


Momstown Oakville has this playgroup every month, plus lots of other great playgroups for kids ages newborn to 6 years old. If you are interested in joining us for an upcoming event, register for a free 4 week trial, or email Kelly for information.

Welcome Kelly as our newest momstown mama!

There's a NEW mama in town! We're pleased to announce a big change for momstown Oakville. As many of you know, our chapter has quietly been for sale for awhile and in the meantime, our incredible Community Manager, Sarah McLaughlin, has been running momstown Oakville since spring 2011.

A new licensee owner has come on board to manage momstown Oakville which will be very positive for membership, for growth and for making even better developments to the chapter. Sarah will be staying on as Community Manager as well, which means Oakville will have a superstar tag team to rely on, support and engage with.

Introducing, Kelly Goring Hodgson, you will know as KellyH on the message board, as our newest momstown mama!!



Hi! My name is Kelly Hodgson and I am the new owner of momstown Oakville. I have a three year old son and an 11 month old daughter. I moved to Oakville four years ago and when I had my son I knew I needed to get out and connect with other moms in the community. I have been a member for two and a half years and recently decided to follow my gut and become the owner of momstown Oakville. Whew! I've been dying to let that news out for a couple of weeks!

I grew up in a city in northern Ontario very similar to Oakville. Some of my best friends are those that I’ve had since my toddler days and it’s because of the relationships that my parents built with others in our community and in our neighborhood. I grew up feeling like I had not only my family, but several others that were there to help and support me.


I was drawn to momstown for the reasons mentioned above and because I know how much I value and count on the support I receive as a Mom. I really couldn’t do it without other Moms to connect with. I want to make sure that every Mom in Oakville feels like they also have support whether it’s through attending events, the message board or just reading the blogs to know that she’s not alone.

I’ll be upfront in saying that my maternity leave ends in March and that I am going back to work. But I am so thankful that Sarah McLaughlin, the Community Manager will be staying on and will continue doing all the great stuff she does for momstown Oakville. The benefit now though, is that you will have two of us to help ensure that you have lots to keep you and your little ones busy and even more ways to connect with the community. I am, of course, open to feedback and really hope to meet those I haven’t met before very soon. Please feel free to contact me and let me know what you’d like to see more of (or less of) for 2012.

I think that’s all the serious business out of the way for now. I am really excited to be a part of the momstown team and cannot wait to get started! There will be some changes coming, but they will help to make 2012 the best year yet for momstown Oakville!

Literacy Moments in momstown Oakville

Happy Family Literacy Day!!! momstown Oakville is fully committed to literacy, early learning and encouraging a love of reading. We pulled up a few of our favourite pictures of some of our literacy based activities!

We love our Scholastic Canada partnership - we have books to read and giveaway at our Tales for Tots monthly program.

All ages love storytime!

Recipes are a terrific way to reinforce literacy and our Junior Chef program is perfect for this!

Oakville Parent & Child Centre attended our momstown Oakville Birthday and held a quiet reading corner!

Crafts are a big part of momstown and support literacy!

Our themed curriculum included a Zoo theme and a T is for Tiger alphabet activities.

Singing ABCs is a simple and easy way to bring the alphabet into your daily sing-songs. Notice the letter themed play mat? Sound out letters, push cars around the shapes of the alphabet, trace them with your fingers - great support for letter recognition!

Pencil practice is key!

The best way to learn is to have FUN! We're always having fun in momstown!

Boys and Girls Learn Differently Seminar

As a mom of different gender kids, I am very interested in this free parenting seminar hosted by the Oakville Parent Education Network and thought momstown should pass along.

Boys and Girls Learn Differently Seminar

The Oakville Parent Education Network Invites you to attend the following event about how gender differences influence learning and behaviour.

• Wednesday, January 25, 2012
• 7 – 9 p.m.
• Holy Trinity Secondary School
  2420 Sixth Line, Oakville view map
• Free Admission!

Boys’ and girls’ brains develop and operate very differently, and understanding the implications of what that means will help both teachers and parents. You'll learn strategies to raise and teach either gender to help them succeed in school and in life.

Guest Speaker: Michael Reist is a teacher with over 30 years of experience in the classroom. He is a frequent speaker to parent groups and education conferences across Canada where his workshops on gender differences and learning have drawn large crowds and enthusiastic responses. Michael’s work has been featured on CBC, TV Ontario, Today’s Parent Magazine, The National Post and the Toronto Star. Michael is the author of the forthcoming book Raising Boys In A New Kind Of World. His first book was entitled The Dysfunctional School: Uncomfortable Truths and Awkward Insights on School, Learning and Teaching. He has published over 70 articles on topics ranging from education, spirituality and parenting to movies, books and popular culture.


To RSVP

• Online
• Call 905-825-6000
• E-mail accesshalton@halton.ca