2013 Halloween Events for Oakville Moms And Kids

Halloween is such a creative holiday with so many ideas for crafts, costumes and spooky snacks!  We're lucky that Oakville moms and kids have the opportunity to celebrate with so many local Halloween events! Have you marked your calendar with these fun events?  I'm sure you'll see some of our momstown Oakville moms and kids there!

Little Rascals Indoor Playground Hotel Transylvania Halloween Party
Saturday, October 19, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Come get your key and stay awhile at the Hotel Transylvania. Explore Hotel rooms with spooky surprises. Visit Franenkstein's home away from home or Dracula s crypt suite. DANCE the night away in the hotel banquet hall. Prizes and treats, juice provided. Order pizza for the family through Little Rascals. All ages, family event, $25 plus HST per family or $15 plus HST for one child/one parent.

Halloween Spooktacular at the Halton County Radial Railway
Saturday, October 19 & Saturday, October 26, 6:30 PM-10:00 PM
All ages event! Walk through the haunted car barn and travel in the old, creaky streetcars along the mainline and enjoy some hot apple cider & scary snacks. If you’re a Halloween fan this is definitely a spooky experience not to be missed! Costumes encouraged. Reservations not required. Tickets sold at the door.

Spooktacular Halloween at Mountsberg Conservation Area
Oct 19 & 20 and 26 & 27th, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Start your Halloween festivities early at Mountsberg Conservation Area's Spooktacular Halloween. This event is free with park admission and features plenty of hauntingly good fun for everyone: Pumpkin Patch, Toddler pumpkin maze, Haunted PlayBarn, Pumpkin Scavenger Hunt, Kids crafts, Harvest games and Bison rides.

Family Great Pumpkin Carving/Decorating Contest with the Oakville Public Library
Saturday, October 26, 2013 from 1:00-4:00pm
Attention all Families! Take some time and choose, decorate and carve a pumpkin for our Great Pumpkin carving contest! Bring it to the Central Branch for judging! Prizes awarded in various “spooktacular” categories. This is a free event.

Halloween at the Oakville Museum
Sunday, October 27, 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Join us at the Oakville Museum for our annual family friendly Halloween event. Come in costume and experience a historical Raggedy Ann story time, hunt through the house counting pumpkins, and make your own Halloween scarecrow craft! Crafts, games, popcorn, prizes = FUN! $5 per person.

Tiny Tots on Parade, Downtown Oakville
October 31st, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
With our friendly witch, cuddly friends and Oakville Fire truck display, not to mention all the tasty treats, it's a day you don't want to miss! Please come in costume and bring a bag for all of your treats!

Glama Gal's Little Goblins Halloween Bash
Thursday October 31st, 10:00am-11:30am OR 1pm-2:30pm
This jam packed event for Little Goblins 5 and under includes making a halloween mask, a monster mash mini dance party, create your own mummy cupcake, snack station, candy buffet and more!  $20 per child and $5 per parent.  Tickets need to be purchased in advance, reserve your tickets here or call (905)842-4257.

DIY: Burlap Fall Wreath With Flowers

momstown Oakville has got some really crafty moms as part of our community and so we often have a Crafty Mamas moms night out where we all work on the same craft or sometimes each mom works on her own craft (scrapbooking pages, cards, etc).  It is fabulous when these events come about as it motivates me to get crafting and try something new.  This time I decided to make a Fall wreath using burlap and some felt. I liked this design as it seemed simple enough but was rustic and perfect for my door for the next few months.

Here is what you need:

16" styrofoam wreath from a craft store
Glue gun
Burlap garland
Red, orange, gold and/or yellow felt (or other colours of your choice).  You'll need three colours.
Green spraypaint
One other colour of spray paint for the flowers.  I picked a deep purple (almost brown) but you can pick any colour you'd like.  Cranberry, purple or a dark pink would work too.

Burlap Fall Wreath

Steps To Make the Wreath:

1.  Fold the starting edge of the burlap three times so you get a narrower width.  Glue this to the back of the wreath using the glue gun. This will be your starting point.

2.  Wrap the burlap around the wreath so its completely covered.  Make sure you pull the burlap tight each time you go around the styrofoam.

End of step 2 - your wreath should look similar to this picture

3. Cut the burlap off from the rest of the roll that may be left and glue the end to the back of the wreath with the glue gun.

4.  Next. cut out five strips of burlap (use the width of the garland, its the perfect length) for the green leaves and three strips for each flower (so 15 total for the flowers).  You can also use 4 strips per flower if you'd like.

5.  Once the strips are cut, fold them in half width wise and trim each of the corners off to a rounded shape. When you unfold the strips, you should have an hour glass shape.

6. Spray paint the hour glass shaped strips using the colours that you have choosen.  The leaves should be green, the flowers can be whatever colour you'd like.

7.  Once the spray painted pieces are dry, arrange the leaves and the flowers on the wreath.  I played around with mine a bit until I found the way I liked them best.

On the left is the hour glass like shapes.  On the right is my flowers arranged on the wreath.

8.  Using the glue gun, glue the green leaves on first, followed by your flower pieces.

9. Cut out small rectangles from the coloured felt, one from each colour (so three in total).  Rectangles should be about the same size as half of a credit card.  

10.  Using the glue gun, apply some glue along the longer edge of the rectangle and then roll the other side over the the glue and secure.  You'll end up with something like a mini straw.

11.  Then roll the felt from the shorter end (like rolling a sleeping bag) to the other end and use the glue gun to secure.  This gives you a rosette type mini flower that will be the centre of the burlap flowers.

Close up of the flowers with the felt centres

12.  Using the glue gun, glue a felt rosette into the centre of each burlap flower.

13.  The final step is to use leftover burlap to make a hook to hang the wreath.  Choose a length that will work for where you want to hang the wreath and then double that length.  Once you've cut that piece of burlap, fold it in half so you have the original length you wanted.

14.  Put the piece of burlap under the top of the wreath so you have an equal amount of burlap on each side and then use a piece of burlap string (that you can pull from the leftover burlap) to tie it towards the top.

My burlap Fall wreath is complete!

This was a really easy craft to do!  It may seem like there are a lot of steps but it didn't take very long and was a great project for an occasional crafter like me.  If you are interested in other Fall wreath options, check out this beautiful one made out of wood or I also love these DIY decorative blocks for the holidays.

Being a momstown member is a great way to try new things so please visit our website to find out how you can sign up to join us and be part of our next crafty mamas night!

5 Halton Thanksgiving Weekend Family Activity Ideas

Whether you are roasting a turkey this weekend or enjoying Thanksgiving dinner at a family member or friend's house, there are lots of other fun family activities to do this long weekend.

Cute Craft Idea - Turkey Trivets!

Check out a Fall Fair
Rockton World's Fair is a big deal full weekend fall fair just down the highway. The schedule looks packed and fun for all ages!

Apple & Pumpkin Picking
Chudleigh's and Frootogo are fabulous places to visit for apples. Momstown Oakville has picked pumpkins at Parkside Farms in Waterdown too.

Harvest Celebration
Check out the Springridge's Harvest Festival for a great day of family fun

Take a Hike
Our Halton conservation areas supply endless fun, beautiful trials for hiking or biking and discovering!

Get Crafty 
Of course, momstown will always encourage you to pull out the craft supplies - we have oodles of craft activities for Thanksgiving, Fall or even Halloween!

How To Make Summer Snowballs - Sensory Fun For Kids

One of the things that Oakville Moms love about momstown programs is that we offer tons of craft, sensory and playtime fun and we deal with all the prep and the mess!  This was certainly true last week when we decided to try out a recipe for Summer snowballs.  This was a great sensory activity for kids and although it was pretty messy, the mixture is easily washable.

All the kids just dove right in and wanted to mix our ingredients

Here is what you need to make Summer Snowballs:

-Two 16oz boxes of cornstarch
-One can plain shaving cream

Dump the cornstarch in first and then add the full can of shaving cream.  You can vary the amount of cornstarch and this will make it more or less mould-able.  Two full boxes of cornstarch will allow you to form compact snowballs.

Everyone had a lot of fun with this sensory activity.  If you are looking for more ideas for sensory fun, check out our recipes for making your own cloud dough or silly putty.  And if you'd like to join us the next time we make a great big mess (and leave you with none of the clean up!), click here to find out more about a momstown Oakville membership and our special offer from Today's Parent magazine.

momstown Oakville Moms And Kids Cook Up Dinner With Chef Boyardee!

momstown Oakville moms and kids got together one late afternoon this week for a special Junior Chef with Chef Boyardee. Meal time with a busy family can be tricky and it was great to make some recipes that make meal time easier for the whole family by providing quick options!  For this event we tried Chef Pizza-roni Skillet and Ravioli Lasagna. With no preservatives, Chef Boyardee is a great kitchen staple to use as a base to make many different delicious meals.  Have you ever thought of combining Chef Boyardee with different protein options, veggies and cheese for kid approved yummy results?

Each child got one of these adorable aprons!

We divide up the jobs and got kids ripping spinach, helping to chop yellow and green pepper, measure out the cheese and even open the cans of Chef Boyardee.  All of the moms were loving the fact that their kids kept sneaking pieces of  peppers as we cooked!  This is a fabulous bonus of having kids help you in the kitchen.

The kids loved hearing what step was next as we worked together to build two delicious meals and we chatted about the foods that we were using.  A common comment from participating Moms was "I never thought of using Chef Boyardee this way but love how quick and easy this can be!"

And after lots of chatter and excitement during cooking time, we were then met with silence around the table as the kids sat down to gobble up the tasty dinner they had made.

Here is the recipe for the Ravioli Lasagna, a great way to add protein and calcium into meal time:

Ingredients

2 cans (2 x 425 g) Chef Boyardee® Mini Ravioli®

1 cup (250 mL) finely chopped spinach

2 cups (500 mL) grated Mozzarella cheese, separated into 1 cup (250 mL) portions

1 cup (250 mL) 2% cottage cheese or Ricotta cheese

1 teaspoon (5 mL) Italian seasoning

Directions

1. Spray 8" square or round baking pan with PAM®.

2. Spread one can of pasta on the bottom of the baking pan. Place chopped spinach in a glass bowl and microwave for 10 seconds; drain. Spread spinach over pasta and top with cottage or Ricotta cheese, 1 cup (250 mL) Mozzarella cheese and ½ teaspoon (2.5 mL) Italian seasoning.

3. Layer second can of pasta. Top with remaining Mozzarella and Italian seasoning.

4. Bake at 400°F for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Allow 10 minutes to stand before serving.

Oakville moms and kids went home with full tummies (and that meant Mom didn't have to make dinner or do dishes) and goodies too!  Each child received a very cute Chef Boyardee apron and Mom went home with two cans of Chef Boyardee to use at home and a can of PAM cooking spray.

Make sure you check out the Chef Boyardee Facebook page and the recipe section of their website for more great meal ideas.  

Why Running As A Team Can Help You Achieve Your Goals For The CIBC Run For The Cure

Whether you've already registered for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's CIBC Run For The Cure event or not (what are you waiting for - click here!), I hope you've been able to join a team or plan on recruiting some friends or family to participate with you.

Register now!

Here are my top five reasons why you need a team:

5.  If you registered your team of 10+ by September 20, you get team t-shirts!  If you missed that deadline, you’ll still get a 2013 t-shirt.  As I mentioned here, I got a t-shirt last year and it makes me proud to wear it.
4.  Things are always more fun when you are doing it with friends.
3.  Healthy competition!  Your team will push you to fundraise just a little bit more, run just a bit faster or        stop you from walking the last 0.25km when you've already come so far.
2.  More people on your team means more people taking the time to do something good for themselves.  Leading an active lifestyle is one of the ways we can prevent cancer.
1. Frankly, the more people we have supporting and raising awareness and funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, the better.  1 in 9 women is expected to develop breast cancer in her life time.

Did you know that you can even register a team on the day of the event?  There is still lots of time to get some people together and do your part to create a future without breast cancer!

When the momstown Oakville team ran last year, we were a group of women who all had many different reasons to run and were at various stages in our lives.  Some brought their little ones in strollers, some walked the route, some were running for a 5km personal best time, and some (like me) were doing it in an effort to challenge myself and to start to make time for fitness again after having two children in the last few years.  Some had lost a family member to cancer, some were supporting a loved currently living with the disease and all of us were running to reduce the number of women that ever have to say 'I have breast cancer'.

So, who's making the list of people you are going to reach out to with an invitation to join you on Sunday, October 6th for the CIBC Run for the Cure?

momstown Oakville's New Programs for Toddlers and Sensory Play

As momstown Oakville continues to grow and welcomes more and more Oakville moms and kids, we are pleased to be adding more fun programs for our members to participate in.  This past week we kicked off our new Toddler Time program (perfect for that 10 - 30  month age group) as well as a Sensory and Discovery event that we plan to have outside each month (yup, even in the winter!).  Both new programs will be offered each month, sometimes on weekdays and sometimes on weekends.  Check our calendar to when these events are happening next!

Toddler Time

Circle Time

Our Oakville moms and toddlers gathered at Canlan Ice Sports to spend a hour being busy and burn off some of that toddler energy!  The event included:

• A toys table--shape sorters, block stacking, nesting blocks, magnetic alphabet, and pom pom colour sorting
• An art station where there were apple shapes for colouring, we used scribble cookies and chalk
• Sound station, toddlers tried to match sounds using their hearing sense
• A floor toys area we had vehicles and a playmat
• A sensory station that had shredded paper and hiding inside were pumpkins, apples and  leaves
• A gross motor area where there was a pretend vacuum,  tunnel and beachball

After play time, the event ended with circle time.  We sang songs that matched our theme of the month, 'apples', such as "1 little 2 little 3 little apples" and "Apples on the apple tree"

Sensory Discovery

Leaf Rubbings

This event was held outside on a weekend and we had moms, dads and kids of all ages join us.  Here's what kept the group busy:

• Marble painting: Take a plastic Rubbermaid box, add an apple cutout, a few marbles and drops of paint. Then shake the box to distribute the colour. The kids loved hearing the sound of the marbles rolling around and seeing the new colours made from the marble tracks.
• Make a Leaf Person: Each child could create their own leaf person using leaves of various sizes, twigs, googly eyes, and coloured sequins.
• Leaf Rubbings using scribble cookies.   Find out how to make your own scribble cookies here.
• Mystery box.  This was a shoe box wrapped in paper with a hole in the side just big enough to fit a child's arm. The kids had to guess what was inside only using their sense of touch. They loved trying to guess! Inside the box was a leaf, rock, mini pumpkin, apple, pinecone, and a flower. 

We invite you to join in on all the fun!  momstown Oakville membership is just $45 a year and includes all these great events and so much more.  Click here to purchase your one year membership which also includes a 12 month subscription to Today's Parent magazine.  Oh, and did I mention that in addition to having lots of fun, you may just end up with a bunch of new friends too?  Hope to see you soon.