momstown Community Celebration 2014!

Presented By:

You're invited to momstown's Community Celebration at West Edmonton Mall! The Ice Palace is about to transform into momstown! A bustling community with so much to explore! Travel through Literacy Lane for educational activities, stroll the Arts District to develop creativity or make your way to the Avenue of Champions for active fun!

Where: 8882 170 St NW, Edmonton AB

Time: 10am - 4pm

Date: Saturday April 12, 2014

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Belly Basics: Mom Panel with Bun in the Oven Consignment!

Presented by: 

We've teamed up with Bun in the Oven Consignment and Cafe O'Play to host a fantastic evening to ask the questions that your doctor just can't answer.  

This interactive evening will include a panel of new and seasoned mothers and an exclusive shopping experience with Bun in the Oven Consignment! You'll get a new perspective on the joys and tribulations of all things pregnancy and baby related!

We know the experts on motherhood are mothers themselves! At momstown, we turn to each other for advice, feedback and support. What could be better than having your questions answered in person by real moms!

• Wondering what labour is REALLY like?
• Curious to hear from real moms about transitioning from 1 to 2 kids (or 3 or 4!?)
• Find out what you MUST have in the hospital and what you can skip!

February 28th, 2014

 7pm-9pm

5667 Riverbend Rd NW

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Planet Music Kindermusik Class

momstown Edmonton had a ton of fun this month dancing and singing with Ms. Thea from Planet Music! We first enjoyed a Village Music Class designed for lap babies, crawlers and walkers! The Village Class incorporates the most current research on early childhood development and provides families a special place for learning and connecting with other parents and babies through music and movement. Our mamas loved the way the class focused on the parent child relationship not just fun! They were also very impressed by the talented Ms. Thea's ability to capture the attention of the tiniest members of the momstown family with her singing and guitar! 

Next, our moms of many got to enjoy a Wiggle & Grow Kindermusik class at Planet Music! This family style class brings parents and children of all ages together, providing a dynamic and integrated musical learning experience for everyone. Attending this class were babies as young as 4 months up to 4 years old and everyone loved it! We giggled and jumped our way through this class with Ms. Thea as our guide. Our moms said they loved that Ms. Thea was so attune our children's needs. Instead of following a rigid schedule, Ms. Thea ensures that the class follows the energy level of the children. Silly songs, parachute play and musical instruments were all a hit as well.  
 

Planet Music is a full service music studio offering all types of music lessons from voice to piano and everything in between! Located just off the Whitemud on 50th street making it really easy to access from all areas. Space is filling fast for these great Kindermusik classes, but registering is simple using their online ordering system! Click here to find out more!

Tales for Tots: Superworm!

momstown Edmonton mamas and kids got a special treat this month for our Tales for Tots event. Thanks to Treehouse Indoor Playground, we got to craft, read, and finish our time together by playing in a fantastically fun indoor playground! The kids and mamas all had a blast! We began our fun together by reading a great books compliments of Scholastic Canada. Superworm by Julia Donaldson was a hilarious story of an unlikely superhero. The rhymes were captivating, and the pictures were bright. The kids loved to "read along" with the chant of Superworm! Carson was the lucky guy who got to take home the hilarious story of Superworm!  

For our craft, we continued our theme of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and made adorable name trains. The kids loved choosing the stickers for their train wheels! It was a great way to incorporate some letter learning and crafting! After we finished crafting, the kids went wild playing in the fun play structures at Treehouse. From climbing walls, to slides, to ball pits, there is something for every child here! 

We get together every month to read a new Scholastic book, and every month one child gets to take home a copy of it. Want to get in on this event next month? Sign up here!

Little Scientists: Fun with GOO!

Science is all about making observations about the world around us. At momstown Edmonton, we love doing just that! This month, we headed to Beaners Fun Cuts for Kids in both St Albert and Sherwood Park to make some observations. We decided to take some simple things that most people can find in their cupboards at home and make GOO! 

Our Little Scientists mixed cornstarch, water, and food coloring together to make some fantastically fun goo. First, they used their hands to feel the cornstarch and then described what they felt. One of our scientists described it as being slippery, and one described it as being fluffy. Then, we poured in some coloured water and started mixing! We were all excited to see what our mixture would turn in to, and some of our scientists dove right in with their hands! We had so much fun squishing and squeezing the goo! The best part about this goo is that it seems to defy logic! It's not really a liquid, but not really a solid. When you squeeze it, it feels hard. But when you just hold it, it drips through your fingers. Not only is it a great sensory experiment for the little kids, it's a great science learning opportunity for older kids. To learn more about this mixture, check out this link!

Did you know that Little Scientists is just one of over 30 events a month that we offer all over Edmonton, Sherwood Park, and St. Albert? And ALL are included in your yearly membership? Sign up here!

Art & Play: Airplanes!

Each month, momstown Edmonton focuses on a different theme for all of our Program Pillars. From farm animals, to fire trucks, to princesses and pirates, we've had some great ones over the years!  This month, we have been learning all about Planes, Trains, and Automobiles! In partnership with the Callingwood Community League, we got together to make the most adorable Airplane magnets. We started our fun with some circle time by singing some songs and getting to know each other. Then, we got right into our craft! It was so much fun to see how each kid chose and painted the different colors on their airplanes. The bright colors were great! We finished our time together with some fun parachute play and visiting. The kids (and mamas) had a great time! 

Want to make an Airplane Magnet with your own child? Follow the directions below!

What You Need: 

-clothespin
-3 regular size Popsicle sticks, (1 cut in half)
-tempera paint
-glue (white, or hot glue)
-adhesive strip magnets

What You Do:
1. Paint the clothespin and Popsicle sticks. Let dry.
2. Once dry, glue the Popsicle sticks onto the clothespin as pictured. 
3. Stick the magnet to the underneath of the airplane. And you're done!

Did you know that Art & Play is just one of over 30 events that we offer monthly for only $45 a year (for a limited time)? Sign up here to join us next month!

Alphabet Play: T is for Train

It's a new year, and momstown Edmonton is just as excited about the alphabet this year as we were last year. Not only do we get together to learn and craft about a letter, but we get to snack on yummy Post Alpha-Bits as well. Talk about a great recipe for a great event! This month, we got together at Beaners in Sherwood Park to learn all about the letter T. We started off our learning by reading a great book called  Trains: Steaming! Pulling! Huffing! by Patricia Hubbell. The kids loved this simple book! Then, we used our bodies to play an Alphabet Movement game where the kids had to act out simple movements like "Jumping J" and "Crawl like a Cat C." 

After our alphabet circle time, we got down to business and began to craft. We continued with our Trains, Planes, and Automobiles theme and made a "T is for Train Tracks" craft! Each kid had to draw and cut out an upper and lower case T (with a little mama help) and glue it on to some construction paper. Then, they glued down some pre-cut strips to make the train tracks on the T! No train tracks are complete without a train, so to finish, we added on some Thomas the Train stickers. We finished our alphabet fun by making letters out of pipe cleaners! Bending and manipulating the pipe cleaners is a fantastic fine motor skill activity that will help with pre-writing skills! 

Thanks so much to Post Alpha-Bits for the delicious and nutritious snack each month! The kids at momstown Edmonton love the taste, and the moms love being able to give it to them! Not only are they great for eating, but they are great for playing with too. The kids love finding all the letters of their name in their cups of cereal!

Are you interested in what we have to offer? Membership is only $45 (for a limited time) and includes this event and over 30 others per month! Check us out!

Remember What We Forgot?

I asked my daughter what she wants to be when she grows up. 

She firmly answered; "A cooker and a rainbow." 

That's right. In her 4 year old heart she truly believes that she can be a cooker (which is a chef), as well as a prism in the sky caused by a magnificent combination of water and light. That's how amazing and incredible she is. 

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 

Probably in the same place, with a bigger office, paycheck and house? 

That's it? Is that the dream?

Would your 4 year old self be proud of you? That's a silly question right? 4 year old's know nothing about real life. They don't know the realities of money and family that crush our dreams like tiny ants on the sidewalk. They don't know that sometimes we fall into jobs that make us miserable, but they pay the bills. They don't know that we pay thousands of dollars to be educated just to end up despising our profession. They don't know that it's easier to stay where you are than to start all over again. 

Remember what we forgot? 

We forgot the limitlessness of our dreams. 

We forgot how incredibly powerful we are. 

We forgot to just believe. 

Fear has stifled our ability to grow. 

Fear of the unknown. 

Fear of failure. 

Fear of success. 

Would your 4 year old self be proud of you? 
Not of your job but of who you turned out to be. It's not that silly. Would she be proud of your tenacity? Would she be proud of your dreams? Dreams don't have to be your profession. They can be seen in your hobbies, volunteer work and how you spend your time. 

Your dreams are as important as your mortgage payment. Say that again with me, your dreams are as important as your mortgage payment. The person you want to be is only stifled by your belief in yourself. We can learn a lot from looking at life through the eyes of a child and life's too short not too. 

Is there something that you want to do, but it just doesn't seem feasible? For one reason or another you've told yourself you can't. There's always a way.  Use your 4 year old reasoning and believe that you can have whatever your heart desires. Now use all the amazing knowledge you've acquired in your 25, 30 or 40 years and... 

Go get it. 

* Inspired by this amazing video *

Music & Movement: Backyardigans Deep Sea Adventure

Just like our momstown kids, The Backyardigans like to go on fun adventures. In their newest live tour- The Backyardigans: Sea deep in Adventure- the Backyardigans go underwater, exploring coral reefs and meeting new friends like Octopus and Dolphin. momstown Edmonton sang and danced to the music of the newest Backyardigans adventure at Treehouse Cafe this week. The kids had a blast as we pretended we were sailing, flowers, and even tightrope walkers! It was so much fun seeing the kids and mamas dance around the room! 


We also made a fun and very simple jellyfish craft. First, the kids decorated half of a paper plate using crayons and bingo daubers. Then, they glued some colored streamers to the bottom of their plate. The results were cute and the kids loved "flying" them around the room as they danced!

We finished off our fun together by drawing for a fun prize package complete with tickets to the upcoming Backyardigans tour February 16! Lucky Declan and Maia will get to see the fun new show next month! If you would like tickets to the show, visit The Backyardigans website at www.TheBackyardigansOnTour.com.

Junior Chef: "Wheels on the Bus" Pizza Rolls

momstown Edmonton loves to bake! Our event at The Pan Tree is always so popular that we just knew we had to get a second one started. So starting this month, we have partnered not only with The Pan Tree for our Junior Chef program, but also with the Callingwood/Lymburn Community League! That means that every month we will be able to get together twice to make delicious food with each other! We sure have some lucky members!

This month we made very yummy "Wheels on the Bus" Pizza Rolls. These little rolls are so incredibly easy to make that it was perfect for even our littler ones! And the recipe is very versatile. Add whatever you'd like to make it your own little pizza rolls! Or, if you don't like pizza just use some jam or fruit instead to make some sweet Wheels on the Bus Rolls! 


Wheels on the Bus Pizza Rolls
(slightly adapted from here)

Ingredients:
1 package of puff pastry
2 small cans of tomato paste
Grated cheese (your choice, we used mozzarella!)
Oregano
Basil
Garlic Powder
Flour (for dusting the counter top)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  
2. Lightly sprinkle flour on your work surface. Roll out each half of the puff pastry into a rectangle (about 9" by 13").
3. Spread the tomato paste along the entire surface of each pastry rectangle.
4. Sprinkle with oregano, basil, garlic powder, and grated cheese.
5. Roll each rectangle up (from the long edge) and pinch the edge closed. 
6. Cut each roll into 12 pieces and place on baking sheet.
7. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the tops are slightly browned. 
8. Let cool, and enjoy!

Did you know that Junior Chef is just one of our fantastic programs that are covered in your membership? We have over 30 events a month, all over the city and surrounding areas! Sign up here to join us next month!