North Edmonton momstown Programs for Kids

momstown’s 6 Program Pillars which define our event curriculum. momstown has always been very focused on the whole child, the complete family and early education and our new pillars give us a stronger foundation from which to build that awareness. momstown is not “just” a convenient playgroup. We’re so much more.

Our 6 momstown Program Pillars: 

Art & Music: developing creative minds 
Literacy: commitment to early education 
Nutrition: food, friendship & fun 
Science & Discovery: Inspiring curiosity together 
Fitness & Adventure: encouraging family activity 
Play & Social: the heart of momstown

Programs for Kids in North Edmonton

Music & Movement
Bring your singing voices and musical vibes to momstown music and movement where we’ll sing together, play, dance and learn!

Play & Social

Get to know other moms, share your experiences, tips, stories and support one another. All ages are welcome at this event.

                             

Rhyme, Rhythm & Read

We’ll enjoy a short baby-friendly story time, get moving with shakers and simple instruments, and leave time to connect and chat with other moms. This program is geared towards ages 0-24 months, but all ages are welcome to attend!

Toddler Time

Toddler Time is a biweekly event aimed at ages 12-36 months! We'll alternate between sensory play, simple crafts & fun with the parachute outside! Feel free to bring the whole family (including dad!) to get in on the fun

Where are momstown's Programs for Kids in Edmonton?

Our most frequently asked question is "Where can find momstown programming?" Our answer is always, "We're everywhere!"  To help visualize that we really do mean it - we put together a map for our readers to see where all of the great programming we offer is located!

Purchase your 1 year momstown membership by clicking here! As a bonus you also receive a 1 year subscription to Today's Parent Magazine!

Click below on your neighbourhood for

 more details about what's offered for your family!

§ Toddler Time

§ Play & Social

§ Little Scientists

§ Tales for Tots

§ Play & Social

§ Baby Basics

§ Toddler Time

§ Baby Basics

§ Art & Play

§ Junior Chef

     

§ Toddler Time

§ Play & Social

§ Tales for Tots

§ Little Scientists

§ Play & Social

§ Rhyme, Rhythm & Read

§ Play & Social

§ Music & Movement

§ Junior Chef

§ Alphabet Play

§ Toddler Time

§ Play & Social 

Alphabet Play: C is for Christmas Tree

momstown Edmonton loves learning about the alphabet. Every month we get together to focus on a new letter, and this month we decided to look at the letter C. We talked all about the sounds that the letter C makes and brainstormed a few C words. We discovered that one of the kids even had a C name, Cassandra! Since it was so close to Christmas, we decided to make "C is for Christmas Tree" for our craft. The kids cut out a green C (some needed a little mama help!), then glued it down on a piece of construction paper. The C then became the tree, and the kids decorated it with rhinestones, stickers, and glitter glue. It was easy and turned out pretty cute! 

We finished off our alphabet fun with homemade gingerbread play dough (from here with 1 T each of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger added and no Jello) and a delicious snack compliments of Alpha-Bits cereal! The kids loved snacking on the nutritious cereal as they made different letters with the yummy smelling play dough. 

Want to join us in the new year for even more fun? This is just one of over 30 monthly events that are included in your membership! Sign up here!

Tales for Tots: The Night Before Christmas

One of the great programs momstown Edmonton hosts every month is Tales for Tots. This fantastic program which puts a fun focus on children's literature is sponsored by Scholastic. This month at Beaners Sherwood Park, we read "The Night Before Christmas" by Barbara Reid. We just love Barbara Reid, and this book was no exception. It took a classic story that we all know and added Barbara Reid's fabulous Plasticine pictures. If you haven't yet looked at a Barbara Reid book, you need to! The kids loved all the mice as the main characters, and thought it was hilarious that Santa Claus was a mouse! We pick a winner for the book each month, and lucky, little Mila got to take home her very own copy. 

For our craft, we decided to make something to decorate the Christmas tree with: Glittery Pine Cone Ornaments. This craft is very simple to do at home. We used some pine cones that we had collected way back in September before the snow hit, some white glue, and lots of glitter. The kids used Q-Tips to spread the glue on the top of each little leaf of their pine cone. This is a fantastic fine motor activity that even my 18 month old was able to do! Then, they sprinkled glitter on top to make them sparkle! Our kids were very excited to use many colours and it was so neat the way that the different colour combinations turned out. The kids loved them too!  My eldest son insisted we put his on our tree as soon as we got home, and I was happy to oblige because they turned out beautifully! 

A Corner of White - Mama Book Club Sponsored by Scholastic Canada

This month our momstown Edmonton mama's gathered for our monthly Mama Book Club.  In November, our book was provided by Scholastic Canada who sponsors many of our momstown Literacy Programs including our Toddler book club called Tales for Tots, Rhyme Rhythm and Read and our Baby Book Club.

This month Scholastic Canada provided the books for our mamas to read. We were able to choose from six fantastic titles. Our Edmonton mamas decided on:

by Jaclyn Moriarty

This book also goes beyond definition but is huge in-house favourite! Jaclyn is a truly unique gifted writer, and this story is set partly in our world and partly in an invented world—between these two worlds is a gap, and a troubled teen has found a way to communicate with a young man in the fantasy world.

Here are some comments about the book from our momstown mamas:

 I love the personification of colours it made my imagination run wild. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series. It was an easy read that was full of whimsy. I hope we are able to do another book review with Scholastic. Perhaps something a little deeper. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review!

-Alana

Cute concept - Madeleine lived in the world as we know it, and Elliott lives in a fantasy world and they communicate by letter via a crack between the two worlds (the letters appear in a parking meter and an art sculpture). Madeleine doesn't believe Elliott but then they end up helping each other out inadvertently through their correspondence.Definitely an easy read s ince it is book 1 of a trilogy,  I can see myself reading the next 2.

-Nicole

Would you like to take part in our next mama book club? Join momstown - a membership lasts all year long and includes this as well as 30 other fantastic programs every month!

http://edmonton.momstown.ca/membership

Art and Play: Santa's On His Way!

Art and Play is momstown Edmonton's flagship monthly event. We love getting together for a great theme-based craft and some fun play afterwards. This month at momstown, Santa is on his way, and we wanted to include him in our Art and Play event! After reading a great book called "Tyrannoclaus" by Janet Lawler, we gathered around the tables to make these great Santa Claus faces out of paper plates and cotton balls! 

These are very easy to do. Just paint the face a peach color, cut a red hat out of cardstock, and get some cotton balls to make the beard and hair. Glue down the red hat, the cotton balls, some eyes, and a red pom pom for his nose. You could even add a mouth and some rosy cheeks with a marker if you'd like! One thing we found was that if you pull the cotton balls apart just a little, the beard and hair looked much better.

After our Santa faces were made, we just had to bring out the parachute. The kids always love parachute time, and this month was no exception. The hit of parachute time is always when we make a "mushroom," run underneath, and sit down under the parachute until it slowly falls down around us. Parachute time is a great way to get some energy out--especially on these cold winter days in Edmonton!

Did you know that Art and Play is one of the great events that is included in your membership? For only $45 a year, you get over 30 fantastic events a month! Sign up here!

Little Scientists: Graham Cracker Architects

Every month, momstown Edmonton gathers together for some science fun at Beaners in Sherwood Park with our Little Scientists. In keeping with the holiday spirit in December, we decided to try our hand at being architects and build graham cracker houses! It required a little help from the mamas, but the kids did a great job helping to squeeze the icing and place the graham crackers. Once each house was built, they got to go crazy and decorate their houses! It was so much fun to see how carefully some of the kids placed their decorations. Some of the kids began snacking and eating their houses right away, while some insisted on carefully bagging them up and bringing them home. My son even wanted to bring his in to show Santa!

Want to do this with your own kids? It's easy!

What You Need:
-royal icing (we used a pre-mixed bag)
-6 graham crackers
-paper plate
-candies for decorating

What You Do:
1. Using the royal icing, pipe along one edges of each of the 4 graham crackers. Stick together at right angles so it forms a box with an open top and bottom.
2. Pipe icing along the entire bottom of this box and stick it to the plate.
3. Pipe icing along one edge of the two remaining crackers. Stick these two together to form a roof.
4. Pipe icing on the top of the box in order to attach your roof.
5. Let dry for about 5 minutes, then decorate!
6. Eat and enjoy!

Want to join us next month? Check out this and all of our other programming here!

5 Gifts NOT To Buy My Kids This Christmas

Please don't take this the wrong way.  I'm grateful for the people in my life that love my kids and want to buy them Christmas gifts. But please, for the love of god, just read this list and avoid the gifts below that make us parents want to rip our hair out.  

1) Noisy Toys.
Do you know what my kids are? Living, breathing noise machines. They make noise 24/7, it's like they take shifts keeping me up at night.  I'm sure they make a master plan as they brush their teeth to make sure I only get 20 mins of sleep straight. The last thing I need is a noisy toy.  Not only does that toy just add to my chaos but there is nothing creepier than hearing a toy say "Ma-Ma" from deep within the toy box. The general rule could be; If it has batteries, we don't want it. 

Better Option: Anything else. For real. Absolutely anything else.

Hint for moms: When that noisy toy gets unwrapped put duct tape on the speaker, it muffles the volume enough to tolerate it till the battery dies. 

2) Christmas Dresses
It's either Christmas day or 3 days before Christmas. Do you think I'm that unorganized that I haven't thought about getting an uncomfortable crinoline infused dress for my daughter? (Don't answer that.)  If you don't see it on her it's because I decided to...I don't know...buy something practical or maybe she'll wear it for 10 mins for photos before any food goes into her mouth and destroys it. Either way that ship has sailed and getting a dress that's only good for one occasion is basically like flushing your money down the toilet.

Better Option: Just buy her regular old clothes. I know they aren't as precious or fun to buy, but they'll get way more use out if it. (Please, for the love of god, just ask what size they are first - all 6 year olds are not size 6, contrary to popular belief.)

Hint for moms: When you inevitably get the frilly dress let them use it for dress up clothes. "Look now you can be a princess all year round!" We do this with every fancy dress my daughter's ever worn, flower girl dresses and all.  If I spent $100 on a dress it might as well get worn, right?

3) Stuffed Animals 

In my opinion stores should just stop selling these altogether.  I'm sure there are enough stuffed animals in the world to give one to every child for the next 50 years. Can you guess how many my child actually uses? One. Yet, I could fill an entire room with the stuffed animals we've received. The chances your stuffed animal will be the one they hand down to their children is so slim, I'm begging you not to try. Side note: If you get something insanely over-sized I refuse to even pretend to be happy, you'll see the rage all over my face.

Better Option: An age appropriate puzzle or game.  Something that will get my kids thinking and learning important skills like reasoning and taking turns. 

Hint for moms: Donate them to the hospital. Parents that lose babies need something to go home with.  My daughter has slept with Maya Bear for 4 years and it meant a lot to us after our loss. 

4) Anything That Hangs on the Wall.
I strongly urge you to rethink that giant canvas you're about to purchase.  Parents know that kid's interests change faster than you can say "ninja turtles". Every time a new movie is released my kids get obsessed, that doesn't mean that I want to cover their walls in Spongebob Squarepants paraphernalia.

Better Option: Buy the movie or book! If they like it that much I'm sure they'd love to watch or read it 1 million times, until the next big thing comes along, of course. 

Hint for moms: Hopefully you have a playroom where you can hide it. If not, try selling that piece of...umm..art on kijiji. Maybe someone is looking for an enormous Pokemon print?   

5) Instruments.

This is not a toy. It's a torture device.

This shouldn't need an explanation, but here it goes.  My kid may or may not be the next Mozart. But please know a plastic drum set or better yet, an entire box of plastic "instruments" (I use this term loosely) will not help them develop their gift. 

Better Option: How about some music classes? Much better way to spend your money. (Disclaimer: Please consult parents before adding said music classes into an already busy schedule.)

Hint for moms: Re-gift! Just don't make eye-contact with that poor mom in your kids class who is the lucky recipient. My apologies, in advance...

Although we appreciate that you the took time to get my kids a gift this Christmas my sanity would certainly thank you for sticking to experience gifts like passes to recreation centres, indoor playgrounds or the movie theatre. Better yet, give the gift of your time. They love you more than anything you can buy in a store - create some memories with the kids - they'll last a lot longer than that Santa Stuffy that sings jingle bells..because....I killed him. 

Santa has arrived at North Pole Place in West Edmonton Mall!

Santa is back! Have your photo taken with Santa through December 24, at North Pole Place, his home for the holiday season. North Pole Place is located on Level One, Phase I, in front of Hudson’s Bay. 

Santa’s Hours:
Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m.
Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Christmas Eve, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Photo Packages:
Single Package $22
Additional Packages (same pose) $17
USB $27
Single Package and USB $37

Santa took a tour of West Edmonton Mall before finally settling in at North Pole Place, my kids loved this video! Let your kids watch Santa exploring all of their favourite attractions and get excited about coming to visit North Pole Place!

Synergy Family Wellness Centre: Why our Bodies are Awesome!

momstown Edmonton learned all about kids' health this month! We gathered for our Little Scientists program with a fantastic talk from Dr. Karen Osburn from Synergy Family Wellness Centre. Dr Karen taught us all about 5 ways to keep our bodies awesome. She told us that we need to eat healthy foods liks meat and vegetables, move our body every day, get lots of sleep, get our power turned on (by getting chiropractic care), and believe that we are awesome. The kids loved seeing the model of the spine that Dr. Karen brought and they asked some great questions! 

We finished off our learning by making our own spine models with wagon wheel pasta, gummy life savers, and pipe cleaners!

 Thanks so much to Dr. Karen for joining our Little Scientist's program this month. If you don't follow Synergy Family Wellness Centre on Facebook, you should.  Dr. Karen's blogs shares her many blogs and insights and they are as thought provoking as they are entertaining to read.  

Here's are some our favourites!

• I Speak for the Kids
• Slow Down Mummy
• Let Them Be Kids
• I'm a mom again (Hint: you'll need tissues for this one)
• 7 Life Lesson from my toddler

Want to join the fun? Not a momstown member yet? Sign up here and until December 23rd we'll donate $10 from every membership bought to the Stollery Childrens Hospital! Contact us for more details! 

When Should Kids See an Optometrist - momstown field trip to eye-bar Sherwood Park!

This group of momstown kids had a great field trip to the eye-bar in Sherwood Park! Dr. Amy let all the kids take a ride in the chair and they all left with an adorable set of sunglasses!

When Should Kids See an Optometrist? 

Routine eye exams by an optometrist are important to ensure that your child is seeing and performing their best at school. Uncorrected vision problems can lead to headaches, excessive day dreaming, struggling to keep up at school and poor reading comprehension. 

Kids should have their first eye exam by the age of 3. If you or your child’s pediatrician has any concerns or there is a strong family history of eye problems, our optometrists will happily see patients of any age – even babies!If your child does require eyeglasses, eye-bar carries a complete line of eyewear for infants and toddlers. These indestructible, child proof frames are great for small active children. The larger sized frames within this collection are also a great option for older children and can be easily worn under hockey helmets, for improved safety, vision and comfort. 

How to Explain Cavities to Kids: Little Scientists at Brookview Dental

This month was all about keeping our kids healthy, so we stopped by Brookview Dental Clinic for our great Little Scientist program! We also talked Dr. Alexis Desrosiers (also a momstown member!) about the importance of brushing and seeing the dentist early on. 

We did this great experiment to explain how cavities are formed! This is an easy way to help kids understand the importance of brushing and flossing their teeth without all the nagging!

What you'll need:
-Ice Cubes

-Salt

Place the Ice Cubes on a plate, have your kids touch the smooth surface and explain how the ice cubes are the 'teeth' in your experiment. Sprinkle the teeth with salt and explain that this is like the sugar that you eat during the day. We put our teeth to 'sleep' on another counter and set a timer for 5 minutes.

 When the 5 minutes is up, have your kids feel the top of the 'teeth'and talk about what happened to them with the 'sugar' left sitting 'all night'. Point out the little holes (cavities) that have developed in the ice cube. 

Try this experiment with your kids to show them the importance of cleaning those sugar bugs off their teeth by brushing and flossing. Thanks so much to Dr. Alexis Desrosiers for opening up Brookview Dental Clinic to our Little Scientists program and providing our mamas with such amazing information to keep their kids healthy! 

Tales for Tots: Good Night, Sleep Tight

momstown Edmonton meets every month at Beaners in Sherwood Park for our kids' book club Tales for Tots sponsored by Scholastic Canada. This month, we got to read the fantastic book Good Night, Sleep Tight by Mem Fox. What a great read aloud bedtime book! In classic Mem Fox style, the story has a wonderful flow that just begs to be read aloud over and over again. There are several repeating phrases that the kids said with me as we read the story. They loved it! My son loved it so much, I have heard him "reading" it to his brother almost every day since. After reading, we did our draw and Erica was the lucky recipient who got to take it home!

This month we've been looking at turkeys, so we decided to make pine cone turkeys. These are really easy, and fun for the kids! See below if you'd like to make your own! 

What you need:
-pine cones 
-white glue (or hot glue)
-feathers (with the stems cut off)
-googly eyes
-orange foam cut into triangles

What you do:
1. Glue the feathers into the pine cone. Make sure that the flat part of your pine cone is the front.
2. Glue the eyes and orange foam onto the flat part of the pine cone. 
3. Let dry! 

Did you know that Tales for Tots is one of 30+ events that are included in your membership? For only $45 for the whole year, you get all these events and more! Find out more and sign up here!

Alphabet Play: R is for Road

momstown Edmonton loves the alphabet, and every month we get together to have some letter fun at Alphabet Play. We started our alphabet fun by reading a favourite alphabet book Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault. After our circle time songs, we focused on the letter R. We talked about what sound R makes, and brainstormed some R words. After, we did a fun "R is for road" craft! The kids just loved making their own roads on their letter R's. With just a little glue, construction paper, and stickers, they made some fantastic roads! 

After our crafting fun, we looked in our snack cups to find different letters that were in there. It was fun to be able to do some learning while having a snack! It was a big hit! Thank you very much to our sponsor Alpha-Bits for the delicious and nutritious snack!  Check out the Post cereal website for great recipe ideas for Alpha-Bits cereal. 

Did you know that Alphabet Play is

one of the 30 great events we host

every month and is included in your

membership for only $45 a year? Sign up here!

The Power of Being All-In.

Entrepreneurs are a rare breed. We are determined, hardworking and probably a little bit insane.  It's hard for those around us to understand why we push so hard.  Why we pour our hearts and endless hours into our businesses.  Why we take risks that most wouldn't.  Why, even after all the struggle, we still love what we do. 

Joining the 19 other momstown owners as well as the HQ team in at the Courtyard Marriot Niagara Falls for 4 days makes me feel a little less insane. It grounds me.  Every 6 months I am blessed to be in a room of women that understand the WHY.  They take the same risks I do. They understand the toll running a business takes on your family. Even though they are across the country, they are my support.  

This conference was different than previous.  momstown has some amazing changes coming in the new year.  Big Changes.  The energy over these 4 days was incredible.  It was evident that this team is 100% invested and ready for the future. The entire team is all-in.  The vision and determination we see at every conference was 10 fold this year.  It was an invaluable way to spend four days and I came home even more positive and excited about this business.  

Thank you to the incredible sponsors who made this such a fantastic conference. We arrived to find personal notes in our rooms from the Niagara Falls Courtyard Marriott, beautiful 2014 Chevrolet Equinox's waiting for us when we deboarded the plane, had an incredible experience at a wine tasting at Chateau des Charmes and were treated to pampering by Ah Bella Luna Mobile Spa!

Art & Play: Thumbprint Turkeys

momstown Edmonton is full of little artists who just love to bounce and play. So, for Art & Play this month we headed back to one of our favourite locations, The Toy Hutch! We started off our time together with a little circle time and read the book "I'm a Turkey" by Jim Arnosky. The kids loved this book and helped with the "gobble, gobble" parts! After a little singing and crafting, the momstown kids got to the serious business of bouncing! 

 For our craft, we made thumbprint turkeys. Kids love to paint with their hands so they loved it! Want to make a thumbprint turkey with your own child? Here's how!

What you need:

-brown, yellow, red, and orange paint

-white cardstock

-orange and black marker

-googly eyes

-glue

What to do:

1. Dip your thumb into brown paint and make a thumbprint in the middle of your page. 

2. Dip your thumb in red paint, and make thumbprints along the back of the brown one, in a fan shape. Continue in the same fashion with orange and then yellow.

3. Let dry.

4. Glue on googly eyes.

5. Draw orange feet and a black beak.

Did you know that Art & Play is one of the 30 events a month that we hold and is included in your membership? Sign up here! 

Junior Chef: Apple Pie Bites

momstown Edmonton's Junior Chefs love The Pan Tree. Every month we head there to make something yummy together. This month was no exception! We got together to make some delicious Apple Pie Bites. The kids loved them! They were so easy, and delicious. And with the right tools, they are a perfect recipe to make with kids. We used this apple peeler and slicer to make it easier, and to allow the kids to participate more! 

Apple Pie Bites (adapted from here)

Ingredients:

1/2 C. sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 pkg puff pastry
3 tbsp melted butter, divided
2 medium tart apples (we used macintosh)

Directions:
1. Peel and slice apples into 16 pieces. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon and set aside 1 Tbsp. 

3. Place the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Roll out with rolling pin.

4. Brush with  2 Tbsp. melted butter, sprinkle with sugar mixture.

5. Cut into 8 strips, and then cut those in half horizontally. 

6. Wrap one strip around each apple wedge, placing sugared side of pastry against apple.

7. Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar mixture. 

8. Bake at 400 for 15-17 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 16.

Tales for Tots sponsored by McDonald's Happy Meals!

momstown Edmonton and McDonald's Happy Meals teamed up for Tales for Tots this month to celebrate the Happy Meals Books available at McDonald's restaurants across Canada until November 15th!

The promotion includes four limited edition books, offered in sequence, which feature Happy Meal original characters with fun and playful themes, and a focus on nutrition and imagination. 

The books were developed to bring each character and their adventures to life, while delivering a nutritional message that’s relatable for children. The books include:

•        The Goat Who Ate Everything – Tells the story of a goat who has a big appetite and struggles to eat right, but when he does, he feels great and becomes the playful ‘kid’ everyone loves.

•        Deana’s Big Dreams – Shares how Deana, the world’s smallest dinosaur, grew tall by eating right. 

•        Ant, Can’t – Features Ant, a bite-sized bodybuilder who’s big on encouraging physical fitness through exercise and eating right.

•        Doddi the Dodo Goes to Orlando – Follows happy-go-lucky bird Doddi, who travels the world. She eats right because this dodo is always on the go-go.