Jazzing it Up at momstown Music & Movement with Laura Shepherd at Medicine Moves Dance Studio

We all had walking toddlers and preschoolers today at our momstown Victoria Music and Movement program, so our talented dance instructor Laura Shepherd did a jazzy warm-up routine with us! We stretched, swayed and stood on our tiptoes, and it was adorable to watch our toddlers keep up!



We used brightly coloured scarves to pretend to be birds flying high and leaves blowing gracefully around the room. Next we chose rattles, tambourines, rainmakers and other instruments to play in a marching band and to play a few games of freeze dance!  

Laura brought out the parachute, which the kids loved to hold onto and play under while the adults made the parachute rise and fall. And lastly, the children were given ribbons to dance with. Laura made these favourite dance props herself using inexpensive materials from a craft superstore - and so can you! 



Our momstown Victoria Music & Movement program happens every other Tuesday morning at Medicine Moves Dance Studio for members only! A momstown membership is only $45+HST per family per year and includes a BONUS 1-year subscription to Today's Parent Magazine! Sign up now for your FREE 4-week trial membership and start connecting with other neighbourhood moms at our 20+ monthly events!

Making Memories for Mother's Day! Mommy, Me & Afternoon Tea Mini-Photo Shoot with Lily and Lane

momstown Victoria and Lily and Lane Photography and Design are thrilled to invite momstown members to a special afternoon of "tea time" themed photo mini-sessions on May 5th! Cost is $20 plus admission to the Horticultural Centre of the Pacific gardens. Please see the calendar for complete details and to reserve your spot!

momstown Victoria Little Scientists: Biology Fun with Glenn Kachmar at Saanich Neighbourhood Place

Victoria moms, toddlers and kids enjoyed fun Biology activities and games at our momstown Victoria Little Scientists with Glenn Kachmar! Little Scientists is a monthly drop-in by donation with 100% of the proceeds going to Saanich Neighbourhood Place.

Glenn brought a variety of plants for the kids and moms to observe under a large magnifying glass, including flowers, seeds and plant bulbs. The children also took turns peering into a microscope at an insect wing, onion skin, and many other specimens. 

The kids also played fun games to learn about different animals. Glenn would choose an animal from one of his books, and the children would ask questions until they could guess what it was. They stumped him a few times with questions like, "What does it eat?" and "Can it swim?" The answer wasn't always self-evident!

 

What better way to learn about how animals move than to slither like a snake, jump like a monkey, and waddle like a penguin? The kids did a great job of pretending to be different animals, and the parents did a great job of thinking up some fun animals to be!

The weather was gorgeous and the kids kept drifting outside to the playground, so Glenn brought the biology lesson outside. Together they observed the plants and the garden beds, and then they started to look for bugs. Some of the best moments were when the kids took turns holding a common woodlouse, which is not an insect but a 14-legged crustacean. A woodlouse can roll itself into a sphere to protect itself and is also known as a pill-bug or roly-poly.

Thank you again to Glenn Kachmar for inspiring our kids' curiosity and making science so much fun, and thank you to Saanich Neighbourhood Place for partnering with us to offer this awesome event. Glenn will only be joining our Little Scientists for two more programs on May 23rd and June 27th, and then he will take a break for the summer and return to teaching full-time in September. If you are thinking of booking Glenn for a science show, birthday party or homeschooling event, now is the time! Please visit his website, www.somethingincredible.ca, for amazing videos and great experiments that you can try at home with your kids!

momstown Victoria coordinates over 20 events each month to connect and support moms in Greater Victoria, and our membership is only $45 per family per year! Register for your FREE 4-week trial membership and see what else momstown moms and kids are up to! Contact info.victoria@momstown.ca for more info!

momstown Victoria Scholastic Baby Book Club: Alligator Baby by Robert Munsch

Kristen's mom and dad got lost on the way to the hospital and ended up at the zoo! They bring home a baby that is not Kristen's baby brother. After a few more baby mix-ups, Kristen decides to go to the zoo herself and find her real baby brother to bring home.

"Alligator Baby" by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko is a hilarious board book that my own toddler, preschooler and school-age kid all love. Congratulations to this month's lucky winners, Melissa & Oliver, who won our Scholastic Baby Book of the month at our Baby Basics: Sharing Circle at Medicine Moves Dance Studio.

Our Baby Basics program will be relaunching at a new time and location in June! You can enter our draw for next month's Scholastic baby board book at our momstown Baby Bucket Brunch at Spoon's Diner on May 13th. Meet up with other wonderful, brilliant moms at this groovy, kid-friendly restaurant and enjoy a special one-time offer of 25% of your bill! May is an AWESOME month to sign up for a FREE 4-week trial membership - and don't forget that for a limited time you'll receive a BONUS 1-year Today's Parent Magazine subscription when you buy a 1-year momstown membership! Contact info.victoria@momstown.ca for more details!

Broadstreet Dance is The Place to Dance!

BroadStreet Dance, previously Sherry Black’s BroadStreet Dance is the new place to dance. Located inVictoria since 1967, BroadStreet Dance is designed to provide quality, professional dance instruction to Children and Adults of all ages. BroadStreet offers small class sizes and individual instruction in a positive professional environment. Our focus is to help instill confidence, values and self discipline to all students in a fun and welcoming environment.

Classes currently being offered at BroadStreet Dance include, tap, jazz, ballet, and hip hop for students 2 years of age through to adult. Students are given the opportunity to participate in festivals, year end shows, and other performance opportunities and workshops at the teachers discretion.

momstown Victoria Tales for Tots sponsored by Scholastic reads "Lucky Ducklings"

"Lucky Ducklings" by Eva Moore is a classic storybook about a mama duck who goes for a walk with her baby ducklings, but then she gets separated from them as they disappear one by one through the slats of the town's storm drain. Three firemen and a pickup truck rush to their rescue in this wonderful story that also has an environmental message. Children will want to read this exciting tale over and over again.

Our Scholastic sponsored Tales for Tots program at Chapters Victoria is a free monthly drop-in on the third Wednesday of every month from 10-11 am! Join us downstairs in the children's department for a free storytime with Jennifer Ferris, craft and Scholastic book draw! 

Congratulations to this month's momstown Victoria lucky ducklings book winners!





momstown Victoria coordinates over 20 events each month to connect and support local moms, and our annual membership fee is only $45 per year! Not a member yet? Try us FREE by registering for your 4-week trial and start signing up for events today! Or contact info.victoria@momstown.ca for more info!

momstown Jr. Chef Recipe: Triple Hitter Muffins and Flaxseed and Sesame Crackers

Today at momstown Victoria Junior Chef we made two great toddler snack recipes, Triple Hitter Muffins and Flaxseed & Sesame Crackers!

TRIPLE HITTER MUFFINS

Our moms, dad and toddlers took turns helping to grate the zucchini and carrots, measuring the wet and dry ingredients, and whisking everything together. These healthy treats are also chock full of fruit and veggies.

Ingredients
¼ cup (50 mL) vegetable oil
½ cup (125 mL) brown sugar
1 egg
¾ cup (175 mL) applesauce
1 cup (250 mL) grated carrots
1 cup (250 mL) grated zucchini
1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose whole wheat flour
¾ cup (175 mL) all-purpose flour
2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
½ tsp (2 mL) nutmeg
½ tsp (2 mL) salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). In a large bowl, whisk together oil and sugar. Beat in egg, then applesauce. Stir in carrots and zucchini.
2. In another large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
3. Fold dry ingredients into wet, until just mixed. Grease 2 mini-muffin trays. Spoon batter to the very top of muffin cups and bake 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean when inserted in a muffin.

Recipe by Today's Parent.

FLAXSEED AND SESAME CRACKERS 

These are a cinch to make and are very high in fibre and omega-3 fatty acids. You can use whole flaxseeds to make the crackers look prettier, but ground flaxseeds are more nutritious.

Ingredients
1 ½ cups all-purpose whole wheat flour
¼ cup flaxseeds, ground

¼ cup sesame seeds

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 ½ tsp salt

1/3 cup melted unsalted butter

1/3 cup milk

¼ cup all-purpose whole wheat flour (for dusting)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, flaxseeds, sesame seeds, brown sugar and salt. Drizzle butter over and stir to combine. Drizzle over with milk and stir until a dough forms. Chill dough 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut dough in half. On a heavily dusted countertop, gently flatten the dough into a disk, turning it over several times to cover in flour and prevent sticking. Roll out each piece as thinly as possible. Using a pizza cutter or chef’s knife, cut into 1 inch squares, or use a juice cup and stamp into round crackers. It’s best to bake remnants rather than roll out again; this dough requires a light touch.
3. Arrange cut crackers on 2 ungreased baking sheets and put in the upper and middle racks of the oven. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, switching bottom and top baking sheets halfway through. Store in covered container for up to 2 weeks.

Recipe by Madeleine Greey.

Looking for a fun weekend activity for the whole family? Learn fun new ways to create snacks and meals in our hands-on momstown Junior Chef program. Our membership is only $45/year and includes many great programs like this one, plus enjoy a BONUS 1-year subscription to Today’s Parent Magazine when you join in 2013! Sign up for your FREE 4-week trial membership or email info.victoria@momstown.ca for more info!

momstown Victoria Book Club Enjoys "The False Prince" by Jennifer Nielsen

Our momstown Victoria moms were delighted to have our book club sponsored by Scholastic Canada in March and to receive eight copies of "The False Prince" by Jennifer Nielsen to read and discuss. 

The novel centres around a defiant but noble young character named Sage. He is one of four teenage orphans chosen by a nobleman named Connor, who plans to use only one of the orphans in an evil plot to impersonate the king's son and prevent a civil war. If Sage is not chosen, he will be killed, and his rivals are equally at risk. Sage must use his cleverness and trust no one in order to survive. Layer upon layer of treachery is revealed, until finally the truth places Sage in the most dangerous situation of all.

Here is what our Victoria moms said about "The False Prince":

"I found it captivating as soon as I opened the book."  We all agreed that both the plot and the character of Sage were intriguing, and that once started, the book was hard to put down. 

"I honestly felt that it could have been written as an adult novel." Despite the treachery and murder in the plot, the adventure is accessible to most reading ages. We agreed that adult-oriented content could have been added, but that the novel was entertaining enough on its own. 

"It was a little predictable, but as a young teenager this is exactly the sort of novel I would have read." Even though we were all able to figure out the final layer of truth before it was revealed, that did not detract from our enjoyment of reading it all the way through. All of the moms agreed that we would be interested in reading the rest of the trilogy to find out what happens to Sage. 

Thank you Scholastic Canada for a fun read, and we look forward to reading the next installment of the Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer Nielsen: "The Runaway King." The book we're reading this month is "Streetsweeper" by Elliot Perlman. Our moms' night out events are just another great reason to join momstown Victoria! Register here for your FREE 4-week trial membership! 

March Scholastic Baby Book of the Month: My First Hockey Book

She shoots, she scores! Or at least, she will when the winner of last month's Scholastic baby book, "My First Hockey Book," by Ian Crysler, gets a little older! 

The bright and colourful photos and the simple action words and concepts make this book a wonderful start to any child's first collection of hockey books. It is a great board book for babies and preschoolers to take with them to watch a hockey game or practice! 

Congratulations to last month's winner! Our momstown Victoria Baby Basics program is designed for all moms with babies aged 0 to 12 months looking to connect with other moms with infants. 

We will be giving away this month's baby board book at Baby Basics: Sharing Circle & Baby Book Club on Tuesday, April 23rd! Like free stuff? Become a momstown member! For starters, you'll receive a BONUS 1-year Today's Parent subscription when you buy a 1-year momstown membership in 2013! Sign up for your FREE 4-week trial today! (If your free trial has expired and you haven't had the opportunity to experience one of our events, please let us know, and we will extend your trial for another 4 weeks!)

BC Family Child Care Association 2013 Conference & AGM

BCFCCA would like to invite you to participate in our annual conference, 

Early Literacy: More than just ABC’s and 123’s

The Board and staff of BCFCCA have been extremely busy putting together a weekend that is intended to educate, excite and inspire you. At this year’s conference, we invite you to be open to creative ideas, innovative ways of educating and caring for our most important citizens. We have brought in presenters who are truly inspiring and are ready to help you embrace new ways of thinking.

Friday night join us for a meet and greet in the Nanaimo Museum, relax and mingle with other child care professionals.

On Saturday, take time to explore our Mini Market where local vendors and vendors from across the province will be bringing their exciting products to share.

Finally, we end the weekend with breakfast, our AGM and a terrific workshop. We are sure you will be as excited as we are, we sincerely hope you can join us!

For more information, please visit www.bcfcca.ca.

momstown Victoria will be participating as a vendor at the Mini Market! Visit our table where you can enter to WIN one of these three amazing prizes from Fisher-Price! See you there!