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!

momstown Easter Bunny Hop 2013!

Easter craft round-up at momstown.ca

momstown Victoria

EASTER BUNNY HOP!

saturday, march 23rd

10-11:30 am
Pearkes Recreation Centre 
Lam Room

Join us for a fun Easter celebration with crafts, games, storytime and dance party! This event is exclusively for momstown Victoria members, so please sign up for the event on our calendar!

Photography by Lily and Lane

Local Storyteller
Jennifer Ferris

Not a momstown member yet? We coordinate over 20 events each month to connect and support local moms! Our membership is only $45/year and includes a BONUS 1-year subscription to Today's Parent Magazine! Sign up for your FREE 4-week trial and follow us on facebook and twitter for updates and tips!

momstown Music & Movement with Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes and Broadstreet Dance

momstown Music & Movement
with Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes

and Broadstreet Dance

Saturday, March 16th

1:30-3:30 pm 
Dance Victoria
111-2750 Quadra St. 

Stroller entrance is through the back parking lot.

$5/child or FREE for momstown members

On March 16th, momstown Victoria moms and kids will get a chance to channel their inner dancers and ballerinas! We have an exciting Music & Movement event sponsored by Broadstreet Dance taking place at Dance Victoria to celebrate the DVD release of Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes.

Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes is a new release which is will be available on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD on February 26th, 2013. Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes is an exciting ballet movie in which Barbie stars as Kristyn, the hard-working dancer, who wows the big ballet company in her performance of Giselle and Swan Lake. Through this journey, Kristyn learns that when you dance from your heart, your dreams can come true.

Little ballerinas will love the new line up of Barbie dolls, accessories and a playset so that they can recreate some of their favorite scenes from the film! A must-have is the Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes as Kristyn Farraday™.  Two in one, girls can simply twist the doll and her skirt reverses for a magical transformation!

Broadstreet Dance will be doing both a Dance to the Music class and ballet demonstration, and each child will get to take home a themed craft from the event. And of course, everyone is encouraged to come in their best dance or ballerina outfit and bring their favourite doll or buddy with them. 

This is event is FREE for momstown members! If you're not a member yet, simply register online for your FREE 4-week trial or sign up at the event!

momstown Victoria OverJOYed Baby Basics sponsored by Fisher-Price

momstown Victoria

OverJOYed Baby Basics

sponsored by Fisher-Price!
Tuesday, March 12th

9:30-10:30 am

Medicine Moves Dance Studio

841 Fisgard Street

Our Baby Basics Special Event will include our wonderful Baby Picassos mini art session, circle time, potluck snacks, refreshments, and four amazing Fisher-Price toys to raffle off at the end of the event! Bring a friend and you'll both receive an extra prize ballot in our special prize draw!*

Here are the fun toys we'll be playing with!

Baby Basics is our mama & baby program designed for moms with babies aged 0 to 12 months looking to connect with other moms with infants. Our Baby Basics program includes guest speakers, "Baby Picassos" art sessions, and Baby Book Club sponsored by Scholastic Canada. Each session includes loads of chat time to get to know your local moms in momstown.

You must be a member or on a 4-week free trial to attend! You can register online or at the event. Our membership is only $45/year which includes access to 20+ events each month and a BONUS 1-year subscription to Today's Parent Magazine! Join in the fun and start connecting with other moms in your neighbourhood today!

*increases your chance of winning only. One prize per family.

Top 5 Ways to Spend Valentine's Day with Kids in Victoria

Looking for something special to do on Valentine's Day? Here are five wonderful ways to spend Valentine's Day with babies, toddlers and preschoolers in Victoria, BC.

1. momstown Victoria is doing Valentine's Day crafts at Uptown Shopping Centre on Thursday, February 14th, 1-3 pm for ages 0 to 6! We'll be doing Valentine's Day crafts for all ages, from babies to preschoolers to school age. Cost is free. http://victoria.momstown.ca

2. Enjoy a delicious treat with your tot at Crumsby's Cupcake Cafe! Everything on their menu is made from scratch and as wholesome, healthful and local as possible, and they have wonderful play areas for children at both locations, in Estevan Village in Oak Bay and at the Schoolhouse on W. Saanich Road in Royal Oak. momstown Victoria members also receive a 10% discount with their momstown ID card!




3. Visit the library! There are a number of free drop-in storytimes happening:
Family Storytime at Bruce Hutchison, 10:15-10:45 am
Baby Time at Nellie McClung, 10:30-11 am
Family Time at Juan de Fuca, 10:30-11 am
Baby Time at Bruce Hutchison, 11-11:30 am
Visit www.gvpl.ca for more info.

4. Greenglade Community Centre is having a Valentine's Day Kindergym on Thursday, February 14th, 9:30-11:30 am for ages 12 months to 5 years. Join them for heart-shaped cookies and cinnamon hearts! Create a Valentine's Day card for someone special and create decorations to hang on your fridge. Don't forget to wear you favourite red outfit! Cost is only $2. http://www.crd.bc.ca/panorama/events/greenglade.aspx

5. Walk along the Westsong Walkway. Begin at Songhees Point and walk along the Victoria waterfront to West Bay. This easy 3 km walk has an even path, gorgeous waterfront views, and is stroller accessible.
http://www.trailpeak.com/?cat=hike&con=trail&val=6528

Happy Valentine's Day from momstown Victoria! Love being a momstown member? Refer a friend and we'll add one free month to your membership when your friend buys a membership too! :)

Crafts, Painting, Sports and Parachute Play at momstown Family Fun Day Event 2013

Victoria moms, dads, grandparents, babies and kids enjoyed the morning of BC's first Family Day with our momstown Victoria community! Our momstown Family Fun Day event began at 10 a.m with a Family Walk across the Selkirk Trestle bridge, followed by free activities with local sponsors at the Victoria West Community Association until noon. Families enjoyed mural painting, Valentine's Day crafts, kindergym, Sportball, snacks, prize draw and parachute play!



Investors Group consultants, Martin Newham and Christina Gilbert, were the title sponsors of our free community event, and also provided a Valentine's Day craft, helium balloons, and awesome prize draw for 3 family passes to Saanich Parks and Recreation facilities!

Victoria West Community Association provided the kindergym equipment, playmat, toys and books for babies and toddlers. We loved seeing the families reading and playing together!

Coach Lee Richardson of Sportball Victoria provided junior and multi-sport activities for the kids and toddlers and was running a full class by the end of the event! He also gave away a Sportball t-shirt and jersey in our prize draw as well as a Sportball birthday party. 

  

Thank you to 4Cats Arts Studio in Oak Bay for donating the paint supplies for our mural painting activity! They also provided a free Artist of the Month Gift Certificate for our prize draw, valued at over $150! Curator Ally gave us some great tips for colour blocking the canvas, and the kids did a wonderful job of adding the artwork. 

 

We just LOVE giving away stuff! Here are just a couple of our lucky winners...

  

   

And it wouldn't be a momstown event unless we pulled out the big parachute! We did parachute songs, games, and created a giant "mushroom" to sit under!

 

We had so much fun! Thank you again for sharing part of your Family Day with our momstown family, and thank you to all of our local sponsors for their generous support!

Our next momstown Victoria family event is the Easter Bunny Hop on Saturday, March 23rd, at Pearkes, and this one is members only! Not a member yet? Register for your free 4-week trial and you'll get access to all the events on our calendar for 4 full weeks!

Remember, when you sign up or renew your momstown membership for only $45/year, you'll receive a BONUS 1-year subscription to Today's Parent Magazine ($16.95 value.) Click here for details.

Meet Glenn Kachmar, Science Show Performer at momstown Victoria's Little Scientists

Glenn Kachmar has been performing science shows and teaching science workshops for the past 23 years. He started doing science shows in the summer at the East Bay Science and Nature Company while he was studying to be a teacher. Glenn is a teacher in the Saanich School District (currently on a leave of absence for the 2012-2013 year.)




Some of Glenn’s less orthodox experiences include stints working as the Head of the Science Department of New Ramses College, in Cairo, Egypt. He also worked at Science World in Vancouver for a year where he polished his science performing skills, not to mention gave the dreaded IMAX speech a few hundred times. He worked as the head cook of two tall ships and sail training vessels, Pacific Swift and Pacific Grace, which took him to Spain and back as well as visited islands all over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Glenn has taught English in Prague, Czech republic and Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Mexico.

Currently Glenn is writing a how-to eBook entitled "Science With Young Children,"* as well as shooting the photos and videos intended to illustrate how best to do science with children without creating work for local emergency rooms. Assuming the process of writing the first book doesn’t result in a new home under a bridge, Glenn hopes to write other books and science books for children.

*Please note that the title is not meant to encourage use of children as guinea pigs.

www.somethingincredible.ca.

Join Glenn for an amazing exploration into science with your toddler or preschooler at momstown Victoria Little Scientists! Every fourth Thursday from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Saanich Neighbourhood Place (Pearkes Rec Centre, 3100 Tillicum Road.) Please bring a $2 donation for Saanich Neighbourhood Place.

Jan. 24th: Water
Feb. 28th: Dry Ice
Mar. 28th: Flight 
Apr. 25th: Locomotion

momstown Victoria Family Fun Day

momstown Victoria

FREE FAMILY FUN DAY EVENT

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH
10 AM to 12 PM

Join momstown Victoria and our amazing local sponsors for a FAMILY WALK across the Selkirk Trestle followed by FREE ACTIVITIES for ages 0 to 6 at the Victoria West Community Association.

VALENTINE'S DAY CRAFT sponsored by Christina Gilbert & Martin Newham, Investors Group

GIANT MURAL PAINTING with materials donated by 4Cats Arts Studio - Oak Bay

SPORTBALL KIDS' AREA provided by Sportball Victoria


KINDERGYM AREA provided by Victoria West Community Association 

...and PARACHUTE PLAY with momstown Victoria!

PLUS, WIN ONE OF THESE FABULOUS DOOR PRIZES!

1 of 3 Family Passes for Saanich Parks & Rec Facilities from Investors Group

Artist of the Month Gift Certificate from 4Cats Arts Studio - Oak Bay

Sportball Jersey from Sportball Victoria


The Family Walk departs at 10 a.m. sharp from 2960 Jutland Road and is 1.2 km or 16 minutes along the Galloping Goose Trail. Please arrive 10 minutes early. There is free 2-hour parking along the Selkirk waterfront.

View Larger Map

momstown Victoria Noon Year's Eve Countdown Festive Tour

momstown Victoria

NOON YEAR'S EVE COUNTDOWN 
FESTIVE TOUR!

Monday, December 31st

10:30-12:30 pm

Join momstown Victoria as we walk through the festive displays from the Inn at Laurel Point to The Hotel Grand Pacific to The Empress, then ring in 2013 with the whole family as we count down to 12 noon!

 

10:30 am

Meet at the Inn at Laurel Point to see Canada's National Gingerbread Showcase

 

11:15 am

Walk through Bear Wear at the Hotel Grand Pacific

 

11:45 am

Countdown to 12 noon together at the Victoria Conference Centre and enjoy some delicious Candy Cane tea with us, generously donated by SILK ROAD TEA! Table will be located through the entrance of 720 Douglas Street in the Totem Pole atrium area.

 

12:15 pm

Wander through the Festival of Trees at The Empress at your leisure!

 

This event is free, but we invite you to donate to the wonderful charities that put on the displays! info.victoria@momstown.ca

momstown Victoria Christmas Tradition: How to Make Holiday Graham Cracker Houses

This is one of my favourite Christmas crafts to do at a crafty playdate with toddlers. It's easy to prepare, inexpensive, and the moms enjoy decorating the houses as much as the little ones. Next month we'll be making these adorable holiday graham cracker houses with our momstown Victoria moms and kids, and hopefully it will become our Christmas tradition together!

Holiday Graham Cracker Houses

You'll need:

7 graham crackers per house

1 cup of quick icing

ziploc bag

scissors

Assortment of candies for decorating

Ribbon (optional)

1. Make the icing by mixing 1 cup of icing sugar, 1 tbsp milk and 1/4 tsp of vanilla until smooth.
2. Fill the plastic ziploc bag with the icing. Use the scissors to cut 1/4" off the one of the corners. This small hole will be used to pipe the icing.
3. Pipe the icing along the edges of the graham crackers to glue the pieces together. Start by making the box (4 walls attached to a floor) and allow the icing to harden. Then pipe glue along the tops of two walls (opposite each other) and balance the roof (two graham crackers making an inverted V) on top, sealing the top seam. Allow to harden (1 hour to overnight.) (TIP: It helps to pipe the icing on both edges being glued together, and also to reinforce the seams.)
4. Now the fun part! Use the icing to decorate the houses and to stick on the candies.
5. Once your masterpiece is dry, you can put a ribbon through the roof and use it as a tree ornament!

I can't wait to do this craft with our momstown Victoria moms and kids next month! Not a member yet? Join us now for a FREE 4-week trial and enjoy all the great events coming up in December! 

momstown Victoria Baby Basics: Baby Budgeting

Let's talk about money. It's on the top of your list of stressors, so let's talk about it. We'll talk about:

• Living on a squeezed budget.
• What are the most important monthly expenses, and which ones can be cut?
• How much to put away for your baby's education?
• Life insurance...what is it? Are there different kinds? How much does it cost?
• How much do you have to earn to make going back to work worth it?
• and more important money topics.

Presented by Lindsay Plumb.

Where: Saanich Neighbourhood Place, 3100 Tillicum Road
When: Monday, November 19th, 12:30-1:30 pm

Our momstown Victoria "Baby Basics" events are your opportunity to connect with other new and expecting moms as well as enjoy high quality workshops and presentations included in your membership. Want to attend one of our awesome mom-focused events? Sign up for your FREE 4-week trial!

momstown Victoria Little Scientists: How to Make Magic Mud and Silly Putty!

Our momstown Victoria moms and kids did something incredible at our Little Scientists program last month! Science whiz and on-leave primary school teacher, Glenn Kachmar, demonstrated the amazing properties of both "Magic Mud" and Silly Putty!

Magic Mud is a suspension of cornstarch in water that has the bizarre property of being a liquid when it is resting or moving slowly, but solidifies once you slap, punch or squeeze it. The science behind it? “The cornstarch is ground into such fine particles that the molecules line up like little plates. The plates stay rigid when squeezed or slapped, but slide around when released and there is little or no pressure.” (Dianne Pratt, Hey Kids! You're Cookin' Now!)

Glenn mixed up a huge blue batch and let our lil' scientists dip their hands into it, squeeze it into a solid, and punch the surface which would become instantly hard. Amazing! You can also do a lot of other cool tricks with Magic Mud (also known as Oobleck,) like using sound waves to make it take on life-like movements, or running across a huge container of it!

Magic Mud Recipe:

Stir together approximately:

3 or 4 parts cornstarch

1 part cold water
Optional: several drops of food colouring

Next we made silly putty! Glenn gave each of us a cup and added Elmers Glue, water and food colouring. We mixed and mixed our ingredients, and then added a solution of borax and hot water. When the ingredients started to solidify, we took them out and started to squish and knead. Voila, silly putty!

Like Magic Mud, silly putty is another non-Newtonian fluid. It has characteristics of a fluid and will form a puddle if left to rest; but it has elastic properties and can stretch and bounce, or even break if given a sharp blow. Our kiddies had so much fun playing with these bizarre properties!

 

Silly Putty Recipe:

1. Mix 250 ml of hot water with 7 ml of borax powder until all the borax dissolves. Set this solution aside. It is called borax solution.

2. Get a cup and mix 30 ml of Elmers White Glue with 20 ml of water. (Elmers works best!)

3. Add two or three drops of food colour to the glue/water mix.

4. Once the glue, water and colour is mixed together well, ad 20 ml of borax solution. Stir this lal together.

5. Take the mix out of the cup and knead it in your hands (it's messy). Be sure to pop all of the bubbles of glue. More borax solution can be added if it is very gluey. Knead it until it has a consistent texture. You now have silly putty.

-Keep it in a closed ziploc bag when you are not using it.

-Experiment. Does it bounce? Does it stretch? Can you break it?

Kids, do try this at home! Thank you, Mr. K, for this incredible momstown Little Scientists workshop! We can't wait to see what you have planned for us next!

We are partnering with Saanich Neighbourhood Place for our next momstown Little Scientists program! Please join us for a full hour of science excitement, suitable for ages 0 to 6, Thursday, November 22nd, 3:30-4:30 pm at Saanich Neighbourhood Place (3100 Tillicum Road, inside Pearkes Rec.) Suggested donation is $2, all proceeds going to Saanich Neighbourhood Place.