Fall Adventures and Halloween fun!

I have been meaning to write a post about all the fantastic activities there are in the fall for kids, but doing all of these activities, working at A Gym Tale and two kids who lately refuse to sleep in the evenings have really left me with no free time - or I have been choosing to sleep during this time!

Over the past few weeks we have taken advantage of the warm weather to go apple picking at Mountain Orchards and then eating more apples then is probably good for you. We have also been taking lots of walks through nearby trails and exploring and collecting as we go. We now have an impressive collection of acorns and rocks! Quick note - if your child has begun collecting acorns, they will get maggots if kept inside, so outside is definitely the better choice!

Ewan's favourite activity so far has been choosing our pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. This was a very, very long process as he needed just the right pumpkin. This weekend we are aiming to try and carve the pumpkins and Ewan has been trying to decide on the kind of face he wants all week. To do this he has been using markers to practice on the pumpkin itself and then simply wiping it away to try another idea. This is the first time that Ewan is really excited and anticipating a holiday so I am really trying to play it up with some rituals that we can do each year. In addition to pumpkin picking, we have been making decorations (candle holders, ghosts to hang in the trees, and spiders), reading lots of Halloween books from the library, making a Halloween countdown banner, and regularly wearing his costume. I also made a display with little halloween themed picture frames of all the costumes Ewan has worn over the past three years for him to look at.

I am also planning a big Halloween breakfast on the morning of Halloween to make the day extra special and memorable. After reading the Happiness at Home book by Gretchen Rubin I have been inspired to try and plan more 'memorable' moments for the kids. The book highlights that it is the special little things out of the ordinary that people remember and lead to the most happiness, not necessarily big events. We just tried a fantastic pancake recipe that makes them look like Jack O Lanterns (recipe below) which I will make for Halloween morning along with orange juice and bat shaped toast all on Halloween themed plates. This will also all take place at 6:30am so that I can be at A Gym Tale for 7am to begin the Before School Halloween party, followed by the Nursery School costume party - I will sleep well that night!


I would love to hear all about your Halloween traditions!

Jack O Lantern Pancake recipe (found in the Artful Year - ebook - www.artfulparent.com)

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2tbsp sugar (I used 1 tbsp honey instead)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cup whole milk
3/4 cups pumpkin
1 egg
2tbsp melted butter
banana and chocolate chips to make face

mix everything together - the batter is stiff enough that I was able to shape it into a pumpkin (somewhat) and then Ewan decorated the faces on them before I flipped them. These were really delicious pancakes and the banana eyes looked really great!

Giving Thanks

With the approaching Thanksgiving weekend, I have been talking with the kids all week about Fall traditions and the things that we are thankful for in our lives. Some of the answers ranged from marshmallows, to mommies and daddies, and obviously horses! I personally am very grateful for my health and my family, both immediate and extended. I know I am very lucky to have such a large extended family who is so very helpful and involved in our lives. I am also thankful that my business allows for the possibility to have my children with me and not have to deal with shortage of quality child care available. I am again so very thankful for my family members who offer to take my children every so often to give me a work day without children - and oh, do I appreciate those days! I am also thankful my career and my husbands career can be considered relatively stable in the current time of economic uncertainty being felt by so many in a government city. Furthermore, I am thankful for our friends, who are oh so patient and understanding of our crazy work schedule and still take the time to try and connect. We have really tried this past year making friendships and family relationships more of a priority as opposed to getting lost in our work and it has been wonderful creating a more balanced lifestyle. 

On the topic of balance, A Gym Tale will be closed this Thanksgiving Sunday and Monday. I know not typical of indoor playgrounds, but I feel it is important for us to take some time to really reconnect with family and friends. As a small business owner, a wife and a mother to two young children, it is becoming more essential to find time to really focus in on only my family and not split my attention between them and work. I am so looking forward to doing this over Sunday and Monday this weekend.

Another hard decision that Alan and I have recently made is to not hold the New Year's Eve Sleepover this year. Alan and I have run this event each year for the past 6 years. Yes, it is true, I have slept on the yellow crash mat the past 6 years on New Year's Eve, even very pregnant and with a baby, while Alan worked all night at the desk. Although we very much enjoyed spending the evening with your children, for this year we have decided to spend it with our family. This is not to say, that we will never run the event again, just not for this year. I cannot tell you how excited I am to not have to whisper 'Happy New Year' to Alan because twenty children are sleeping in the forest!

I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend and is able to find a moment to relax and feel thankful for whatever it is, big or small, that is making your life amazing right now.

My new favourite picture below, once again taken by the ever so talented Elizabeth Fulton Photography.

Book Recommendation & Lecture this week

Just a quick update about a lecture taking place this Friday evening by the author of Simplicity Parenting -  Kim John Payne. If you have not had the chance to read this book, I highly recommend it. It is definitely once of the most helpful 'parenting' books that I have read and I have really put many of the practices into place in both my home and the Nursery School program at A Gym Tale. The author emphasizes finding balance and rhythm in children's lives as well as de-cluttering the amount and types of toys that children have available to them at any one time. This book was an easy read and I found the suggestions were very applicable to real life and offered reminders of ways to simplify to make even the most hectic schedule more child friendly.

I will be going to the lecture this Friday - I have never actually attended something like this before, so I am very intrigued to see what it will be like. I do look forward to gaining a few new tools and ideas for both my home and A Gym Tale. Click here for more details on the lecture.

Fall is underway!

Fall begins this week and it marks my full return to A Gym Tale! I have tried to transition myself back to work slowly over the past 2 weeks - first with Welcome sessions and Small Group sessions for Nursery School students and now this week with a full nursery school class and Gym & Music classes. It has been wonderful to be back - but also absolutely exhausting! I am starting to adapt to the very early mornings again as well as all of the food preparation needed - lunches are a lot of work to pack each night! The kids are also beginning to adjust - it is a lot of stimulation 3 days a week, but they are also very much enjoying themselves. I have never seen Ewan so excited as he was on his first day back to school!

Nursery School has really been going well and I am really liking the changes to the routine and classroom that we have implemented. We have a wonderful group of kids enrolled this year and they are very excited to be joining the program (most of them anyway - I still have a few to convince!). Here are a few pictures of our new set up - 

Gym & Music classes also begin this week! Although I was terribly nervous this morning, they went very well and I was able to get right back into the groove of running the classes. It was really nice seeing familiar faces as well as meeting so many new families. I do still have space in each of the age groups, so if you are looking for something to keep the kids active as the weather is becoming colder send me an email and check out the schedule here.

And one more reminder that our contest is coming to a close on September 20th for the Ipad and 5 Drop In Play pass card, so the more friends that 'Like' A Gym Tale on Facebook and post that you referred them, the more entries you will have in the draw. Good luck!

Back to School - Easing Separation Anxiety

September is here and along with it a new school year! I would like to welcome all of the new students joining A Gym Tale this year in the Before & After School program as well as the Nursery School program! Likewise it is also so great to see so many familiar faces returning to the program again this year! We have lots of exciting plans for each of the programs and the teachers are eager to get back to the regular routines and students that we get to know over the course of the year.

I have had many questions on how to help a child adjust who is going to school for the first time. To begin with, separation anxiety is completely normal for a preschooler - he or she is simply aware that this is a new situation and is unsure of what is to come. There are several things as parents we can do to ease a child's anxiety.

Preparation for the start of school is important. If you are able to visit the school so your child has a picture in their mind of where they are going is a great first step. I am so excited that the majority of the children in the Nursery School program have been participating in A Gym Tale's Play & Music programs. Many of the children are familiar with myself and the environment. Now if you have not been to A Gym Tale before, that is ok too! This year we are hosting a Welcome Session where the child and the parent visit in a small group for 1 hour to explore the learning centres and for the parents to meet with me to go over the program and answer any questions. This will be a no-stress day! I want the children to become excited about what the Nursery School program has to offer, about the teachers and the other friends that they will get to know - without the worry of leaving mom or dad. At home mention some of the activities that they may be doing and answer any questions your child may have, but be sure not to make too big of a deal about going to school - sometimes that can add to a child's insecurity.

Consistency at drop off is also very helpful. If you are unsure with how your child will be at drop off time, please contact us so we can make a plan about how we will address your child's anxiety. Usually a quick drop off and exit by the parent helps the child enter the classroom. A teacher will be present to scoop up the child in order to offer comfort and get them involved in an exciting activity as soon as they are ready. Now each child is different, so let's make a plan that you are comfortable with to avoid any confusion on the first drop off day. In addition, be sure to build a regular routine with how you say goodbye - always say goodbye with words, with hugs or with a gesture. It may be tempting to sneak out of the centre, but it may only lead to mistrust once your child realizes that you have left. Help your child to realize that you will always come back.

Bringing a transitional object, such as a stuffed toy or blanket, is also acceptable and can sometimes lessen the child's fear of being left alone. It can sometimes be even more powerful to leave something of yours with the child, a bracelet for example. This gives the child a tangible reminder of the parent and that they are returning.

Also, be aware of your own anxieties about leaving your child. This can be a stressful time for the parent as well if leaving the child for the first time. Even the anxiety about how your child will react at drop off time can lead to stress. Remember children are very good at reading emotions and can sometimes become increasingly anxious if they feel your anxiety about the 'big' day. Going to Nursery School is an important step along the path in helping your child develop socially, emotionally and physically - and it so much fun along the way!

How to Encourage Budding Artists

Through the courses that I have taken and the books that I have read these past few months, many of them have reminded me of how simple it can be to inspire your child's artistic abilities as well as the many benefits of keeping art simple and open with no preconceived end. When an example of what you want the child to create is shown, which is typical of early childhood programs and often expected from parents in order to bring home a 'finished' product, the child's creativity is often lost while they try to replicate the teacher or parents work. Offering a single colour of paint with a variety of materials to use in order to paint can lead the child to expand their creative abilities and imagination at the same time. Their art then becomes a life experience for them and a means of self expression. Quite often a child will spend more time in an open ended art area as they can explore until they have reached completion on their own terms.

This year, children in the Nursery School program will be exposed to the writing centre each day where they can choose to colour or write at will as well as an art room before and / or after snack time. The children will have free choice as to whether they would like to have snack or begin art and then can freely move between rooms as they are finished either their snack or their art project. My hope is that this will encourage those children who really are not very interested in art to dip their toes into various art mediums and find which techniques do inspire them. Likewise, those children who can spend all day being creative will have greater opportunity to do so. A variety of art mediums will be presented to the children throughout the school year for them to explore each day.

A key aspect in encouraging creativity lies in how a parent talks to their children about their art. When these masterpieces are shown to the families at the end of the program the most powerful question you can ask is "Can you tell me about your art?" This leaves the child open to explaining exactly what it is they see - some days it can be as simple as a line or other days it might be an entire scene from their imagination. Please try to avoid guessing what your child has made, this can only end with the child feeling self conscious or negative about their abilities.


Another important aspect of encouraging creativity is displaying your child's art supplies and their art work. For art supplies, the more you can leave at the child's level, the easier it is for them to choose art as an activity when they are looking for something to do. Likewise having a cupboard or shelf with art materials organized can make starting a project quick and easy. There really are many creative ways to display your child's art in your home. From picture frames on a wall in your home for an ever changing gallery, to hanging wires with clothes pins to hang art or taking pictures of the art and creating a digital album, the ideas are endless. For some ideas on organizing your art area and displaying art check out this link.

I am so very excited about seeing some of the creative ideas that come from the students this year! I would also love to hear how you encourage art as well as display art in your home. I am still looking for the perfect wall to display all of Ewan's creations!

Just a reminder, there are still a handful of afternoon Nursery School Spaces available and classes begin next week. For more details click here.

Also, there are three weeks left in A Gym Tale's IPad and Drop In Pass Giveaway - keep those likes coming!

Toilet Training - Round two!

So I am undergoing some toilet training with Isla - I say I, because it is as much training for me as it is for her - probably more for me actually. I am following more or less the same strategies for Isla as I did with Ewan - you can read about my experience with Ewan here . (The post about toilet training Ewan is actually the most popular post I have written - I think it must be because they look so darn cute sitting in the Bumbo seat!)

Isla is now 7 months old and as of the last two weeks she is regularly peeing on the toilet when I bring her! My hope is that as she get older I will need fewer and fewer diapers as we work together in learning her 'schedule'.

Now how did this experiment work with Ewan, you might wonder? Well, he has been peeing on the toilet regularly since he was one year and he has been out of diapers for the past year, more or less around when he turned two. But it is only really this summer that he will actually go to the toilet on his own initiative, ie. me not having to tell him to go and try. I am not sure if it has taken this long for him to begin telling me that he has to go because we developed the habit where I always told him when he should go or if it is because he is a boy and simply too busy to take the time out of playing to go himself.

So, I am trying it again with Isla to see if it is any different with her.

I would love to hear about others experiences with Elimination Communication and any tips you could offer.