Books for Babies: Mississauga moms and babies read Robert Munsch

momstown Mississauga moms meet monthly for our Reading Program with Babies. Sponsored by Scholastic Canada, we receive books each month to give away to one lucky family at our Baby Bookclub and our Tots Bookclub.

This month we read Robert Munsch's Alligator Baby. Our program starts with a circle time, where we sing songs, do finger plays, rhymes and read baby-friendly stories.

Alligator Baby is about Kirsten who's parents are having a baby and get all mixed up at the zoo, bringing home baby after baby but not the right one! If only having a baby were this easy..

Join us next month when we read another great story from Scholastic Canada and you could win your very own copy to take home! You can sign up here for a 1yr or 6 month membership - and start getting out of the house and having fun! We hope to see you at an event soon!

We had a very Lucky Duckling at Tales for Tots This Month!

At momstown Mississauga we meet monthly for a storytime at Chapters. Our moms and kids read a story provided by Scholastic Canada and make a related craft! This month's story was great, Lucky Ducklings by Eva Moore.  A perfect story for spring, about a mama and her ducklings and their exciting adventure.

 

 

April's Book!

Each month momstowns across Canada are able to give away copies of these bookclub books! All of this is courtesy of Scholastic Canada. Our joint missions to promote literacy in Canadian Children is  the reason this program is possible!

 

 

 

Lucky Winning Family!
 

If you haven't checked us out yet in person what are you waiting for? We meet several times a month at public locations like Chapter's - you can drop in and try a program out for free! Follow this blog for updates or Like us on Facebook to keep up with everywhere we are all month long!
 We also offer a 1 month trial membership to momstown Mississauga so sign up and get started having fun meeting other Mississauga moms and kids today!

Many Faces, One Portrait Photography Project at Art Gallery of Mississauga

Karen Maze is a Mississauga resident, a photographer, mom to 2yr old Graham and also a member of momstown Mississauga. This is Karen's guest blog on her photography exhibition at the Art Gallery of Mississauga.

 

 

Many Faces, One Portrait is a photography project that I worked on in conjunction with the Art Gallery of Mississauga and the Mississauga Library System as part of their Roots & Branches initiative. It has been an honour to be involved in the project, particularly because I am a Mississauga Resident, and through this project I was also artist in residence at Erin Meadows Library.

I set up a backdrop and light at the library on six different days in January and February 2013 and asked for volunteers to be photographed as the entered or exited the library. The response was from the library patrons was exceptional. Most people - over 350, in fact - agreed to be photographed.

As a photographer, I am interested in the idea of "local". What makes a place unique, interesting, and distinguishable from other places? What does it have in common with the rest of the world? Inevitably the answer comes from and is the people of that place. The goal of Many Faces, One Portrait is simply to show a cross-section of the faces of Mississauga from the vantage point of Erin Meadows Library. My hope is that viewers will connect with the individual portraits as well as the group as a whole, and that a unique portrait of the city emerges.

44 faces of Mississauga are on display as part of Many Faces, One Portrait at the Art Gallery of Mississauga through April 20. For more information, please visit the Art Gallery of Mississauga located inside City Hall. Admission is free.

Art Gallery of Mississauga

300 City Centre Dr, Mississauga, ON, Canada

artgalleryofmississauga.com

905-896-5088agm.connect@mississauga.ca
Admission: Free

Making Fruit Fun - How to Turn a Mango into a Hedgehog

Do your kids love to eat fruit? At momstown Mississauga one of the 6 pillars of our programming is  Nutrition. We offer a program each month called Junior Chef, where our momstown our kids (aged 18m- 6yrs) get cooking in the kitchen dishing up some fabulous snacks and easy meal ideas. This experience  gets them excited about healthy eating.

Make a mango an extra special treat by following these easy steps to turn a mango into a fun and fabulous creature - a hedgehog! No special tools are required!

Finished Hedgehogs

Supplies:
Mango (s)
Knife

Step 1. Make sure the mango is ripe. It should not be too firm; press the mango lightly and see if it springs back.   

Step 2. Wash the skin of the mango

Step 3. Holding the Mango on a cutting board slice down from the Stem along the middle of the fruit, just to skim the pit in the centre. Slice the other side next. You will end up with 3 pieces. Two can be hedgehogs!

 

Step 4. Holding the cut side in your hand gently run your knife in a pattern inside the mango skin being careful not to pierce the skin. Make a pattern of squares.

Step 5. Gently push on the skin side to puff up your hedgehog. Place it on a plate and decorate with eyes. Use cut up grapes, cherries, strawberries etc.

Step 6. Enjoy! My kids ask for hedgehogs for dessert! It's messy though! 

While mango isn't a tough sell for lots of kids since its so sweet, turning the fruit into something fun can inspire consumption in those who are harder to convince!

Custom Mother's Day Jewelry in Support of Sick Kids Hospital

momstown Mississauga loves to support families and help in the community where we can! Our friends at Beading Buds a Travelling Beading Party based in Mississauga, are selling custom Mother's Day Necklaces to help raise money for Sick Kids Hospital. 
 

Contact Beading Buds and let them know your children's birthstones and they will make a custom necklace just for you. Each necklace comes with a heart charm, birthstones and a special gift bag.

To order email Beading Buds at contactus@beadingbuds.com with your
child(ren)'s birthstones and your mailing address. Cost is $25 per necklace and a portion of the money raised is being donated to Sick Kids Hospital. 


Shipping is an additional $5 per necklace, but if you live in the South Mississauga or Etobicoke area, arrangements can be made to deliver the necklaces to you.  Alternatively we may be able to make arrangements to pick up at a momstown Mississauga event.

This is a perfect gift for Mother's Day!

Tales for Tots Bookclub for Kids in Mississauga

This month momstown Mississauga's bookclub for kids was held at Chapters. momstowns across Canada meet monthly for our book club for kids event, where we read a new book provided by Scholastic. At the end we raffled off the book selection to one lucky family to take home and enjoy.

The selection for March was Goodnight Canada by Andrea Beck. A lyrical tale that says goodnight to each province across Canada - highlighting a provincial feature in each picture. 

Maritime illustrations show kids tucked in by the iconic rock formations of the Bay of Fundy and the Confederation Bridge in PEI. Manitoba shows Polar Bears and the Northern Lights, NWT has an Inukshuk and so on. Lots of teachable moments to get kids interested to know what some of these Canadian icons are!

Winning Family

Our moms and kids loved this fun book selection and the accompanying crafts prepared by momstown Mississauga! Join us next month we'll be reading a Duckling book for spring.

momstown Membership is $45/year per family and includes all the events buy yours here!   Like us on Facebook to see all the fun we are having or follow us on Twitter for updates as they happen!

momstown Mississauga moms Fitness Challenge

 

Exciting News! Our very first momstown Mississauga fitness challenge is coming this spring! Join other Mississauga moms and get ready for bathing suit weather this Spring with the support and challenge of other moms just like you! 

 

We have great workouts planned as well as the support of  a personal trainer. All classes will take place in the evening and there will be a starting, mid point and final weigh in and measuring of inches. Each member will contribute $20 and the money will be split between two winners, the person who loses the most weight and the individual with the best fitness results overall. 

 

You must be a member to sign up to the challenge. Not a momstown Mississauga member yet? Purchase your membership for just $45 a year and come get fit with us! For more information on how you can join us for the challenge, please email info.mississauga@momstown.ca

 

Stay tuned to this blog or Follow us on our Facebook Page. 

Kickoff Date - May 1st, 2013 - 7:30 pm with Ada from
Mommy and Baby Fitness

Ada will be our personal trainer for the challenge - helping us with weighing, measuring and guiding us in our fitness challenge. We will be working out with Ada 3x over the challenge - in a variety of workouts.

 

momstown Mississauga mamas will be meeting for an outdoor Bootcamp workout with Sarah from Urban Fitness Canada.  

momstown mamas will also be working out with Annie and Luisa from Zumba Passion Fitness. Sharing their passion for Fitness and Dance this promises to be a workout full of energy and fun!