Halloween Events for Families in Mississauga

There are so many fun events happening around Mississauga this month to celebrate Halloween. Here at momstown Mississauga we wanted to share our favourite events in the city and let you know where you can find our moms and kids celebrating! 

momstown Mississauga's Halloween Haunt October 30th 10am -12pm

Lots of Halloween crafts, costume contest, fun preschool and toddler activities like pumpkin bowling, pin the nose on the Jack 'o Lantern, a Parachute & Circle Time, a pot-luck buffet of Halloween treats and gymnastics fun from The Little Gym - East Mississauga - there will be fun for everyone! 

The Trick or Treat Festival October 26 10am - 4pm

The Mississauga Mompreneurs has organized a Trick or Treat Festival at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga. 

The Trick or Treat Festival is an Event where you can bring your family including your kids to play, shop, and connect with local Mississauga and Area Businesses. This Festival will feature kids in Costumes and Candy of course! FREE ADMISSION with Donation to Eden Food Bank

Clarkson Village Halloween Fun Fest October 26th 10 am - 2pm 

Trick or Treat through Clarkson Village. Colouring contest, Bouncies, magician and more!  Bring a non-perishable food item donation to Lakeshore and Clarkson Rd North. 

Historic Halloween Fun at Benares Museum October 27th 12pm - 4pm

Benares Museum is hosting a Halloween Event. Cost is $15/family. Reptilia shows, live music and entertainment, face painting, children’s crafts, games, tours of the historic house & more! The first 250 kids in costume will receive a loot bag!

Can't make it to one of these events? Click below for great ideas for Halloween Crafts & Treats from momstown! 

Alphabet Play - Now Sponsored by Alpha-Bits Cereal

momstown Mississauga mamas were very excited to have our Alphabet Play program sponsored by Post Alpha-Bits Cereal. Our monthly event will now include a snack station by Alpha-Bits, where the kids can have a snack while making their crafts. 

Our kick off event was held at The Fun Side - a unique Mississauga indoor playground & party centre that caters to the whole family. 

The event started off with a circle time where we sang all kinds of silly kids songs and tried to fit in our letter of the month as much as possible. This month featured the letter "T".  Our moms and kids were smiling trying to figure out what sound a Tyrannosaurus makes on Old MacDonalds farm... never mind the fact it would likely eat the farm... 

Our craft element this month was a leaf craft  T is for Tree. The kids got to choose out some beautiful leaves to stick on the construction paper Ts. Glue and leaves makes for happy kids (and some happy mamas too)! 

From Alpha-Bits each kid had a cup full of the yummy letter shaped cereal to snack on while gluing... then it was back to some free play time. Every family was able to take home a box to enjoy as well!  momstown Mississauga moms & kids meet monthly for this program focused on literacy, learning and FUN! Join us next time. Sign up today on our website or like us on Facebook to see all the fun events we do each month! 
  

When Should My Child Take an Interest in Reading?

The benefits of reading to your children are well documented. While it’s a good idea to do many other things to enhance your child’s education, reading is a simple, effective way to boost brainpower while bonding with your child. 

Here are just a few of the many benefits:

• Reading to children increases their vocabulary. A recent study of eight month old babies conducted by the Child Development Center at Rhode Island Hospital showed that the ones whose parents read to them frequently understood far more words than children who were not read to as often.

• Language, speech and communication skills improve when children are exposed to books. By reading to your children, you will be helping them learn to speak correctly. In addition, you will be improving their mastery of the language, and teaching them different ways to communicate.

• Young children love to snuggle up for a bedtime story, but even older children benefit from reading time with a parent. In today’s hectic world, reading together can be a special time, an oasis that allows you to share a meaningful experience.

• Students whose parents read to them tend to be academically advanced. Several domestic and international studies, including an article published by the British Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, found that children who are read to before preschool have a better chance of performing at above average levels throughout their school careers. That’s because reading helps them to master other skills too, like logic and empathy.

• A love of books is one of the benefits of reading to your children that has lifelong implications. People who love to read will continue learning throughout their lives, and this will enrich their world and make them more interesting people. Teaching your children that books are wonderful and reading is fun is one of the best gifts you can give them.

While the benefits of reading to your children can be obvious, what is less obvious is the best way to make sure they get off to a strong start. 

If you are unsure as to how your child is doing or you want to be certain they are well prepared for JK/SK or Grade 1 then you should consider some outside help.  The Education Directors at the Sylvan Learning Centre in Mississauga have a great deal of expert knowledge and experience and also offers FREE useful online resources at www.sylvanlearning.com.

For children who do seem to be struggling and need a little bit of extra attention Sylvan Learning offers a Beginning Reading program as well as a Handwriting Course to teach a young child how to hold a pencil and to how form letters carefully and confidently. 

If you are interested in improving your child’s reading level at any age or grade or are looking for a reading, writing or math tutor then give your local Sylvan Learning Centre a call. There are three locations to serve you across Mississauga. 

North Mississauga

South Mississauga 

Erin Mills

Mattel Sponsored Mom and Me Game Day

Our momstown Mississauga mamas and kids were treated to a very special event this month at our Mattel Sponsored Game day. Kids 3 + and their moms were lucky enough to be able to try 5 new games. 

There was something for every child and their interest level. Games teach  pre-school kids life skills like how to take turns, sharing, waiting (patience) and how to have fun.    

Chipmunk Choppers was a fan favourite with all the kids. The chipmunk choppers themselves are so much fun to use, they had all the kids excited as they chomped letters off the tree to match with the word cards. Practicing skills like colour and letter recognition were natural in the quest to chomp more letters.  


Angry Birds Knock on Wood was another great game. Fitting together the pieces of wood to make structures for the piggies was just as exciting as launching the birds. 

The tractor with hay-bale launcher proved the highlight during Go Piggy Go! This game had some more complex elements introducing simple strategy perfect for teaching game play and focus skills to the older kids. 

Uno Moo inspired some pretty creative sounds as we encouraged the kids to use their imagination and voices to enhance the game play.  

Parrot Pile Up required the children to slow down and really focus on the best placement of the objects. It also required a steady hand and concentration to complete each turn. 

Our moms and kids loved the games from Mattel and we will definitely be making Game Day a regular event on our calendar using these great pre-school offerings. The moms were thrilled to be able to take home a copy of Uno as a gift. 

Join us for more events like this. momstown Mississauga has sponsored events every month from great local and national sponsors like Mattel.  Membership is only $45 per year for the whole family, purchase one for yourself or a friend today. 

September's Books for Babies: Giggle

momstown Mississauga's September bookclub for babies was sponsored by Scholastic Canada.  Giggle by Caroline Jayne Church was this month's selection. A great board book for babies with a built in giggle "button" that provides laughs the whole way through the book.

Books for Babies is a monthly event for our moms with babies aged 0-12 months. A circle time, story, finger plays, rhymes and a new monthly baby sign are all part of this monthly event.

Starting in October this event will be re-named as part of our consistent across Canada momstown.ca branding to a new title: Rhyme Rhythm and Read.  This month and next we are hosting at The Fun Side a south Mississauga Indoor Playground with a fantastic baby and toddler area.

 

 

 We have a weekly Baby Basics group held at Taima Zone where our moms and babies meet to do fun baby Picassos art projects, hear from speakers and gather to discuss hot topics such as transitioning to solids, breastfeeding, choosing a child care centre and more!

 

 

 

Consider joining us for one of our fun Baby Programs, meet some new friends and enjoy the membership perks like winning a book at one of our Scholastic Canada monthly sponsored events! In October the Mama Bookclub is being sponsored by Scholastic Canada - that's right free books for the moms too! Membership is only $45/family for the whole year! Purchase yours today.

September's Bookclub for Kids: Fox and Squirrel

momstown Mississauga moms and kids are lucky to have a monthly sponsor for our bookclub for kids. This month Scholastic Canada sent us an adorable selection Fox and Squirrel by Ruth Ohi.

Our kids loved the engaging story and the adorable artwork. Fox and Squirrel is a story about friends who as they compare and discover their differences, quickly realize that they are not so different after all.

 

With such a diverse community such as Mississauga this is a very relatable story with great messaging for our community. There are parents and kids from all over the world in our city.

Miss Deanna kept the kids entertained at our monthly Chapters story time with the monthly story plus songs and rhymes. After story time, our moms and kids had a great time making this fall themed craft.

We meet monthly for over 20 events all across Mississauga. Please consider joining us next time this event is open to the public and we post details on our Facebook Page. Our yearly membership is only $45/year for the whole family, purchase one today for yourself or as a gift for a friend!

What Families Can Learn at the Our Kids Private School Expos

Article by:  Erin McLaughlin for OurKids.net, Canada's trusted source for camps and schools.

Not sure where to begin searching for the right school for your child or are you interested in learning more about education options? Don’t miss the upcoming Our Kids Halton-Peel Private School Expo on October 20^th, 2013 and the Toronto Private School Expo on October 26^th, 2013.

At the Private School Expos families are able to speak exclusively with school staff and education experts, plus get answers to all of their questions. With a variety of the best private schools exhibiting from across Ontario, around Canada and internationally, these events are geared toward parents who value education and want the best for their kids.

This year’s Expos include information seminars on  “How to Choose a School” and “Financial Advice: How to Pay for Private School” and families can ask questions at the Q&A sessions, as well as meet with school representatives and current students to get an inside view of the schools.

What attending families say:

•       “I found the information sessions so valuable! They really answered my questions and relieved some of my stresses. And, the fact that I could directly and personally ask questions after the sessions was fantastic.” — Parent of prospective student

•       “I was surprised to meet with the Heads of the schools. They were so friendly and approachable; really knowledgeable too.” — Parent of prospective student

•       “I know what to do next. Making this choice is important to me and my family so I wanted to participate and I’m glad I did.” — Parent of prospective student

If you’re interested in learning more about alternate education options for your kids, check out the Our Kids Halton-Peel and Toronto Private School Expos, a quick and efficient way of learning about private education. Bring the whole family and explore your private school opportunities together!

EXCLUSIVE OFFER: Get FREE admission valid for a family of four compliments of Momstown Mississauga using the promocode “momstown” when you register here: http://www.ourkids.net/expo/register.php

Halton-Peel Private School Expo

Location: Oakville Conference Centre, 2515 Wyecroft Road, Oakville, ON L6L 6P8

Date: Sunday, October 20^th, 2013

Time: 12:00 to 4:00 pm

Contact: 1-877-272-1845 (toll free) or info@ourkids.net

Toronto Private School Expo

Location: Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe Street, Toronto, ON M5J 2J5

Date: Saturday, October 26^th, 2013

Time: 11:00 to 3:00 pm

Contact: 1-877-272-1845 (toll free) or info@ourkids.net