Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in vancouver, CN

Some Easy Earth Day Crafts and Activities

April 21, 2009

I thought for this Earth Day I would do something crafty with my son that will help the earth. A lot of crafts already reuse things you may not realize can be reused. Some crafts make life easier for your urban wildlife, and some make life easier for you with nature walks.

First up we will be taking our NatureBag for a walk. With its binoculars, magnifying glass and other materials, it makes for an interesting nature walk even in you backyard. For more information on the NatureBag check out the review I did last summer.

You can make an easy and earth friendly bird feeder with a large opened pine cone. With some vegetable shortening or lard or suet with some oats and birdseed you can make some birds very happy. It is especially nice to make these in winter. Just make sure to wrap a longish string around the pine cone first. Mix the fat with some oats and spread in the cone. When this is done roll the cones in birdseed. Hang and watch the birds flock to eat.

When starting seeds for herbs, vegetables or flowers you can reuse your containers from your recycling box before sending them off to the recycling depot. Use some soil and seeds in your small yogurt containers for a small windowsill herb garden. For something a little prettier is can use cans. Just make sure to wash thoroughly and sand away the rough edges. You can get your child to paint them before you start planting.

Take some time and take a picture walk on Earth Day. Give you and you child a chance to stop and look around you. I would also suggest bringing a pair of tongs and a garbage bag. Clean up as you go.

How will you be celebrating the earth tomorrow?

Music Makers and Shakers

March 02, 2009

Have you ever said "I don't have enough percussion instruments in the house?" Yeah me too, all the time! While I am kidding a little bit about the lack of percussion instruments in our house, there are times when a home made instrument can be a lifesaver. There are lots of easy ways to make a quick instrument.

The quick shaker is a really easy craft and only requires a yogurt container or other small container with a tight fitting lid. Taking into account the child you are making this with and choose the appropriate size. Try different sized of rattles inside the shaker. Some interesting sounds are rice, pasta, beans and chestnuts. If this isn't going to be around children under three you can also put jingle bells inside for a different sound. Try decorating the shaker with stickers or labels that you child has coloured.

We have also made some drums with the lidded yogurt containers and ice cream containers. Have fun playing with the different sizes and checking out the different sounds each of them makes. For an even lower sounding drum use dishwasher detergent buckets. Wooden spoons make great drum sticks, or if your house is like ours use daddy's Rock Band drumsticks. This may be the life saver when you are trying to get through a Rock Band song and your child has their own drums.

The real coup is that once you have had enough you can recycle the lot. How about that for fun?

Halloween Trick or Treat Bucket

by Gwendolyn Floyd

October 20, 2008

Last year my son and I made a few things for Halloween. I love Halloween and I keep up the decorations for a while. I really wanted my son to be as excited about Halloween as I was. Since he was a little apprehensive we decorated a small sand bucket to put his treats in. It was  Read more...

Extra Classes for the Preschooler: Art

by Gwendolyn Floyd

September 18, 2008

In this series I am highlighting a few of the classes you can find around the city, especially at community centres. There are so many Community Centres that I will only highlight some. To find a community centre closer to you check out the Vancouver Park Board's web site for more information. West Point Grey Community Centre has a number of preschool art classes including Eco  Read more...

What's Up for 23-24 August

by Gwendolyn Floyd

August 22, 2008

We again have a lot of activities that might interest you for this weekend, especially if we can get rid of the rain. The events are happening all over the lower mainland so there should be something for everybody. There is still The Fair at the PNE Vancouver . Open from August 16 th to September 1, 2008 from 11 am to 11pm or so. Fair Gate passes are free for those under 6 and  Read more...

Festivals, Stories and Jazz, Oh My!

by Gwendolyn Floyd

June 27, 2008

Another weekend is upon us and this one seems to actually have some good weather forecast. This last weekend of June has a number of great events planned with lots of kid friendly activities. First off is GreekFest at Boundary Road just south of 29 th Ave. Running from Friday 27  Read more...