HRM Parent Blog

It's almost the end of January - and I'm sure I could dig up some sort of statistic to share with you about how many New Year's Resolutions are broken by now...but really, who needs that extra stress?   I mean seriously, it's hard enough to keep up with the day-to-day of life as a parent, let alone trying to layer on the pressure of getting more sleep, saving money and working out. No wonder they get broken! 

Life is too short and family time is too precious.  So why not take advantage of the fact that it's still January to change your resolution and join us in the 12 month "Time Well Spent Family Challenge" challenge?  It's one activity per month that will hopefully be a little more manageable, less stressful and give you a great excuse to get the family together. 

Are you up for it?

January - Visit a library: In celebration of National Literacy Day on January 27th, how about planning a family trip to any one of the great public libraries in HRM?  While you're there be sure to browse their huge selection of books, stop for a play in the children's area, check out their events calendar and more.  Before you leave, don't forget to take a few minutes to get your kids their own library card! 

February - From the Heart: We could easily suggest that you just do a valentine's day craft and call it a month, but why not dial it up a little more.  This month, it's all about doing a simple act of kindness that come straight from the heart.  Get the family to help shovel an elder neighbour's driveway, volunteer to canvas for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, bake cookies for someone who may need a little lift or leave anonymous valentine's in mailboxes around your neighbourhood with a happy message inside.  Just be sure to spread some love this month.

March - Go Green: Here's a fun combo to celebrate St. Patrick's Day as well as National Nutrition Month.  At least once a week for the month of March, challenge your family to try a new green vegetable that you haven't tried before. It's not as boring as it sounds when you throw in a little fun.  Have everyone take their first bite together or have the kids do a blind taste test and and let them guess what green veggie it could be. Heck you can even make up a song about it to make it more exciting. Don't worry, if green peas are even a stretch for you, we'll enlist Wendy, our Bringing Balance blogger to help share some of her favourite green veggie recipes when the time comes.  Who knows, by the end of the month you may have some new green vegetables to love!

April - Darkness Calls:  This one is easy.  April 22nd is Earth Day so do your part by participating in Earth Hour.  Shut down the iPads, turn off the TV and light some candles and enjoy a full hour of family time.  We'll be sharing some tips and tricks for making sure there's something for everyone to do and who knows, you may end up keeping the lights off well beyond the hour.

May - Family Tree:  Don't stop with just celebrating mom this month, and take some time to create a simple family tree.  This is especially meaningful if you have family members that live far away. Our kids are always fascinated to hear stories about their great-grandparents and often get confused about relatives that they don't see often, so including pictures will make it even more special. Here's a great book that can help with the process.

June - Stay Safe: It's National Safety Month, so how about using it as a great time to cover some important safety awareness topics with the family.  Do your kids know their telephone number or about calling 911?  Can they recognize the symbols for poison or dangerous products? Have you ever planned a home fire drill?  We'll be sure to share lots of great resources when the time comes, but slot it in the calendar to get your family in the safety zone this month.

July - Picnic Time: Yup, simple as that.  Pack the picnic basket, throw some juice boxes in the cooler, grab a blanket and head to the nearest park for a good old fashioned family picnic.

August - Reach for the Stars:  We can't wait for this one...it's another easy one that you'll be glad you did. Pick a good clear night and head out to the backyard for an evening under the stars.  Forget the lawn chairs, cover an area with blankets and line the family up.  Then spend 30 minutes just watching the stars.   See who can find the big dipper first or maybe spot a shooting star.  While you're there, maybe spark up a chat about what each person would wish for or what he or she would do if they could go to the moon.    

September - Back to the Books: Ok, we know this is hands down one of the busiest months of the year for any families with school aged kids.  Getting back into the swing of things with routines, activities and homework doesn't leave much time for anything else.  So we'll keep it simple. Read.  Just read.  Even if it's just a few minutes before bedtime, try and share at least one book (or chapter) a night with your child.  Even older kids, who are reading chapter books, will still get so much from having you read to them for a change. Plus it's some guaranteed cuddle time, how could you not accept this challenge?

October - Give Thanks:  This should be fun.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving pick a day of the month where the family will be together for most of the day (if possible) and play the thank-you game.  It's pretty simple, anytime anyone says or does something nice for another person, they have to say "thank you".  If you remember to say thank you, you get a sticker.  If you forget and someone catches you, you lose a sticker. At the end of the day, whoever has the most stickers is crowned the most thankful!  A little friendly competition will be fun and the lesson in manners doesn't hurt either.

November - Remembering:  This month's challenge is all about honoring our soldiers, past and present, and taking the time to ensure your kids are aware of the sacrifices they have made.  Make plans to attend a Remembrance Day ceremony in your area or visit one of the many forts, museums or monuments around HRM.  Read "In Flander's Fields" poem to your kids or even have your older children write a note to a soldier serving overseas or a local veteran. It won't take much time, but is bound to have a lasting impression.

December - Movie Night:  It's the last month of the year and what a better way to celebrate completing our challenge than with a family movie night.  Plus it'll be a nice get-away from the rush of the holidays. All you need is a big bowl of popcorn, some blankets to keep you cozy on the couch and a great family movie to make your challenge complete.  Who knows, maybe having more "movie nights" will become your resolution for 2013!

For this activity you will need some containers, some water, a cold location, a pan and a metal spoon. Find a container (mould) shaped to your liking, fill it with water and then leave it in a cold spot - a freezer works, but the temperature outside can get much colder, which will speed up the process. As you might guess, this will eventually form a nice piece of ice in the exact shape of your mould. Great moulds range widely: from ice cube trays and yogurt containers to balloons or rubber gloves (though you’ll need to cut these away to remove your ice). Just make sure that your container has room for your ice to expand, because water gets slightly larger as it turns to ice (and therefore can break your mould if it doesn’t have room to stretch).

Now, take your cool-shaped block of ice, rest it in a pan (to catch melting water!) and sculpt it with a metal spoon and a cup of warm water (to keep your spoon warm). Use your imagination and scrape and melt your ice into nearly any shape you like. Upload your ice sculptures to our Facebook page!

There are two bits of science to be learned in this icy activity: first, the bigger the difference in temperature between two things, the faster they will come together (the warm one cools and the cold one warms). That means your ice will form faster the colder your day (or freezer), and melt faster the warmer your carving tool is. Secondly, ice sculptures look particularly cool because of how they catch the light: light bends a bit when it moves into and out of water, which makes a spoon look bent in a glass of water (try it!) and can make an ice sculpture seem like it’s glowing.

If you need a break from the cold – be sure to come to the Discovery Centre and check out our two new exhibits coming this month – Grossology: The Impolite Science of the Human Body and Let’s Go: Animals in Motion.  Both will be here until May.

For more great things to discover - visit the Discovery Centre on Barrington Street in Halifax, check out their website  or join them on facebook.   

Ok, be honest – how many times do you find yourself saying “I wish I had more time to do this” or “I don’t have time to finish that” or (the big one) “if I only had more hours in the day”?

How cool is it that we spend most of our days wishing for more time and then just like that, daylight savings appears to give us an extra hour.  No negotiations required.  A whole sixty minutes. 3600 brand new seconds that we didn’t have before. Sweet.

Despite a few comments about the kids waking up too early on Sunday, I was pleasantly surprised to see countless posts on Facebook about how people were spending their extra hour.  An extra long breakfast, dancing in the living room,  raking leaves and more. It got me thinking about all the fun things that you and the family can do in an hour, so I started a list:

Sock it up. Head down to The Monkey Show and have an hour of fun helping the kids make their very own sock monkey.

Gather round the kitchen table and play a good old classic board game like monopoly that will pass an hour faster than you’ll pass go.

Visit a Live Science Show at the Discovery Centre …but be warned, once you get there you’ll likely stay longer than an hour.

Heat up the oven, grab a cake mix and your kids to whip up some cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles.  Yum!

Sail away.  A round trip ride on the ferry is about 30 mins, so do it twice and you’ve got yourself a fun adventure on the sea.

Strike up some fun.  Rent a lane at the bowling alley for an hour and get the whole family together for some friendly competition

Racquetball, basketball or badminton – book a court at any of the local gyms for an hour and get active.

Now it’s your turn – share your post below to tell us your family’s favourite way to spend an hour?

Watching too much TV or sitting for too long in front of a computer or video game are easy habits for kids to form - and potentially detrimental ones. Studies are showing that when children live a more sedentary lifestyle, they are at an increased risk of developing childhood obesity. And those same sedentary kids often grow up to be inactive and unhealthy adults, often leading to adult obesity and serious health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.  And is it any surprise why sedentary kids grow into sedentary adults? They have never learned to be active or enjoy physical activity or how to incorporate it into their lifestyles.

Many experts recommend that kids get no more than 1–2 hours of TV/computer/video games a day when, in actuality, a lot of kids get closer to 4-6 hours. Most parents acknowledge that their children need to watch less TV but they dread the screaming, yelling and crying that often follows the request to turn off the tube. And simply hiding the remote and unplugging the modem aren’t going to cut it and will likely lead to a full on battle royale in your living room, which is exactly what you’re trying to avoid.

How can you get your kids to tune out and get moving? Kids learn by example don’t forget. So help them be more physically active by being more active yourself and making time on a regular basis for family focused fitness.

Here are a few ideas for ways to be active together:

Make a splash. While a weekly step aerobics class may be your cup of tea, it isn't likely to keep your 8-year-old’s interest. However, a trip to the pool just might do the trick. Many recreation facilities have time set aside each week for family swims, when fun extra features like Tarzan ropes, water slides and diving boards are available to use.

Ask them out. When you think ‘date night’, you probably think dinner and a movie. But if your kids are young, bedtime probably arrives before the credits roll. So why not ask your kids out on a backwards date? Start your Saturday afternoon off with a fun family activity – go bowling or hit up a park or an indoor playground like the Fun Zone at Dalplex, and once everyone’s had their fill of fun, head home for a healthy dinner together.

Do something seasonal. Encourage the kids help rake the leaves in the fall - after they've played in them for a while, of course. Go sledding or take the kids to the rink for a family skate in the winter. Plant a veggie garden or walk in the park in the springtime. Get on your bikes and go for a ride together in the summer or play catch in the backyard.

Sneak in more exercise. Have to go to the corner store to grab milk? Make it a family outing and walk there together.  Too far to walk? No problem. Park as far away from the door as you can and walk with your children to the entrance furthest away. And if the option is available, choose to take the stairs instead of using an elevator or escalator once you’re inside.

Remember that what you do sends a much more powerful message than what you say. If you or your partner spend every evening glued to the TV after dinner or check email on your smartphone constantly, the message that ‘too much screen time isn’t good for you’ isn’t going to be the message that gets though loud and clear.

Dalplex, Dalhousie University's main fitness and recreation facility, has been proudly serving the community for over 30 years, offering a wide variety of fitness, wellness and recreation programs and classes for adults, children, youth and seniors.  Visit their website or follow them on facebook. 

I like the idea of "thoughtful technology". Which doesn't mean that my son doesn't get to play with my iphone or ipad, just that I try (and sometimes more successfully than others) to turn the play into a conversation. Some of the apps below are better for that than others. And some of them are just better for when you need 10 minutes to get dinner made! I tried to include some favourites that cover a range of ages but we'd love it if you share some of your favourites on facebook or in the comments below!

1. Angry Birds Lite, free.

Villainous pigs and angry birds combine to make a hugely popular game that appeals to kids and parents alike. It's so popular that it's spun off into stuffed animals, t-shirts and even cake toppers!

2. Creationary, free.

How quickly can you guess what’s being built from LEGO bricks? A fun one to do together with a smaller child and a fun challenging for older kids, especially those who love lego.

3. Doodle Buddy, free.

Draw and paint with your fingers and then share with friends. It also lets you pick a background, you can even use your own photos, and then you draw and stamp all them! Parents can use it for useful things like designing a logo for their business.

4. Family Matters, 1.99.

This app is not a game, but it is be a sanity saver when you're waiting in line at the airport or at the doctor's office. It gives you lots of ideas for games and stories. Great for engaging the whole family. 

5. Fruit Ninja Lite, free.

You can wipe your finger across the screen to deliciously slash and splatter fruit like a true ninja warrior. This one is a bit tricky (and violent) for the smaller kids but very satisfying for the older crowd, which may include mom and dad.

6. Kid song Kwiz Game, .99.

A popular kid's song plays and then the child has to touch the picture that matches the song. This is a fun one to do with your kids and is great for motor skills as well as listening skills!

7. Peekaboo Barn, free.

Inside a little bouncing barn, friendly farm animals are waiting to pop out and surprise your little one. Try and guess who they are; tap the doors to find out! This is a great one for toddlers who are just figuring out their swiper fingers.

8. Talking Tom Cat, free.

If your kids want a pet more than you do, this app might be the answer. Tom is your pet cat, and responds to your touch and repeats everything you say with a funny voice. Children of all ages can occupy themselves for hours but beware, this app can make them very silly!

9. Super WHY!, 2.99.

Have fun learning to read with this collection of four SUPER WHY interactive literacy games. Your child can play along with each of the four main characters from the TV series: Alpha Pig, Princess Presto, Wonder Red, and, of course, Super Why, while practicing the alphabet, rhyming, spelling, writing and reading.