The magic of big wheels and vehicles: Touch-A-Truck

by Karen This was originally published on Karen's Chronicles two years ago after our first visit to Touch-A-Truck. This weekend on June 10th, Mothercraft is bringing out all the biggest and best vehicles for your children to explore and enjoy. It's truly a fun time that appeals to a fairly wide range of ages - you should come out!

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I've had some strange looks over the last week whenever I tell someone that we were going to Touch-A-Truck this weekend. For some reason, there were a LOT of people asking me what I was doing this weekend. So, I had to explain what it is to each of them.

First of all, Mothercraft did a great job putting this really fabulous event together. I can only imagine the logistics that went into getting all of those vehicles and people together all at once. And the vehicle operators were great with the kids - even my shy guy.

School Bus! Brandon was most excited about seeing a school bus and the fire trucks.

Déjà vu - I was just doing this a couple of weeks ago at the Children's Museum when Brandon had to share the driver's seat there, too.

Matt was pretty excited they brought in a crane for the day. Brandon didn't seem to care much for it.

Brandon waited none too patiently to finally get to sit in the fire truck. He seemed to enjoy these vintage models, but the big new ones intimidated him.

Military vehicles! We retreated to the far side of the parking lot hoping to find shorter lines and hit the jackpot!

Brandon was shorter than the wheel - not so unusual on a lot of these vehicles, but this was the one we got to document.

She tried to get him interested, but he was having no part of the inside of that truck. It was DARK in there!

Brandon has a minor fascination with motorcycles now, so the Harleys they had inside were irresistible.

Brandon wants to be able to hold the handlebars, so he made it happen. That amused the man who was in charge of the Harleys (thankfully).

Last but not least, we visited the apple with the worm. I think he thought it was a turtle, though.

We didn't last long at Touch-A-Truck this year. The heat of the day and all the stimulation proved to be more than Brandon could handle for more than an hour. Considering his age (and how hot it was), I think he did really well. Who cares if I will never regain use of my shoulder again after carrying him everywhere. ;)

I'm already looking forward to this happening again next year so I can see how Brandon's reactions to it will change. He didn't seem bothered by the noise - and there was quite a bit of noise from all the horns and sirens. But lately we've noticed that he doesn't like crowds too much. I hope it will be less intimidating for him next year!

Will we see you at Touch-A-Truck this weekend?!?

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Karen Wilson is a wife to Matt and mom to Brandon (4), who blogs about her life at Karen’s Chronicles. She can be found at Wellman Wilson, helping business use social media more effectively. Lately, she's also busy planning a little conference and doing her part to keep the coffee industry alive.

Secret Spy Birthday Party

by Sara In February my son, the firefighter, turned 6, and with a budget of $100, we set out to host, at the firefighters request, a secret spy party for his closest friends.

And for the first time my superstar husband organized the entire affair. If you're impressed with how it all came together, he deserves all the kudos.

Our nanny/au pair/life saver, who is with us 1-2 days a week, supervised the paper mâché. With her help the firefighter created a giant bomb shaped piñata for his party. It took several days to dry (on one of our hot air vents) and then the monkey and firefighter painted it black.

I typed/printed the text for the invitations and took the firefighters photo in his spy gear and he did the rest, creating invitations for all his friends.

While I had a busy morning of photography sessions my husband took the kids to Dollarama and Party Packagers to get all the party supplies. Here's what they bought:

Spy kits / Loot bags

10 Mini flashlights

10 pencils & notepads (and a pencil sharpener)

2 containers of glow sticks

Party activities

'Caution' tape

Red string (for a laser obstacle course)

Red ink pad (for fingerprinting)

Large bottle of black craft paint

Food

Black cups, plates and napkins for 10

5 types of candy for the bomb piñata

Decorations

Black balloons

In total the party cost us $88. My dad, who has made the boys birthday cakes every year since their 1st birthdays, created a grey bomb (at the firefighters request). Because the party was from 1-3 we didn't serve any other food/snacks, just juice and water.

When the recruits arrived (all wearing black and navy blue!) we gave them 15 minutes to play before they were called to the family room where their secret spy mission (to prove themselves as secret spies and complete the mission) was explained. Each recruit was given their spy notebook and pencil and then fingerprinted.

After the fingerprinting was complete we brought them to the studio for an obstacle course to test their physical stamina and readiness for the mission. They punched a focus pad, climbed through a laser maze, and then balanced on a course of beams. They also tried on a variety of camouflage gear and at one point we tied groups of them together with a long rope to see how quickly they could escape (very quickly!).

Before the mission began they had to collect 19 clues (pieces of green painters tape) from around the main floor of the house. They put the clues in their spy books (the tape looked blank but each piece was numbered 1-19 with yellow highlighter).

After passing the retinal scanner they went to the darkened basement with their flashlights to find the decoder. Using our UV light (aka, cat pee light) they put the 19 pieces of tape in order (the light made the highlighter numbers glow) on the decoder square which revealed the location of the hidden bomb (piñata).

Note: Even my fancy-schmancy camera has trouble taking photos when its pitch black ;)

Their mission was to defuse the the bomb (with a broomstick). My wise husband suggested we destroy the bomb in the garage to minimize the mess.

When the mission was complete we let the kids play for 20-30 minutes (as well as colour the huge piece of paper we'd laid out for their cake picnic) before it was time for the second bomb. The cake and sparkler were a huge hit!

Because we have gift free parties there wasn't any need for present opening and after two hours we sent the tired spies home. In lieu of loot bags (something else we avoid at our parties) we sent each home with their fingerprint sheet, flashlight, notepad/pencil, and the candy from the piñata.

Given the laughter, huge smiles, thundering feet, and excited shrieking, I'm going to say that a good time was had by all!

Sara is a photographer and mom to a 6-year-old ” firefighter”, 3.5-year-old “monkey”, and a third boy, "bug", due in May.  You can also find her at her blog, My Points of View.

Kids in the Capital: Call for Events

by Karen We're calling on our community a LOT this year! We hope you enjoy and find the changes we're implementing to be very useful.

Our latest announcement is one that I am quite excited about. The Kids in the Capital blog focuses on events and activities that families have done and who want to share their experience with the community.

We want to enhance our offering to provide information about upcoming events in the Ottawa area so we've created a brand-new Events page!

This page is going to be community curated. If you know of something that's going on that would be of interest to families with children of all ages, we'd love for you to share it with us for the community. (There's a form below the calendar with all the fields of information we need to know.)

Given the awesomely active community that we have around Kids in the Capital, I'm certain that this calendar will become a go to resource for family-friendly fun in Ottawa!

And we thank you all for your help!

Family Day Activity: Funnovation Imaginarium

Family day (February 20) is a great time to get out and do something fun as a family and break free of the mid winter doldrums.  There are many fun activities planned around the city in honour of Family Day - here is one to consider! Old Navy is hosting a FREE event for kids and parents at their Rideau Center location!

From 1-4 pm, Old Navy will turn into the Funnovation Imaginarium, a place devoted to the imagination where the whole family can have tons of fun while being super creative - together!

Activities include dancing on the Funky Floor, strutting your stuff on the Crazy Catwalk, and inventing new kinds of machines, creatures and fashion accessories in the Funnovation Lab.  There will also be a Kooky Cookie and Juice Bar to help keep those creative kids fueled up.  For parents, a special discount for purchases over $50, and a swag bag will be available while supplies last.

The event is free to attend, with no purchase necessary and will no doubt make this a Family Day to remember!

*This post was sponsored by Bunch Family and Old Navy. 

The Royal Ball - Ottawa Children's Gala

by Alanna Last Saturday my Lily and I were lucky enough to attend the Ottawa Children's Gala.  I had been wanting to take her since I heard about last years fun.  I had looked at the price of the tickets and thought "Maybe next year".  This year ended up being different.  I was commissioned to do a banner and tags for the candy buffet at the event which in turn earned me an adult ticket!!  I really had no idea what to expect.  We got all dolled up in our best (well I had to go shopping) and headed off to the Hampton Garden Inn.

WOW!! What an event it was.  There was face painting, Princess', the most wonderful meal and entertainment from Orpheus and Pulse N' limited (amazing).  The rules for the night were 1. let the children do what they want and 2. remember rule one!!  My Lily had a blast.  Dancing, running around after Snow White and the list goes on.

This post, however, is not about the fun we had, it's about the cause.  Behind all of this fun is a very serious and important message.  Think First is the brain child (excuse the pun) of Dr. Charles Tator. It was developed out of a concern for the increasing number of brain injuries in children.  The group is Canada wide and growing.  They educate children from kindergarten up in the importance of helmet safety.  They even go so far as to replace ill-fitting helmets and provide helmets to children who are not able to afford one.

What I learned at the Gala was how VERY important it is to not take a chance.  There were three very well spoken teens who are the spokespersons for the group.  All three had serious head injuries which could have been prevented just by wearing a helmet!!  Their message to children/teens and parents - It takes two seconds to put on a helmet - Just do it!!  This applies to ANY winter sport - including tobogganing and almost all summer sports.  I know that hearing their message certainly reinforced my strict policy on helmets with my children and any children in my care!!

Another wonderful thing about this group is that they will go anywhere to share their message.  If you are part of an event or planning one, think about inviting them to set up a table with their Jello brain demo and educational materials.  We are planning to invite them to our endo of the year school social. The children will be asked to ride their bikes to the event where they can have their helmets checked.  It is a great time just before the end of school when the adventure begins.

Have a look at the site.  Check helmets.  Better fun than sorry.

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Alanna is a mother of two beauties, Nora age 3 (aka coconut) and Avery 5 (aka polka dot). Former ECE turned mother, party planner and blogger.  Never a dull moment around this house.