Question of the Month: Should Kids Have Homework During the Summer?

When I was young(er),  summer vacation meant unstructured sunny days of roaming the neighbourhood in search of adventure, family vacations, summer camp and lots and lots of down time. Today, some schools have started assigning summer homework to help students stay on top of their skills during the out-of-school months. Even for kids who are in the younger grades, time spent doing worksheets and math problems have been incorporated into their summer routine.

There is some research to suggest that reinforcing those math and writing skills learned throughout the school year can help a child jump right back into the academic mindset quickly during the first weeks of school. Others believe that summer should be filled with curiosity, imagination, and quiet time, which is incredibly important for  rejuvenating for the mind and spirit of our kids.

These days, during the school year, kids are pulled in all sorts of directions by parents, teachers, coaches, friends, and social media. They are over-committed, over-programmed and over-stimulated most of the time (my kids included). Shouldn’t summer still be a time to kick back, relax and just being a kid? Shouldn’t summer be that much-needed break from school work?

Do you think your kids should have homework or practice academic skills during the summer or should they just be able to kick back and relax, without worrying about reading, writing and arithmetic? Let us know what you think!

Easy Recipe for Watermelon Juice

  Now that summer is finally here and we’re in for a scorcher of a week, I thought a recipe for a nice cool and refreshing summer drink was in order.

Ever since they were little, my girls have been crazy over watermelon. It’s the perfect summer food. Full of sweetness and enough water to quench any thirst. My problem, however, is that I suck at choosing a good melon. Sometimes I hit the jackpot but when my choice sucks and the girls turn up their noses at the melon, I pull out the blender and make a great watermelon juice.

Here's What You Need:

Watermelon - 1 cup chopped roughly and chilled Sugar / Honey - 1 tbsp or to taste Lemon juice - 1 tbsp or to taste Salt - a pinch (seems weird but adds a nice kick)

1. Cut the watermelon and make sure you get all the seeds out. The best parts to use are the red, pulpy layer and cut away all the white. Chop the watermelon into pieces.
2. In a blender, magic bullet or mixer blend the watermelon. Depending on how thick you want your juice, you can adjust the length of blending.
3. Taste before adding sweetener, lemon juice and salt. The above amounts are just a ballpark but it depends on your preferences.
4. Refrigerate the juice for a little while to cool it but not too long as it will start to separate. Don’t add any water since the watermelon already has enough water content in it.

That’s all there is too it. It takes no time at all to make and is great on a hot summer’s day. And...after the kiddies go to sleep, you can always add a little “mommy juice!”

Taking Advantage of Ottawa's Wading Pools

COVID-19 Update: 53 wading pools will be opening in a phased in approach with limited admission numbers to allow for physical distancing. For more information visit the city’s web site. Some information below will not apply for this year.

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Tomorrow is officially the first day of summer and what says summer better than visiting a splash pad? For those of us lucky enough to be living in the Ottawa area, a secret gem in the summer is the abundance of wading pools and splash pads across the area. Did you know that in Ottawa, there are 56 wading pools and splash pads all over the city?

What's also pretty cool about our city's wading pools are the special events that take place all summer. Almost every weekend, there will  Wading Pool Special Events.  All special events are held from 11 am to 4 pm, featuring arts and crafts, games, prizes, and lots of time to stay cool.  Some events even have featured guest activities, a free barbecue and a lunchtime Performing Arts Series between 11:30 and 12:30.  A new feature this year are Friday Fun Days . Every Friday, you and the kids can visit one of the City of Ottawa wading pools and participate in kid-themed fun and games.

You can also take part in the Waterplay program. This program uses fun and interactive games and learn-to-swim activities to offer a basic instruction in necessary water skills. This is a great opportunity for kids to have fun at the wading pools while also building foundational swimming skills and learning water safety. Waterplay is an informal program available to the public free of charge at all wading pools across the city.

For kids who don’t want to get wet, but still want to hang at the pool, they can participate in Park-ticipate, a free, informal drop-in program offered at various water parks throughout Ottawa. Children aged 4 to 10 are invited to join city staff sports, crafts and games led by city staff. A great way for you to relax, as long as you stay close by.

All the Ottawa area Wading pools are open daily from 11 am to closing time and will run from June 28 to August 16, 2013. Don’t know where to find a splash pad close to you? Use this City of Ottawa Map, to see where all the Splash pads are located.

What's your favourite Splash Pad or Wading Pool in Ottawa? 

Why You Should Send Your Kids to Camp

Sending your kids to camp, whether it’s a day camp or sleep away camp, is a scary experience for most parents, myself included. It’s hard to entrust your most precious possessions to counselors, often kids themselves, and hope that they can calm your child’s fears and wipe away their tears as well as you can. As you’re considering your summer plans, I thought I’d offer my reasons why I think summer camp is the place to be when you’re a kid:

Responsibility: While there are counselors at camp to help children move successfully through their day, being away from home will give your child a strong sense of responsibility. They are expected to pick up after themselves, keep their areas neat and keep tabs on their possessions.

Independence: In today’s world, there are many helicopter parents who are afraid to let their children walk to the park on their own (ok, I admit I’m one of them). But at camp, in a controlled environment, kids get to feel that they’re on their own and responsible for making their own decisions.

Friendships: At camp, unlike at school, you create friendships out of shared experiences and a sense of mutual dependence. It’s an opportunity for your child to branch out from their regular circle of friends and learn how to connect with other kids in positive ways. It can also help teach them about diversity and tolerance of others.

Self-esteem: When a child learns and masters a new skill, they feel good about themselves. Camp is all about learning new skills and having new experiences.

How to work together: Whether it’s working together on a canoe trip or trying to win a camp-wide competition, camp is made up of a community of campers, counselors, instructors, and the camp director. At camp, your child will learn to live and get along with children from a variety of backgrounds

Learning to Slow Down: With no technology or electronic devices allowed at most camps, kids learn how to slow down, write actual letters, play cards, take walks and appreciate the wonder of the world around them. By unplugging and relaxing, they learn how to appreciate the slow lane for a while.

Whether your kids are 3 or 13, I think camp is a great place. In Ottawa, there are so many different specialty camps to choose from that it's pretty easy to find something your kid would be interested in. My two girls are going to sleep away camp this summer, as they have for the past few years. And even though I miss them terribly, I know that it's the best place for them.

Will you send your child to a day camp or sleep away camp this summer? Please share your favorite Ottawa area camps with us!

Welcoming Our New Sponsor: Puppets Up! International Puppet Festival

On August 10th and 11th, puppeteers from all over the world will descend on the beautiful town of Almonte, Ontario to provide world-class family entertainment both in the quaint theatres of the town and all through the streets. Puppets Up! International Puppet Festival offers a daily parade, a visitor-friendly festival site that provides plenty of activities for the little ones and, of course, the great local shops and festival vendors of Almonte.

In keeping with this year’s “Family Reunion” theme, many familiar faces will be back in Almonte for Puppets Up!  Some of the most popular shows include The Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers from Bar Harbor Maine with their hilarious “Legend of the Banana Kid,” Massachusetts’ Tanglewood Marionettes and the exquisite  “Dragon King.” Some new faces to the Puppets Up! family will be Toronto’s Heath Tarlin Entertainment’ with “Spin Cycle,”  and Metaphysical Theatre with “Pierrot and the Moon.” For a full lineup, you can visit their site here.

My daughter and I went to Puppets Up! two years ago and it was an experience not to be missed. There was fun, food, friendly faces and of course puppets all over the streets of Almonte. There was an awesome puppet-theme parade during the event, featuring many costumed performers and some puppeteers helping their favourite marionettes walk along the route. The festival grounds held something for everyone including a kids puppet-making station, crafts, food and lots of fun. Last year, after the kids went to bed, there was be a special gala for adults on Saturday night held at the town hall with a pretty cool "puppet cabaret" show.

All the theatre venues are wheelchair and stroller accessible. Theatres are located within an easy stroll of each other, and there are plenty of shady places to sit for lunch and to let the children run in the grass.  Children's single passes, adult single passes and weekend passes to the festival are available through online outlets and on-site at the festival gates. A day pass for Saturday or Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. for an adult is $20, children three-to-12 $10 and children under-three are free. For a weekend pass for both days, for adults it is $30, children three-to-12, $15 and children under-three are free.

Puppets Up! is an amazing experience for kids and adults of all ages. It’s definitely something not to be missed so get out your inner puppet and we’ll see you August 11th and 12th in beautiful Almonte!