DIY Toys: Fun for Hours!

I got this idea (well kinda definitely copied the idea) from my sister in-law when babysitting her boys a few weeks ago. It’s so simple and so easy to do....and it will entertain your little one(s) for hours!

Why wouldn’t it be fun? It clangs, you can shoot the discs across the room on the floor, put the disks in...pull them out, drop them in, shake it about. So.Much.Fun.

Fin agrees.

And I had fun watching him explore and do all the actions listed above, over and over again.

My sister in-law used a Pringles can for hers, and has a TON of the metal disks. She swears her boys, now 3 and 6, have had hours of fun playing with this game. And she has had it around for a few years now...so it’s great for such a wide age range.

Fin is 10 months old, and he had a blast with it all morning (and then later in the afternoon, in case anyone was noticing the wardrobe change). It’s a little early for Fin right now, but I’ve started labeling the disks with numbers and shapes to increase the learning factor.

So, what do you need to put this simple game together?

- 1 container with a Plastic lid (I used a 32oz. Plastic container from Kardish...they’re nice thick and sturdy)

- Tops (and bottoms if you can detach them) from frozen juice concentrates – I have 4 to start but plan on collecting them as I go through juice...it’s a slow process in my house

- Exacto knife

- Cutting board and/or cardboard

- Permanent Marker or stickers (optional)

Putting it all together:

1)Lay the lid for the plastic container on your cutting board or mat and use the exacto knife to cut out a rectangle measuring 3” x 1/2” (just big enough for your juice lids, aka ‘disks’).

2)Separate your metal tops and bottoms from the cardboard juice containers. Use permanent maker (or stickers!) to draw on numbers, shapes, mathematical signs, words, etc.

3)Put the lid on the plastic container.

4)Let your little one play the day away!

Eryn is a mom to a cheerful and energetic little 10 month old boy. She is a Registered Holisitic Nutritionist & accepting new clients . When she's not chasing around a baby or talking nutrition, she enjoys quilting, crafting, cooking & everything in between and blogs about those and other adventures at Bringing Back Handmade.

Earth Day in the Capital

Every day should be Earth Day, no? I really enjoyed this recent opinion piece in The Globe and Mail, in which Margaret Wente argues that the way we talk about climate change is unhelpful. "I no longer think climate change is a hopeless problem. I just think the way we currently talk about it is hopeless." We're relying on people to change their behaviour by giving them doomsday scenarios, as opposed to finding ways to truly motivate and empower individuals. Although I strongly feel that governments need to take a much greater role in dealing with climate change, I also realize that change can be small. We can start with our own children and families, and work our way out from there. I heard a quote recently, and it really resonated:

"If you can't do great things, do small things in a great way" - Napoleon Hill

So I compiled a little list of ideas for you and your family this coming Earth Day:

1) Tim Hortons' Cleaning the Capital- choose a local park and register with the City of Ottawa for all the cleaning supplies you'll need!

2) Adopt an animal- every time my husband turns on a nature show, I have to leave the room. Inevitably, there will be a shot of a polar bear swimming and swimming (and drowning) because he can not find any ice. Why not consider donating money to "adopt" an animal and support conservation work?

3) 24 hour Earth Hour - I'm not an Earth Hour participant. I totally understand the event and its significance. I just try to conserve energy every day, by turning off lights when I don't need them, shutting down my computer, and unplugging unused appliances. But why not try a day-long electronics cleanse? Shut off your TV, Iphones/pads, and computer for one whole day and see what happens (no, the world will not collapse in on itself ;) )

4) Foraging - ok, let's pray that the snow has melted by Earth Day. If it has, you may see lots of edible plants popping up from the muddy ground. You may have to wait a few more weeks before you can actually collect and eat them, but educate yourself on how to spot yummy spring edibles such as watercress, ramps, dandelion, clover and wild strawberries. This YouTube video is a great start!

5) How about a visit to the museum? We're so lucky here in Ottawa to have the Agriculture Museum! What better way to teach our children about animals and habitats? And of course, spring baby lambs have got to be the cutest things in the world!!

baby lamb

How will you be celebrating Earth Day?

Recipe for raising a financially-literate kid

Preparation time: 20 years

Ingredients:

• At least one child (more if you are up for the challenge)
• Your words
• Your actions
• Toys
• Money
• Piggy bank
• Debit card
• Credit card
• Various investment vehicles of your choice (i.e. stock, GIC, etc)
• Patience
• Imagination
• Fun

Instructions:

This is one of those recipes that may turn you off because of the amount of work involved and the length of the preparation time. However, making anything great requires time and effort, and the end result makes it all worth it.

Step 1: Start off by teaching your baby/toddler to take care of his toys. Taking care and appreciating our possessions helps fight the need to constantly purchase more new stuff. Use the toys to teach the child to share. This will eventually turn into donating, which is important part of financial literacy. It shows that we are thankful for what we have and want to help out the less fortunate.

Step 2: Once the child starts asking you to buy him things, it is time to start frequently adding a good measure of pep talk as to where the money comes from, how mom and dad work hard to earn money and have to make choices about how to spend our money.

Step 3: When your child is about 5 years old, start giving allowance. The allowance is supposed to be a teaching tool for money management. It may be tempting to withdraw the allowance for misbehaviour, but I urge you to withdraw other privileges such as TV or computer time instead. This way you will not deprive your child of an opportunity to manage and learn about money. You should gently guide the managing process, and let the child learn from mistakes while the dollar amounts are low and stakes are not high.

Step 4: Make sure that as soon as the child receives any money, a portion is saved in a piggy bank or a savings bank account. Explain that by saving money as soon as it comes in, we are paying ourselves first before we spend the rest of the money by paying others.

Step 5: Teach the everyday important money management skills like budgeting, couponing, price matching or how to look for the best deal.

Step 6: Buy a stock for your child of a company that they admire like Apple. Follow the stock and the company, then buy a different investment vehicle such as a GIC.

Step 7: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of debt and credit cards. Explain credit interest, credit rating and credit history. When your child turns 18, have them apply for a credit card, and for the next couple of years closely monitor and coach credit card use.

Sprinkle each of the above steps with fun and imagination for more enjoyable experience, and don’t forget to add a generous helping of patience.

Enjoy and show off your creation!

Maya Kuc Corbic, CPA, CA is a financial literacy expert. She is an experienced Chartered Professional Accountant and the founder of DINARII Financial Education Academy, whose mission it is to teach children and youth financial literacy skills. They offer fun and engaging workshops to schools. They also hold workshops for parents and provide tools so that parents can continue teaching personal finance at home. You can follow Maya on Twitter: @Educ8Money2Kids, or Facebook: Dinarii Financial Education Academy.

Farm Fresh Eggs

Here in Ottawa there is a by-law in place to prevent urban/suburban dwellers from owning and raising chickens. If you're anything like me - suburb born and raised - you probably don't know the first thing about chickens. But we all know about EGGS. Delicious, versatile eggs. My go-to meals during the week if we're rushed are quiche, frittata or omlette. And don't forget Sunday breakfasts of fried or scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. As a family, we go through a lot of eggs!

We're lucky to have a big backyard, and our vegetable patch has grown considerably since we moved here 3 years ago. But I still dream of a little chicken coop out in the back corner by the fence, where my 3 little hens lay their eggs every day.

Some Ottawans are fighting to have the by-law changed, but while I wait for the chicken politics to play out, I must find my farm fresh eggs elsewhere. If you've never tried an egg from a chicken raised in its natural environment (space to move, preen and roost), you're definitely missing out! I swear I can taste the difference from the eggs we used to buy in the grocery store.

Luckily I have a co-worker who lives outside the Capital, and has agreed to share some eggs with me. He's also shared these adorable pictures of his chickens - my girls have a great time chatting about where our dinner came from :)

(if you want to know more about raising chickens, I love this article from Lee Valley Tools)

The Awesome Authors Youth Writing Contest

Our new sponsor, The Ottawa Public Library, is once again launching The Awesome Authors Youth Writing Contest! Children and teens between the ages of 9 and 17 are invited to submit their original, previously unpublished poems and short stories in either French or English to any branch of the Ottawa Public Library You can submit either in person or online.

You can find all the contest details and submission form on the Ottawa Public Library website. The contest deadline is February 9, 2014 and winners will be announced in the spring and you can win lots of awesome prizes! Local authors Tudor Robins, Michel Lavoie and JC Sulzenko will judge all the submissions.

In order to help Ottawa's young authors get ready to write, the contest judges will be offering English and French workshops to share their knowledge and experience with young authors. Registration for workshops begins January 10, 2014.

Get your kids ready to write and help them share their words with the world! Good luck to all.