Looking Back: Our Most Popular Posts from 2017

What a year it's been for Kids in the Capital! 2017 was #Canada150 which meant posts about all the fabulous activities there were to see and do in the National Capital Region. We had a lot of great posts this past year and we're sharing our most popular of 2017 - surprisingly, not all of them were written this year! Remember to bookmark your favourite posts - especially for summer when you're looking for fun outdoor activities!

10) High Tea at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier: Every afternoon, High Tea is served in Zoe’s Lounge at the Chateau Laurier in downtown Ottawa. The decor in both the Chateau Laurier and Zoe’s is beautiful and posh. Scones, sandwiches, fruit salad and desserts served on fancy tiered dishes make eating fun! This activity runs all year long and is ideal for guests of all ages, just remember to book your spot in advance.

9) Ottawa's Best Splash Pads: There seems to be more and more splash pads popping up all over Ottawa every summer. They're a great way to cool down and enjoy the warm summer weather. If your kids love splash pads, bookmark this list  for next summer!

8) The New Millennium Park: The City of Ottawa has made major upgrades to the Millennium park in Ottawa's East end, including an awesome new splash pad. The two main play structures are still a big hit, and the trees are slowly growing to create some shade. A brand new shelter helps, as well as the ability to run to the water for a cool down - perfect for scorching summer days. 

7) Exploring the Outaouais with kids: Eco Odysee: Ottawa loves to explore the greater Ottawa area in the summer, and Eco-Odysée is a gem! Beautiful scenery, boats, maps, clues, and puzzle solving! It can't get much better for kids who love outdoor adventure and mystery! 

6) The Children's Museum: The Children's Museum at The Museum of History is a favourite indoor spot for children any time of year. The museum is great because there is a lot of hands-on stuff for kids to do, and they can enjoy it at so many ages.

5) 150 things to do and see in the Ottawa region for Canada's 150th Birthday: As the NY Times mentioned, there's always something to see, do or explore in Canada's Capital and 2017 was no exception! Between La Machine, MosaïCanada and Canada Day there were many exciting things to see and do this past year (and next year too!)

4) Ottawa's Top 10 Family-Friendly Neighbourhoods: Every year one of our most popular searches is on popular neighbourhoods in Ottawa. So this year, with the help of some of our readers, we wrote a post on Ottawa's top 10 family-friendly-neighbourhoods. Parks, amenities, schools and more - read what makes an Ottawa neighbourhood family-friendly.

3) The Holidays in Ottawa: 25 things to do under $25: If you're off during the holidays it can be a challenge to find activities for the family that don't cost a lot of money. Misty compiled a great list based on families of four, but of course many of the activities will accommodate larger families without too much of an additional cost! 

2) Giver’s 150 Canada-themed playground at Mooney’s Bay: This past spring TVO aired episodes of Giver about building one of the largest playgrounds in Canada located at Mooney’s Bay in Ottawa. Among many other things, Canada’s playground at Mooney's Bay features a lighthouse slide, orca shaped monkey bars, a ship that rocks back and forth as you move, a log cabin, a canoe-shaped teeter totter as well as a multitude of play structures, each symbolizing something that kids can identify with for each area of Canada.

1) 50 things to do with kids in Ottawa:  Our readers love this post! As parents, we know how important it is to find things kids will love to do - regardless of the time of year. So, we put together the ultimate list with loads of ideas! From museums, indoor activities, outdoor activities and parks - there's always something to do in Ottawa, no matter the season!

Our readers love posts about things to do in Ottawa! Let us know what you want to read on KITC in 2018! Leave a comment and let us know!

March: What you might have missed

Spring is here... I think... maybe.... sort of.... some days....  yay! :) Here's what we talked about this past month.  (In case you want an email reminder, subscribe to our newsletter. We send out this recap, plus some information about upcoming events in the city!)

Activities for kids

We visited some polar bears and penguins at the Museum of Nature, went shopping at Value Village, explored Chinatown, and enjoyed the cold to do some tobogganing. We learnt how to throw a Fiesta of a birthday party, build things with marshmallows and spaghetti and about the fun to be had at A Gym Tale. We also saw the horses at the RCMP stables and conducted some science experiments.

The Ottawa Public Library also told us all about the Spring break programs.

Cooking

We had lots of great recipes this month for food kids love, like oatmeal and waffles and cupcakes! We also had a great post on how to cook (and keep safe) with kids in the kitchen.

Crafts

We had more crafts than usual this month (because it was too gross to go outside I imagine ;))

We talked about what to keep in your rainy day survival kit, we turned books in art, made murals, and streamer paper mache.

Out of town ideas

This one isn't too far out of town, just near Montebello.  Parc Omega is open year round and a great place to visit in the winter!

Parents in the Capital

We introduced a new bi-weekly series of posts introducing you to bloggers, who are also parents, in Ottawa.  This month we met Yumi and Ezmy and we look forward to meeting many more!

Parenting Tips

We heard about the Multiple Birth Association sale and talked about the importance of checking for change tables and highchairs at your favorite restaurants.

Social Media Monday

Blog syndication - how and with what do you do it?

Sponsors

We welcomed three new sponsors this month - The Ottawa School of Speech and Drama, the Canada Agriculture Museum and the Cow Guys.

Please remember to visit our sponsors.  They're great Ottawa businesses and they help us continue to provide Kids in the Capital to you. :)

Sugar Bushes

It's Sugar Bush season and this month we heard about Proulx Farm andStanley's Olde Maple Farm. (Have you been somewhere else? We'd love to hear about it!)

Have a great April everyone! And don't forget, if you want to share an activity, event, service or attraction for kids you love in Ottawa email us at kidsinthecapital(at)gmail(dot)com to blog for Kids in the Capital.

Everyone have a great April!

February: What you might have missed

We know it can be hard to check Kids in the Capital everyday. That’s why we put together these monthly recaps to give you an ideas of what you might have missed.  And you don’t want to miss a thing.  Activities for Kids

There are a million great places to take your kids in Ottawa. This month we visited an Early Years Centre and the Museum of Science and Technology. We also talked about supporting sports for kids, taking in Monkey Rock at Tuscon's restaurant, eating out at the Elgin Street Diner, hosting a birthday party at the Putting Edge and the Great Backyard Bird Hunt.

Cooking

We made some delicious blueberry crumb muffins and had fun making pancakes with toddlers.

Crafting

We decorated on a budget with felt garland and made and played with parachutes.

Parenting Tips

This month we talked about Kindness week and the National Gallery for Moms.

Social Media

We talked about some great Ottawa folks to follow on Twitter and about an upcoming Twitter workshop you can take!

Sponsors

As always we have great sponsors to thank and welcome.  This month we had a great review and giveaway from Starr Gymnastics and welcomed a new sponsor - the Soloway Jewish Community Centre.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's is a time to make loved ones feel extra special.  This month we talked about the little things you can do to make Valentine's Day special for your kids, we made valentine's cards and also sweets. We talked about love books and we talked about a valentine's meal with no babysitter required. Oh, and have we told you lately we love you? :)

Winterlude

Ottawa in February is all about Winterlude.  This month we talked about family fun at Winterlude and of course, about beavertails,.

Winter Fun

There are so many fun things to do in the winter in Ottawa. This month we had fun with a toboggan, we went on a winter wandering adventures and we embraced winter memories.

It was a busy month! Do you have any fun activities planned for you and your family in March? If you’d like to share great things to do in Ottawa with other interested parents, email us at kidsinthecapital(AT)gmail(DOT)com to blog for Kids in the Capital! 

January: what you might have missed

We know it can be hard to check Kids in the Capital everyday. That's why we put together these monthly recaps to give you an ideas of what you might have missed.  And you don't want to miss a thing.  Today, in addition to recapping a very busy January, we are launching our newsletter.  We will be publishing the monthly recap on the blog and sending it to our newsletter subscriber list.  The newsletter will also be a place we will use to publicize special events and contests. We'd love for you to sign up!

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Activities for Kids

We played with bean bags, brought sidewalk chalk inside and fed the birds.

Books

Our monthly post from the Ottawa Public Library was about Storyteller's favourites.

Cooking

We made cheese trains and pizza, kitchen sink pasta, and talked about vegetables the kids will eat. We also decorated a cake with fondant. And played with it.

Parenting Tips

We talked about first trips to the dentist and the eye doctor and about the importance of taking care of your relationship when you have young children.  We also talked about the serious issue of talking to your kids about Alzheimer's.

Services for Kids

In January we visited the breastfeeding cafe, got messy at  4Cats Arts Studio, and took a trip to the Museum of Nature.

Social Media Mondays

We learned about Stumble Upon, Flickr, Podcasting and also talked about coming out from behind the computer.

Winter activities

We went skating on a local pond with new contributor Thomas (we're thrilled to welcome a dad to our regular contributor list!), went snowshoeing, and made snowmen in a jar. Shawna talked about getting out of town during the winter in a two  part series on getting ready to go on vacation.

It was a busy month! Do you have fun activities planned for you and your family in February? If you'd like to share great things to do in Ottawa with other interested parents, email us at kidsinthecapital(AT)gmail(DOT)com to blog for Kids in the Capital! 

Kids in the Capital is conducting a survey this week to learn more about our readers and better understand what kind of information you’d like to see here.  Please take 5 minutes to answer, and you’ll be entered into a draw for a free photo from Sara McConnell Photography at the Red, White and Love event on February 12. Click here to take survey

December - what you might have missed

December almost seems like a lifetime ago to me now - the flurry of the Holidays and then trying to settle back into a normal routine.  For those of you who didn't have a chance to check Kids in the Capital regularly last month - here's what you might have missed (a lot of great ideas for next year for Christmas!!) Activities for Kids

The other day when I couldn't think of anything to do with my toddlers someone suggested I give them a box- it's almost full-proof! An easy outdoor activity with the kids is painting with snow. If you don't feel like venturing outside, try this fun snowman craft.  Joanne also took her kids to a 67s game and they loved it!

Holidays

The majority of our posts centered around the Holidays in December.  We have a great post about Holidays classics from Carly and another from the Ottawa Public Library.

We had two great posts about gift ideas for teachers, one from Shawna and another from Angela.

We talked about getting a tree, decorating the tree, stockings, giving back during the Holidays, taking a trip down Taffy Lane, getting Santa photos done, favourite holiday movies, and holiday traditions. And that's not all! We talked about the 25 days of Christmas - a great activity for kids for the entire month of December.  We baked with Krista, our contributors talked about how they celebrate,  we talked about buying gifts second hand and we visited the Cumberland Museum during their holiday festivities.

Services

LMNOP is a great little toy store in Orleans you should check out. Alicia tells us about a great Christmas craft, but Gotta Paint is fun for the kids all year round.

Sponsors

We welcomed three great sponsors this month: Empire Theatres, Starr Gymnastics (stay tuned for a great event and giveaway from them soon!) and 4Cats. Our sponsors help keep Kids in the Capital going - please support them by visiting them and letting them know we sent you :)

There is just as much fun stuff to do in January as there is in December! Do you have any favorite winter activities? Share them with other Kids in the Capital parents! Email us at kidsinthecapital@gmail.com to blog about your winter fun.