All posts filed under: DIY

Toddlers and Self-Isolation – Ideas for small hands

Are you stuck at home with a toddler? We have plenty of experience hanging with these small people – here are some scheduling and art suggestions for trying to maintain your sanity. Babies and toddlers like routine, their world is so unpredictable so providing them with some sort of routine helps them to know what is coming next. If you’ve got a babe between the ages of 18+ months to 3 years try out our daycare schedule for them. 8:30-9:30 free play Clean up 9:45am circle time – we’re hosting a FREE circle time on Tuesday/Friday if you want to join – send us an email! 10am – snack 10:30 – outdoor play 11:30 – lunch 12-2:30 nap time 3-4pm outdoor play 4pm snack time 4:30pm art 5-5:30 free play. Art Ideas A list of materials needed (all can be purchased at your local dollar store, which is currently still open). Paper Markers Watercolour Paint Gluestick Salad Spinner Shaving Cream Food colouring Qtips Paint Bingo Dabber Letter Art: Toddlers love repetition – we start the …

Online Therapy

If you’re struggling at the moment to keep your mental health in a good state, you’re not alone. We’re offering online virtual therapy sessions! Seasons offer therapy for children, adolescents and adults. We also help families navigate some of the challenges of parenting through workshops. Nikki Goldman Stroh is a Registered Psychotherapist with over 16 years of experience providing therapy to children and adults. Nikki started working with children and adolescents using Art and Play therapy. She now works mostly with adults dealing with anxiety and depression. Nikki began her training at Fanshawe College where she completed a diploma in photography. Later she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Western Ontario, and then a post-graduate diploma in Art therapy from the Toronto Art Therapy Institute. Over the years Nikki has taken additional training in psychology, counseling techniques and play therapy at the George Brown College and the Sick Kids Centre for Community Mental Health (formally Hincks-Delcrest). Nikki is a strong believer in using mindfulness and meditation with her clients. She has …

Summer Crafts for Toddlers!

At Seasons, we love to engage our toddlers in summer crafts! Summer is a great time to do messy crafts as you can do them outside and use a bucket of soapy water to wash hands. Avoid having handprints all over your house annnnd keep everyone happy. Below are two simple crafts we did with our Tiny Tots. All you need is some paint and some googly eyes. For the dots, we used our tiny fingertips. This balloon elephant was another great craft and even better than the first one because it didn’t involve any mess. For this one, we just used a glue-stick to affix everything to the page. We also used this opportunity to discuss colours and focus on shapes.

ABC’s

It’s that time of year….back to school and therefore our Tiny Tots are back to learning their letters! Our tots are wee guys, but that’s the perfect time to start with an introduction to letters! We pick one letter a week and focus on it, we expose the tots to the letter in our morning circle and then base our fine motor activity on the letter as well. For some of our little guys, it’s their first time being exposed to the alphabet and others are grasping letter concepts. It is believed that children who can quickly recognize letters have an easier time learning their letter sounds. For other great resources on how to teach letter recognition, check out http://www.proudtobeprimary.com Here are a few examples of some of the art we’ve made for A, B and C 🙂

Unicorns!

Not sure when these fantastic, mythical creatures made such a roaring comeback, maybe they never left in the first place! We’ve been asked to do several unicorn themed birthdays and events lately and I thought would share some of the pics for inspiration. All our cupcakes and cookies were made on site at Seasons Family Centre in the Annex. If you’re not up for baking or hosting your own birthday – visit our Birthday Page for more information on how we can help you!  

Woodland Fairy Party

Seasons Family Centre hosted an adorable Woodland Fairy Party for a special little girl this past Sunday. The children made Fairy crowns and decorated cupcakes. The crowns were a big hit, we had two different versions, one with flowers and one with leaves, to appeal to everyone! Check out our pictures below for inspiration or maybe you prefer to call have us host your next party! Feel free to visit our Birthday Page for more information on having your next party with us!

Vegan Lasagna

Soooo since I’m on a roll with the vegan recipes, I thought I would try out another one. Honest truth about this one, it takes a looooonnnnng time to make, like I’m talking from start to finish about 3 hours. I did it in stages which I actually think it made it feel longer because I was constantly in the kitchen. However, it was completely worth it, it was absolutely delicious and even tasted like cheese, so much so that my 4 year old said “I really like the cheese” (haha – little did he know it was tofu). If you’ve got the time, check out the recipe here – it’s well worth it, I promise. I added a layer of eggplant to give it that meaty texture. I sliced the eggplant and lightly cooked it in olive oil before putting it in the lasagna.  

How to Make a Holiday Wreath!

Last week we hosted a Wreath Workshop (which was just for moms, no kiddies allowed, which meant there was wine)! If you missed the workshop but would like to make your own wreath follow the instructions below.Materials 1 bough of pine 1 bough of evergreen or any other type of Christmas greenery 1 coat hanger Pliers Pine cones Ribbon Green Wire (can be purchase at the dollar store) Cranberries Directions Step 1: Using gardening shears cut off sections of your boughs that will be good size for your wreath. Using your pliers turn your coat hanger into a circle. It’s best to use a somewhat flimsy wire coat hanger, as the stiff ones are harder to manipulate. Once you have formed your circle you can begin designing your wreath. For those of us with Type A personality you can lay out your whole wreath in advance and get the exact look you desire. For those of who are a bit more whimsical you can create as you go along. Select pieces from your boughs and …

Holiday Workshops!

Our holiday workshops are always such a hit and a fabulous way to spend the afternoon! We host an annual gingerbread house workshop with a unique twist! We used muffin tins to sort out all the candies and made our gingerbread houses out of graham crackers (which are easier for little hands to manipulate). If you’re feeling adventurous you could make gingerbread houses from scratch, or buy pre-made kits from a shop. Gingerbread houses are a great way to keep your guests entertained – turn it into a contest with prizes and everyone will want to play!Â