Thea Stilton Graphic Novels

My children enjoy reading the collection of Geronimo and Geronimo's sister Thea Stilton's paper books, and the comic collection by papercutz. They were excited to check out the first four comic books of Thea Stilton. These books are full of adventure, funny scenes, and colourful images, which make it lots of fun for children to read.

Leaping into Early Literacy and Numeracy with LeapFrog

As a LeapFrog Mom Ambassador, my children and I got to check out useful tech learning products from LeapFrog. For over 20 years, LeapFrog has been making useful, educational and active children's products. This year, LeapFrog has introduced their fabulous LeapPad Platinum and Imagicards that is packed with fun learning.

Hot Wheels FUNdamentals Learning Project

Keeping our children interested in learning over the summer holidays isn't always easy if we push books in their face, so I try to incorporate learning in different ways. It is important as parents we create opportunities for our children to advance their knowledge and skills, so they can retain what they’ve learned over the school year. This year, I am excited to be part of the Hot Wheels FUNdamentals Learning Project.

Books For Children

Having fun, educational, colourful books in our home library is important to me because these encourage my children to explore topics and find their interests. My children enjoyed these books that open up lots of conversations, and teach them lessons, as well as general knowledge information such as about our environment. The colourful illustrations encourage children to be engaged and read it many times. I like that it awakens their natural curiosity to explore, and learn.

The Peace and Love Train book Teaches About Acceptance

We enjoyed reading The Peace and Love Train book written by Tyler Kincaid. The author wrote this book with the assistance of her 12-year-old granddaughter Kiley. She was inspired to write and publish this book because of her brother, who is developmentally disabled. I really like how this book encourages children, and reminds adults the importance of acceptance, patience and true humanity.

Montreal Science Centre

The family friendly Montreal Science Centre is a fun place to explore. We got a chance to see the Cave of Lascaux exhibit during our visit, as well as explore other fun features of the Science Centre in Montreal.

Building with Lincoln Logs from the K'NEX family

Lincoln Logs are a wonderful toy that will increase many aspects of our children's development. John Lloyd Wright, son of the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, invented Lincoln Logs in 1916. This classic construction toy beloved by children of all ages will help improve physical fine motor skills, creativity, building skills, and many other cognition skills, as children learn to balance and problem solve when building with these wooden logs. 

Learning about Compassion and Good Health from Doc McStuffins: School of Medicine

The Latest Collection of Disney Junior's Acclaimed Emmy®-Nominated Animated Series, Doc McStuffins: School of Medicine arrived on Disney DVD September 9th. My children are fans of Doc McStuffins and enjoy the episodes. I like my children watching this show because Doc McStuffins episodes role model about compassion and good health. This DVD includes an exclusive Doc McStuffins dress up play set.

Making This School Year the Best with DK Books

With the start of a new school year, I think it is important to set some routines for our children around doing some extra practice after school. This routine is very important to us, especially since the school my children attend don't give homework due to the no homework policy. I find the selection of books at the DK's Back to School boutique such as their Made Easy series, and 10 Minutes a Day series are helpful for my children to get some extra practice and ask us questions about context they would have been introduced to in school. These books and more are now available for 30% off its regular price.

Learning to Camp with Ontario Parks

Camping is a fun getaway to do with the family and take a break from life’s stress and pace. My family and I loved experiencing the fun Learn to Camp program hosted by Ontario Parks. We got to know about this program through a community information session that Ontario Parks hosted. We learned everything we need to know about camping without harming the environment. Camping with knowledge encourages us to do this recreational activity more often, and learn to relax in nature and appreciate it more. 

A Compendium of Collective Nouns

I checked out this book A Compendium of Collective Nouns out of curiosity, as I find it is intriguing how collective nouns have come to be and are associated with things for example when we refer to accountants it is said, "a balance of accountants." It is fascinating to learn and use these during everyday conversations like saying, "an embarrassment of pandas" or saying "a parade of elephants". I enjoyed learning from and reading this book, which also gives graphic interpretations.

Lets Not Let Our Kids Slide This Summer + Win $150 value Giveaway

With the summer holidays approaching, it is time for me to think about how I am going to keep my children occupied during the long sunny days, and prevent them from sliding away from the knowledge they gained during the school year. As a parent, I think it is my responsibility to provide my children with the materials they need to keep up-to- speed and learn not only from books, but also from the environment around them. 

Win Hot Wheels® Prize Pack and about the Ultimate Track

As a member of the Hot Wheels® Connector Club, my family and I checked out Canada's first Ultimate interactive track exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario. The Ultimate Track has been created with over 1000 pieces of tracks and connectors, which stretches over 625ft in a 25 x 25 exhibit that is built to look like a model house.

Experiencing March Break Fun at the Royal Ontario Museum

To celebrate March Break (March 8 – 16) the Royal Ontario Museum has a number of special events planned to engage kids, parents, grandparents, and caregivers. My family and I had a wonderful global adventure through the ROM’s galleries, by stamping our ROM Passports this March Break while learning about the world around us.

Sesame Street Presents The Body at Ontario Science Centre

My children are at a curious age where learning about their bodies fascinate them. We were happy to check out the new Sesame Street Presents The Body exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre, which will be open until May 5th, and is free with general admission. 
My children had an awesome time learning and exploring about the body at this colourful, child friendly exhibition. The whole exhibition was set up as though we were at Sesame Street, which we enjoyed.

AstraZeneca #HumanEdge Exhibit At Ontario Science Centre

My family and I were happy to check out the preview of the AstraZeneca #HumanEdge Exhibit at the Ontario Science Centre, which opens this weekend Saturday December 7th. This permanent exhibit hall will reveal innovative and exciting science through more than 80 exhibits, providing visitors with immersive, bodies-on experiences and new perspectives on unique artifacts. At the exhibit, we can explore all the wonders and possibilities of the human body, which made us appreciate and thank God for how miraculously we were created.

Learning about Farming at the Indoor CNE Farm

We learned lots of fabulous information when we went to the Farm at CNE just before school started this year. I love these types of hands on experiences, as children remember these more and become aware of their surroundings. Last year, we went to a wonderful event by Farmers Feed Cities at Riverdale Farm and learned lots about farm life, farm animals and got a chance to speak with many Ontario farmers. 

Summer Reading Adventures with DK Readers

I have always found DK Readers to be very useful in encouraging and teaching my children to read in English. I like that the DK Readers have stunning photographs and illustrations, which make the context in the books interesting. We enjoy the engaging, age appropriate stories and information found in these books. The DK Readers are separated into five different levels that enable children to progress in their reading skills. 

Summer Digital Reads for Children

Dr. Seuss's classic The Butter Battle Book tells the tale of the Yooks and the Zooks who are in a long-running feud. The Yooks eat their bread with the butter side up, while the Zooks eat their bread with the butter side down. The two groups do not see eye to eye, so they develop more and more elaborate weaponry to outdo each other.

External flash and grey card helps to take pictures in low lighting

During my lessons at the Henry's school of imaging I learned many tips on how to take pictures especially when the lighting is low. One of the tips the instructor at Henry's told me was to use a grey (gray) card and an external flash to help me during low lighting. When I used both these tools it made a huge difference to the same picture, which you can see in these unprocessed pictures.