Creating Together Blog

Funding Subsidy for Families

December 3, 2020 by Melanie

Families, we have some wonderful news about a program that has been launched by the Ministry of Education to support families through the COVID-19 pandemic. You may be eligible to receive $200 per child or $250 for children with special needs through a government subsidy!

Applications must be submitted by January 15, 2020 to access these funds, so please read below for information about eligibility and the application process!

About Support for Learners

You can get financial support to help with additional costs during the 2020-2021 school year due to COVID-19.

Eligible parents or guardians will receive a one-time payment of:

$200 for each child up to age 12
$250 for each child or youth up to age 21 with special needs

The deadline to apply is January 15, 2021.

Eligibility

You are eligible to apply if you are a resident of Ontario and a parent or guardian to a child:

up to age 12
up to age 21 if they have special needs

A child with special needs is:

any student reported to be receiving special education programs or services by their school board
any child enrolled in licensed child care reported to be receiving special needs funding or support
any child identified as having a special need

We do not consider students who are identified as being solely gifted to have special needs under this program.

It doesn’t matter if your child is enrolled in school or child care. All children are eligible based on their age.

You are eligible if your child:

attends a publicly funded school
attends a private school
attends a First Nation operated or federally operated school
attends school in-person or online
is homeschooled
is enrolled in child care
is at home

If you received funding under programs that are now closed, like the Support for Parents or Support for Families, you can still apply.

Apply Now

https://www.ontario.ca/page/get-support-learners

Circle Time Online

November 24, 2020 by Melanie

Circle time is an amazing opportunity for us to come together, have fun, and learn, regardless of age. Children of all ages express themselves through music. While the infants sway or bounce, many preschoolers make up songs and sing to themselves as they play.

Apart from being fun, circle time has so many benefits. Singing songs together exposes children to new songs, dances, and different materials. This improves their awareness of physical, sensory, and language experiences. Also, participating in songs helps to promote rhythm and coordination, which can help improve their fine and gross motor skills.

Locked In? No Problem!

Join Creating Together Early ON for the live circle time at 10:00 am! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we offer Circle Time on Zoom, and every Tuesday and Thursday on Facebook 🙂 The staff at Creating Together work hard to make sure each child gets the most out of the experience.

To access this live session, you will need a mobile or smart device – and joining is easy!

Zoom

For Zoom on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, all you have to do is open (click) on the zoom link, and follow the instructions that Zoom provides for downloading the app onto your device. Here’s the link to join us:

zoom.us/j/7391226799

Facebook

For Facebook circle time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, just sign onto our Facebook page here and watch the session live with us! Here’s the link to join us on our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/CreatingTogetherParkdale

More Opportunities to

Join us Online:

Finding Creative Ways to Celebrate Diwali

November 13, 2020 by Melanie

Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, begins Saturday November 13th and is celebrated by Hindus and other faiths for typically five days. With over 2000 people identifying as Hindu in the Parkdale-High Park area alone, our local Diwali celebrations fostered a sense of home and community for those who observe the holiday, while increasing awareness, understanding, and compassion among children, parents and caregivers who observe other holidays.

Public health officials across the country are urging people to stay home and celebrate Diwali exclusively with members of their family household to limit the spread of COVID-19. So while we all work on protecting our most vulnerable, we need to find new ways to celebrate a festival that is spent traditionally in the embrace of family and friends.

At Creating Together, we celebrated with a live Diwali themed story-time, and incredible Diwali crafts to help you celebrate with your little ones at home, between zoom calls with family members 🙂

We hope you will enjoy the recordings and take some time to foster a sense of home and community for you and your family, especially during these challenging times.

Halloween Fun During COVID!

October 27, 2020 by Melanie

According to the government of Ontario, given the high transmission of COVID-19 in Ottawa, Peel, Toronto and York Region, traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating is not recommended. But it doesn’t mean we can’t have a tonne of fun, right?! Here are some trick-or-treat alternatives to get ready for this year, and make sure your family keeps the spirit of halloween alive!

1. Virtual Halloween Costume Party

The government of Ontario recommended it, and guess what – we are offering one! Creating Together Early ON Centre is excited to invite you to our Virtual Halloween Costume Party next Friday October 30th 🙂 We CAN’T WAIT to see everyone’s costumes and hopefully you all will enjoy our Halloween songs and craft activities!

On Friday October 30th at 10am, click this link to join: zoom.us/j/7391226799

Feel like hosting your own? Indy With Kids offers some great how-to tips here:

https://indywithkids.com/halloween-zoom-party/

2. Organize a candy hunt

It is recommended that this be with the people living within your household, due to COVID-19. So here’s some tips to do in advance, to make sure all goes smoothly ~

Get your costume ready! This would most certainly be better, of course, in costume 🙂
Treat contatiner – make sure every child has something to gather their treasures in.
Decide where to have the candy hunt. The sun sets around 6:15pm, so remember if it’s to be done outside, that the kiddos will need to have some flashlights / light sources 🙂
Plan an after-hunt Halloween activity to do while your children eat their treats (eg., one of the other activities here)

3. Carving Pumpkins

Looking for ideas? Spruce Crafts offers some awesome tips here: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/pumpkin-carving-ideas-for-kids-4153104

4. Share Scary Stories

KOA offers some awesome scary campfire stories which will do the trick, here: https://koa.com/blog/kid-friendly-spooky-campfire-stories/

5. Decorating Front Lawns, and Driving by the city’s best!

Trick-or-treat 2020 might be cancelled, but that hasn’t stopped enthusiasts from doing up their front yarns with some haunting delights! Once your done your own lawn, go and do a drive-by on some of the greates lawns in the city: The Brenyon Way houses, 1 Krisbury Avenue, and 27 Glenlake Avenue are just some of the usual spooky staples to check out!

Most importantly,

have fun, and stay safe!

Fun With Play Dough

October 13, 2020 by Melanie

Days are getting cooler, and it’s a perfect time to get cozy with some indoor activities and crafts – and one which we’ve noticed children just can’t get enough of, is homemade play dough! If you have a child who loves to bake and create, getting them involved in making it can also be a great activity in math, measuring, combining, mixing, and following instructions!

The Creating Together Play Dough Recipe:

You will need:

2 cups flour
2 Tbsp baking soda
½ cup salt
1 cup water
Food colouring
3 Tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:

Place the flour and baking soda in a bowl.
Combine salt, water and a few drops food colouring in another bowl and stir it well.
Pour the water and salt mixture in with the flour.
Knead with your hands until the desired texture is achieved. You might need to add a bit more salt or water.
Add vegetable oil and mix in well.

Tip: To keep the play dough from drying out, store it in an airtight container.

Once made, play dough can offer hours of fun and entertainment! In fact, in this blog by the artful parent, you’ll find 39 different fun activities that you can do with play dough: https://artfulparent.com/39-ideas-for-playing-with-playdough/

Enjoy!