Family Resource Centre

  • Home
  • About
    • Our History
    • The Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Supporters
    • Testimonials
  • Programs
  • Guidelines
    • Program Guidelines
    • Health Policy
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Calendar
  • Blog
  • Donate
  • Resources
  • Contact

November Highlights

November 5, 2019 by Creating Together

The November Calendar is now out, and we have a lot of amazing things in store for the parents, caregivers, and children of Parkdale. Read below for some great highlights!

Fun With Nature

Join us on November 11th and November 22nd to enjoy the benefits of nature, at our local parks.

Researchers and natural environmentalists have been studying the effects of exposure to nature on children, and have found some interesting results: Engagement with nature has huge benefits for children physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially.

For instance, Adams & Savahl (2017) discovered it has a significant influence on children’s emotional and social well-being, while Pensini, Horn, & Caltabiano, (2016) discovered that early exposure to nature improves one’s mental health as an adult. Would you like to help improve your child’s short-term memory and ability to focus? Another study shows that being in nature for extended periods of time promotes the development of attention skills, while protecting against inattention-hyperactivity symptoms such as (Ulset, Vitaro, et al, 2017). There are also a number of physical benefits, such as improved vision, and reduced risk of obesity.

Keeping Active

Twice a month, we create healthier communities by bringing in the Busy Body Exercise Cards twice per month.

Did you know Adequate levels (60 minutes/day) of physical activity helps children:

  • develop cardiovascular fitness, strength, flexibility, and bone density
  • maintain a healthy body weight
  • reduce the risk of chronic disease and health problems
  • lessen the likelihood of tobacco, alcohol, and drug use
  • feel better every day, through improved mental health and well-being

Scarf Dancing is not only fun, but it’s incredibly good for children, and can be practiced at home as well. Here are some benefits:

  1. Sparking imagination as we explore all kinds of ways to play with our scarves
  2. Teaching directional tracking as we visually track our scarves’ movement
  3. Improving eye-hand coordination as we play catch or peekaboo
  4. Increasing vocabulary as we verbally describe what we are doing with our scarves
  5. Sharpening listening skills as we move our scarves based on musical or verbal cues
  6. Practicing inhibitory skills as we start and stop our movements with the scarves

Fun with Food

Join us at 9:30am on November 5th for some family baking, or the 28th at 9:30am to make oatmeal, raisin cookies. And don’t forget our monthly Toddler Food Preparation workshop with Marcella from FoodShare!

Supporting Literacy

Every Monday is Literacy Day at Creating Together. From 9:30am to 10:30am a staff member will read with a small group or one-on-one, and introduce songs and stories on CDs as well as a variety of stories.

Also, storytime takes place every day at 1pm. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to bring a special book from home that can be shared during this time.

Our Family Support Worker can share with you some strategies on how to read to small children. Every two months a professional literacy consultant provides educational workshops for families. In fact, this month we are very happy to have circle with the Parkdale Public Library Librarian on the 29th at 11am.

Did you know? Books with CDs and headphones are available for use with the children and a variety of children’s books can be borrowed for use at home through our Resource Lending Library.

Encouraging Inquiry

Children learn so much through science. So, each month we facilitate a fun learning science activity. This month’s science activities are the “underwater volcano” on November 8th and “the orange experiment” on November 25th. Curious? Come out and enjoy!

Filed Under: Announcements, Family Playtime, Special Activities, What's On in Parkdale

September Calendar

September 5, 2019 by Creating Together

Creating Together staff are back n full swing after a wonderful summer break, and excited to bring families a great September program calendar!

If you anything missing on our calendar that you’d like to see in our program, please come in and let us know!

Inter-generational Programming

Every day, children come with parents and caregivers of every day. In addition, wach month, we spend Circle Time with the senior citizens at White Eagle Residence. We sing songs together, read stories and chat with the residents. This month we’ll be doing this on September 5th from 10:45-11:15am. Meet us there, or walk over with us from Creating Together.

Healthy Eating

On September 12th, we invite you all to join us for a cooking activity at 9:30am. Also, our regular monthly guest, Marcella, will be offering a Toddler Food Prep workshop on September 18th at 10am.

Physical Activity

Busy Bodies exercise cards continues Wednesday the 4th and 18th from 10:45-11:00am and 2:15-2:30, using pictures to prompt kids to get moving! The exercises help to promote gross motor movements, improve posture, and promote concentration while enhancing language and vocabulary.

Rainbow Fun is another activity we will be holding September 16th from 10:45-11:00am, and 2:15-2:30. The Rainbow Fun Physical Activity Program was produced by the City of Toronto & The Grey Bruce Health Unit. We choose different physical activities for each session and adapt them as needed to suit the children’s developmental level. We always start with a warm-up and stretches, and we finish with a cool down.

You also won’t want to miss Scarf Dancing September 6th at 10:45am, and Parachute Play September 20th at 1:15pm.

Public Health and Inclusion

This month, Toronto Public Health Nurse will be returning September 25th so please join us and bring your questions and concerns at 10am.

Also, on September 26th at 12:30, we are welcoming guests from the Glitter Bug Program from the 519 LBTTQ2S EarlyON Mobile Program. They will be joining us for circle and sharing resources with staff and families. Join us and help us create safe, affirming, equitable spaces for everyone!

Literacy

Each Monday from 9:30-10:30am and 1:30-2:30pm is “Literacy Monday”, where children read and sing along with parents/caregivers and a staff member. This program is designed for one-on-one or small group storytelling, featuring developmentally appropriate books and CDs. Children also have a choice to listen to a story with headphones on their own.

In addition, every day at 1pm we gather and read a story together as a group for Story Time, to help children become familiar with sounds, words, language and the value of books. Together, we can build your child’s early literacy skills, helping them go on to read successfully later in life.

Music

We’ll be getting into a groove together with Circle Time with Musical Instruments on Tuesdays from 11:00-11:30 and 2:30-3:00pm.

Filed Under: Family Playtime, Healthy Eating, Special Activities, What's On in Parkdale

Annual Summer Picnic Kicks Off Summer Holidays

August 1, 2019 by Creating Together

Each year, Creating together welcomes children with their families and caregivers to enjoy a day of food and festivities at our local park.

This year, we’ll be having our annual picnic on August 8th, and hope you can make it!

We also close each year for summer holidays, and this picnic is our way of kicking off our summer holidays with a great celebration together.


See you in September!

Filed Under: Announcements, Family Playtime, Special Activities, What's On in Parkdale

10 Self-Care Tips for Moms

July 13, 2019 by Creating Together

Are you looking for some tips to renew and replenish? You’re not alone.

While children are an immeasurable source of joy and love in our lives, being a caregiver comes with added stress. Often seen as a negative, it’s important to remember that stress is quite simply a reaction to a change or a challenge.

Each mother and caregiver may face unique stressors, but many demands of motherhood and the stressors experienced are basically universal. Time, finances, self-doubt, relationship demands, and loneliness are just some of the stressors at play.

What Impact Does Stress Have on our Lives?

In the short term, stress has its bonuses – it helps you be more alert, and have more energy to get things done. But long-term stress is another story, and can lead to serious health problems down the road.

Did you know that women are more likely than men to report symptoms of stress, including headaches and upset stomach? Women are also more likely to have mental health conditions that are made worse by stress, such as depression or anxiety.

Reference: 1

How to Get Stress Levels Down and Quality of Life Up

Below are some self-care tips to help keep your stress-levels down and your quality of life up:

  1. Sleep. Focus on “sleep hygiene” – simple practices that can help you get a healthy, restorative rest, regardless of the time spent in bed. This means skipping that late afternoon coffee, and creating a digital curfew of 2hrs before bedtime, and using a sleep mask.
  2. Journal. Take 20 minutes a day to write in a free-flowing stream-of-consciousness style. Notice feelings that are just under the surface.
  3. Easy Listening. Listening to relaxing music, a song with a strong message you need to hear, or even some rock and roll you loved in high school.
  4. Mindful Sipping. Make yourself a nice drink like chamomile tea, hot chocolate or juice and sip it slowly.
  5. Get Out. Schedule at least one uninterrupted hour with a close friend. Go out for coffee or a drink, talk on the phone, go out for dinner, or go for a walk together.
  6. Get Active. Go for a walk (High Park or the boardwalk along Lake Ontario are great choices), go to the gym (Masryk-Cowan has a free gym), or start a swimming routine.
  7. Savor. Choose something you’re going to savour instead of just doing it (taking a shower, riding the train, walking, chopping wood, or reading magazine).
  8. Meditate. Try dropping in for the free Sunday Meditation Group put on by Meditation Toronto at St. Paul’s Trinity Church on Bloor. If you can’t pick up the class, you can download this free mantra meditation album, or try this simple one: Close your eyes, breathe deeply, focus on your breath, and repeat “All sounds return to the breath, all thoughts return to the breath, all distractions return to the breath.”
  9. Try Something New: Go someplace in the hood you’ve never been before – a park, the beach, an art gallery, a new route to the grocery store.
  10. Get Support: Try signing up to a program designed to help women with coping, stress, and self-esteem, such as the Peer Learning and Empowerment Group offered at the local Parkdale Community Health Centre.

Looking for more? Check out our Calendar and come enjoy yourself at Creating Together. If you need somebody to talk to, our staff are here for you. If you need additional resources, ask about our resource library designed to help parents and caregivers with different need.

We’re here for you – you’re not alone.

Filed Under: Special Activities, Tips and Tools Tagged With: health, stress

Birding with Toddlers

June 27, 2019 by Creating Together

Nature discovery is an incredible activity for children and adults alike. It reminds us how incredible life is, and certainly this time of year is brimming with opportunities to go out and connect with the life around us.

This month, the families of Creating Together are having fun with nature through a number of trips to the zoo, Downey farm, and local parks. On 2 days we had a specific focus on birds: the 18th we went to Beaty Park to identify birds in our neighborhood, and on June 26th our monthly science activity is creating bird feeders!

This summer, we thought you might like to do some bird watching yourself, because it has a lot of great benefits for families:

  • builds respect and compassion for nature and all living things
  • kids can refine their skills in concentration, observation and reasoning
  • can be done at any time of year and across continents
  • its fun and interesting to learn about bird behaviour (also called “birding”)

Before you get started, here are some tips on good birding manners, what to bring, and some birding activities to do with your children.

Birding Manners

  • Be respectful of habitat and neighbors’ yards.
  • Don’t shake trees, take eggs, or wreck nests.
  • Walk slowly and quietly.
  • Point out birds, don’t yell.
  • Shoot birds with a camera, nothing else.
  • Leave grounded fledgling birds alone; Mom is probably nearby waiting for you to leave before she helps it back to the nest.
  • Keep pets leashed so they don’t chase birds, disturb neighbors, or destroy fragile habitats.
  • Take only memories away with you and leave only footprints behind.

Bird Watching Supplies

  • A water bottle and backpack of snacks is wise.
  • If you go into rugged areas, take a first-aid kit, too.
  • Dress so you don’t invite poison ivy or insect bites.
  • Bring binoculars (or a spotting scope) so kids can focus on details, like bird color or beak shape.
  • A camera or a sketch pad and pencils help children focus on detail and allow them to reflect on what they observe.
  • A pad and pencil for recording species is handy, too.

Activity Ideas

  • Preschoolers can make their own binoculars by taping together two empty toilet paper rolls. Attach yarn for a neck strap.
  • Remind kids that birds are hard to spot, but easy to hear. Have them close their eyes and listen. Can they point to where the song is coming from?
  • Kids can keep a yearly bird record to track bird population increase or decrease.
  • Bird identification guides, called field guides, name birds and help distinguish between similar looking birds. They narrow down possibilities by providing range maps of seasonal bird territory and preferred habitat. Some illustrate nest styles, too.
  • Scavenger Hunt! To fire up kids’ powers of observation, make a list of target birds before heading to the yard or park. Use general categories like ducks and hawks or even critters in groups of threes or fours.

Tips

  • Stick to areas near water if you can. You’re likely to spy herons, egrets, and swans, which are easier for kids to see. Plus . . . ducklings!
  • Striking out on live birds? Point out the signs they leave behind such as nests, cracked seeds, whitewash (poop), or owl pellets.

More Resources

Birding With Kids Resource Guide

Adventures in a Box Bird Watching with Kids (CBC)

Birding Colouring Pages

Filed Under: Family Playtime, Special Activities Tagged With: nature discovery

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • …
  • 16
  • Next Page »

About Us

Our Programs

Guidelines

Resources

Creating Together Parkdale Family Resource Centre

Our mission is to support the healthy social, cognitive, emotional and physical development of children 0 to 6 years and their families. We welcome children aged 0 to 6 years and their families/ caregivers to relax and connect with each other and with the greater communities through our many programs.
Learn more »

Now Open for In-Person Program!

Sign up to receive our monthly calendar

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Hours

MON 9:00am - 2:30pm
TUE 9:00am - 2:30pm
WED 9:00am - 2:30pm
THU 9:00am - 2:30pm
FRI 9:00am - 1:30pm
SAT 10am - 2:00pm (twice monthly)
SUN Closed

Please refer to our Calendar »

Contact Us

Creating Together
1342 Queen Street West
Phone: (416) 537-1004
Send us a message online »

Charitable Registration Number:
12947 6248 RR0001
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2025 Creating Together · Log in