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Happy Pride Toronto!

June 19, 2021 by Creating Together

June is Pride Month – a time where people from across the rainbow come together and celebrate the freedom to be ourselves.

Decades of struggle against prejudice and towards acceptance. Pride events around the world are held by folks within the LGBTQ community, along with allies, and give communities everywhere a perfect opportunity to show support, observe, listen, and celebrate. For more educational resources about Pride history in Canada, check this out: https://www.queerevents.ca/canada/pride/history.

Watch the City of Toronto’s Rainbow and Transgender flag raising ceremony: VIEW IT LIVE HERE

Creating Together Recommended Resources for Families

For families with young children, here are some songs, stories, and supportive programs to help you raise awareness and celebrate Pride this month (and every month):

Circle Time About Self-Love

View Circle Time that is all about self-love through self-expression, read “The hips on the drag queen for swish,swish,swish”: https://fb.watch/40IoY5RyJ5/ 

Books to Celebrate Queer Families and our “Perfect Design”

  • “I Promise” by Catherine Hernandez and Syrus Marcus Ware, that celebrates queer families: https://fb.watch/40IGJgP1en/” 
  • “I am Perfectly Designed” by Queer author Karamo Brown: https://fb.watch/40RSCQOysH/

Glitterbug

Glitterbug “is a unique mobile program that works with EarlyON Centres across Toronto to promote inclusion and affirmation of gender and sexual diversity among children and families.” Glitterbug combines the understanding of LGBTQ2S inclusion with a play-based learning approach for children and families to develop a broader understanding of inclusion at EarlyON Centres across the city and in the early learning years sector. READ MORE and join them for Queer and Trans Circle Time Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Virtual Pride

Celebrate the strength and uniqueness of 2SLGBTQ+ families and children with a fun-packed hour of online entertainment curated by the Pride Committee, on June 20th, from 2:30-3:30pm. They have been bringing the community families together for 21 years!

Have a great Pride month!

Filed Under: Celebrating Diversity, Special Activities, Traditions

Celebrating Fathers and Fatherly Figures

June 8, 2021 by Creating Together

June 14 marks the beginning Canadian Men’s Health Week, ending with Father’s Day on June 20th. This is a time to bring awareness to health issues that affect men disproportionately and focus on getting boys and men to become aware of problems they may have or could develop, and gain the courage to do something about it.

Understanding Health Issues in Men

Let’s take a look at what we know about health for Canadian men. On average, Canadian men live four years less than Canadian women do. They’re also more likely to die from diabetes, heart disease and liver disease. Men are less likely than women to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviours to counteract stress. For example, more than half of Canadian men aren’t getting enough sleep, aren’t exercising enough and aren’t eating as healthy as they should. The suicide rate for Canadian men is also three times higher for men than for women, and divorced men are almost twice as likely to commit suicide as married men. 

What Can We Do to Support Men’s Health?

Men’s Health is everybody’s issue – not just men. Encouraging healthy eating, stress reducing activities, positive relationships, exercise, and mental health support when needed are some key things we can all do to help them out. By supporting the men in our lives to do this, we are modelling for the younger generation what it looks like to be a healthy man – setting them up for greater and greater success in life.

Celebrating Father’s Day (and Fatherly Figures)

Being thankful for the fatherly figures in our lives is so important. Men’s Health Week is always the week prior to Father’s Day – a time of year where we honour our fathers and fatherly role models. To help mark this time, we invite you to consider how you’ll give gratitude to your father, or to the amazing man who guides you in your life. And, for the parents out there, we invite you to join us helping your child create a Father’s Day craft with Creating Together Staff, and also to enjoy some books with your child to help them honour this special relationship in their lives.

For your little one’s Father’s Day craft, gather the supplies listed below and tune into our Facebook page on June 18th (whenever you’re ready – it will be pre-recorded for you to enjoy at your leisure!) and get ready to make “Paper Plate  Scratch Art” and a “Paper Shirt Card” for that special man in their world 🙂

Paper Plate Scratch Art

Supplies:

  • paper plate or construction paper,
  • crayons,
  • black or any dark colour paint,
  • toothpick to scratch

Paper Shirt Card

Supplies:

  • construction paper,
  • pom poms,
  • marker

Modelling and Teaching the Qualities of a Good Father and Husband

It is important for our children to have healthy father figures in their lives, and it’s also important that they be exposed to healthy father figures in stories as well. So often in cartoons and movies, the father figure is incompetent or non-existent. It’s through this modelling that we teach our children about the qualities of a good father, a good husband, a good friend. Check out this list of recommended books, and/or tune into our Facebook page to read along with us these Father’s Day Books:

My Dad by Debbie Bailey

My Daddy and Me by Amy E. Sklansky

Hooray for Daddies by Gayla Amral

Filed Under: Family Playtime, Literacy, Special Activities, Traditions

National Asian Heritage Month

May 18, 2021 by Creating Together

Asian Heritage Month is an opportunity for all Canadians to learn more about the many achievements and contributions of Canadians of Asian descent who, throughout our history, have done so much to make Canada the amazing country we share today.

The theme for Asian Heritage Month 2021, “Recognition, Resilience, and Resolve”, embodies the myriad of sentiments that peoples of Asian descent in Canada have experienced and honours their contributions and their diverse stories which are rooted in resilience and perseverance. It is also a call to action for all Canadians to come together to combat all forms of anti-Asian racism and discrimination (https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/asian-heritage-month.html).

Story Times Highlighting Asian Authors and Illustrators

Join Leah for some stories highlighting asian authors and illustrators! Click on the links below, or go right into our Facebook Page and enter the book title in the search bar:

“Like the moon loves the sky” by Hena Khan – The author explains how this book is inspired by the Quran and transcends all belief systems. https://fb.watch/5l5hHxya3j/

“Scribble” by Ruth Ohi: https://fb.watch/40IBWTBriT/

“I Promise” by Catherine Hernandez: https://fb.watch/40IGJgP1en/

Ontario Organizations Supporting Asian Communities

If you are seeking support or further information, Ontario has a number of organizations you can turn to:

  • Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto
    The Centre is a non-profit, non-political organization with the objective to build a Chinese cultural centre for residents of the Greater Toronto Area. The Centre also acts as a bridge between communities of Chinese descent and other communities to promote cross-cultural understanding.
  • Ottawa Asian Heritage Month Society
    The Society is a non-profit organization of volunteers that coordinates celebrations in the National Capital Region.
  • Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre– Toronto
    The Centre fosters mutual understanding and facilitates the exchange of information about Japanese culture with the community at large through a wide range of programs. The Centre also works to build a spirit of co-operation and harmony among people of different cultures by coordinating community events and programs with other diverse organizations.
  • Canadian Multicultural Council – Asians in Ontario
    The Council is an umbrella organization representing more than 20 Asian countries, ethnic regions, and cultures in Canada. It was established in 1998 to promote inter-cultural cooperation among its members and racial harmony through the understanding of cultures and heritage.
  • South Asian Canadian Histories Association
    The South Asian Canadian Histories Association (SACHA) was established in 2016 to bring together art, history, and research. Their aim is to create, facilitate, support, and exhibit arts and research-driven initiatives rooted in South Asian Canadian history, culture, and identity.
  • Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA)
    The Council is an umbrella organization of agencies, groups, and individuals that provide services to the South Asian Community. They envision and strive for a Canada free of all forms of discrimination in which all communities are free from marginalization and are fully empowered to participate in defining Canada’s political, economic, social, and cultural future.

Filed Under: Celebrating Diversity, Family Playtime, Traditions

Happy Mother’s Day to All of Our Families!

April 28, 2021 by Creating Together

Mother’s Day is coming up on May 9th. It is a celebration honoring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society.

We are celebrating Mother’s Day all week May 3-7, in preparation for Mother’s Day Sunday May 9th. Join us in our virtual programming on Facebook and Zoom for songs, crafts, and cooking activities to make something special for the mothers in your life! See our Virtual Programming Schedule.

Nuts Balls / Date Energy Ball (No added sugar!)

Here’s a healthy cooking snack for you to prepare together, lead by Neetu. All you’ll need is

  • 1 cup dates (De-seed the dates)
  • 1 cup each mixed nuts (Almonds, Cashew and Walnuts)
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • shredded coconut
  • sesame seed (optional)

https://fb.watch/5l6eizTRkf/

Circle and Story Time

Join Leah on our Facebook Page with some mother-themed songs and a story reading of “The Big Bed” by Bunmi Laditan:

https://fb.watch/5l6l-77wKS/

Filed Under: Special Activities, Traditions

Celebrating the Earth on Earth Day (and every day)

April 13, 2021 by Creating Together

Celebrate Earth Day with us on April 22nd. Earth Day is a day celebrated in 195 countries around the world. It was created to raise awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s air, earth, water, plants and animals.

At Creating Together, we will be celebrating with a week of Earth-themed activities, songs, and crafts – and we hope you’ll join us!

Below is a planting project and a storytime to get you started 🙂 Next week, check out programming all week on Facebook and join us for live circle time on Monday and Wednesday to celebrate our Earth.

Planting Project

Call us in advance to arrange a pick-up of your planting package (pot, soil, & seeds), and join us for a fun planting project. If you can’t pick up your planting package by Friday, then you can still create your own, and tune into this video “Planting and Pollinating Flowers” with Leah! Check our window to see the progress of our seeds if you stroll by the Creating Together EarlyOn Centre!

https://fb.watch/4IjcJW0moe/

Storytime

https://www.facebook.com/CreatingTogetherParkdale/videos/1142119392901131/

Other Resources:

  • Learn how to say “Happy Earth Day” in 40 other languages HERE!
  • 21 Earth Day Activities for Kids
  • Check out this video to learn with your children what you can do together as a family to protect the environment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl3zgcL0Tv8&t=82s

Filed Under: Family Playtime, Science Activity, Special Activities, Tips and Tools, Traditions Tagged With: Celebrating Community, nature discovery, Nature Play, parenting tips

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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.
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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

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Contact Us

Creating Together
1342 Queen Street West
Phone: (416) 537-1004
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Charitable Registration Number:
12947 6248 RR0001
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