We’re Counting on Your Support this Season

November 24, 2022 by Creating Together

“I bring my son and baby here every week to learn, play, and teach my children. If it wasn’t for this place I don’t know where I would take my children or get the help I need.”
– Parent

We have received some lovely messages from current and past families since we launched our fundraising campaign earlier this month. They have been wonderful reminders of our many community connections, as Creating Together has been supporting families in Parkdale since 1976. With your help, we can continue to offer high quality, accessible support and services to our community into the future!

Please consider making a donation in support of our program through our Canada Helps page.

Curious about how many families drop in each month? Here’s a look at Creating Together by the numbers:

Our community continues to grow – we love seeing new and familiar faces each week!

With over 1,000 visits monthly, we will direct some funds raised towards hiring additional program staff to keep up with our growing community. We hope we can count on your support in the coming weeks!

This Holiday Season, We Need Your Support

November 24, 2022 by Creating Together

Dear Creating Together Friends and Family,

We are eager to announce that we will be participating in Giving Tuesday on November 29! Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement which unleashes the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. We hope you will join us in supporting our meaningful work on this exciting occasion.

As you know, in September 2022 Creating Together had to relocate from our longtime home at Queen and Sorauren, and we are thrilled to have found a new space at Queen and Brock. With this move comes new challenges: increased rent and a greater demand for our services, and therefore a need for renovations to our space and additional staff support.

Our sunny program space at 1342 Queen Street West.

This holiday season, your support will go towards:
– Renovations to our community kitchen, allowing a fully functioning nutrition program including healthy snacks and hands-on baking and cooking programs for families
– Accessibility upgrades, including to the office, washroom and front door
– Hiring additional program staff, ensuring the ideal level of support and service to match the increased demand that our centre is experiencing.

There are several ways to give, and we are happy to provide charitable tax receipts:

~ Single gifts or Monthly donations through Canada Helps.

~ Host a fundraiser as part of your birthday celebrations, school bake sale, or workplace gathering

~ Designate your United Way contributions to Creating Together using our charitable number

~ Corporate partnerships. For more information, contact our Resource Development Manager today at patty-creatingfamiliestogether@rogers.com

We have been serving the families of Parkdale since 1976, and with your help, we can continue to offer accessible support and services to our community into the future.

From everyone at Creating Together, THANK YOU in advance for your support.

Welcome to Our New Space!

October 24, 2022 by Eliza Martin

Let’s Take a Tour!

This past September we threw open our doors and welcomed families into our brand new space at 1342 Queen Street West. Whether you’ve been to the program in person, or are considering joining us for the first time, here on the blog we’d like to offer you a brief tour of our new space.

Come on in!

The first thing you’ll notice when you enter our bright centre, is a sign-in station on your right. Be sure to sign in, remove your outdoor shoes and gear, and place it away using the cubbies or the hooks. We encourage families to travel light, and fold strollers whenever possible.

We encourage child-led play here at Creating Together. Your child may choose from any number of areas and materials to explore in the centre. Here are a few areas you’ll notice:

Circle Time Area

This window-facing area is used for circle-time gatherings throughout our program, and provides a nice cushioned place for infants to crawl!

Art Table

You can find art activities and materials at the back of the centre. An activity is set out on the table every program day, along with accessible art materials on the shelf. Come express yourself – we are all artists!

Dramatic Play Area

A multitude of materials are available in this area to encourage imagination and dramatic play! In early stages, the dramatic play you’ll begin to notice will focus on imitating every day behaviours, before moving into more formalized pretend play. For this reason many of our dramatic play materials are modeled after objects your child may interact with on an every day basis.

Cozy Nook

This window seat features a number of materials for your child to choose from as they enjoy the stimulating Queen Street view! Curl up with a book or a puzzle, or make use of our city-scape carpet!

Climber

There are many opportunities for gross motor development and play in our program. Our developmentally appropriate climber is a very popular feature at Creating Together.

Sensory Play

Our sensory play changes often, and may feature activities such as sand play, water play, themed sensory play, or other sensory material exploration.

Snack Table/Table Activities

Our 11:00am healthy snack time takes place at the tables in the back of the centre. Outside of snack, these tables will have many different activities placed on them, before being sanitized for eating.

Shelves

Our centre has a number of shelves which remain open and accessible for children. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Feel free to pull an activity or book off of a shelf. All we ask is that after use, the activity is returned to its spot and any mouthed items are placed in the mouthed toys bin!

Information Boards and Displays

We have several information boards and displays around the centre which are updated with helpful community information, as well as centre information. Check back often!

Toy Resource Library

Did you know that we have a toy resource library? Located by the office, the toy resource library is full of exciting materials which you can sign out, and enjoy with your child at home. Feel free to ask a staff for the toy resource binder to sign out materials!

You’re welcome to pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea using our self-serve cart by the office. Hardworking parents and caregivers need to stay caffeinated! Amiright?

Washrooms and change tables can be found in the back of the centre to the right of our office.

Hi Zalikha!

Be sure to greet our hard working manager, Zalikha, as you pass her desk!

That’s The Tour!

Don’t forget to sign out before you leave!

Thanks for stopping by…

Pride Book Recommendations from Glitterbug’s Niña!

June 7, 2022 by Eliza Martin

Niña shares a story at Creating Together (May 2022).

As we welcome June in Toronto, we look forward to supporting and celebrating the 2SLGBTQ+ community through Pride month (and beyond)! To kick off these celebrations and important conversations at Creating Together, we’ve asked Niña Cabaguio (she/her), RECE and Coordinator of Glitterbug: 2SLGBTQ+ EarlyON Mobile Program at the 519, to offer some children’s book recommendations!

Niña’s Book Recommendations for Pride Month

#1) Love Makes a Family (Ages 0-3)

Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer is a wonderful board book for our 0-3 years of age that talks about the various structures of family and types of love. There are beautiful illustrators of cultural diversity and family diversity that enriches a welcoming and inclusive space!

#2) Neither by Airlie Anderson (ages 4-8)

Neither by Airlie Anderson is one of my go-to books when it comes to explaining the spectrum of gender (and outside of the gender spectrum) that exists! Neither showcases the nonbinary terms in a child-friendly and fun way. Did you know the “+” in our 2SLGBTQ+ acronym is to showcase all the types of gender identities?

#3) Sparkle Boy (ages 4 to 8)

Sparkle Boy by Leslie Newman is a great story for our 4 to 8 years old. It talks about acceptance within the family and having that inclusive space within the environment and supporting our gender-diverse children.

#4) Our Rainbow by Little Bee Books (0 to 3 years)

Our Rainbow by Little Bee Books is a beautiful, illustrated children book that talks about the meaning behind each color of the rainbow. I truly love this book, as it is a great conversation starter about the brown and black on the rainbow too!

#5) Call me Tree (ages 4 to 8)

Call me Tree by Maya Christina Gonzalez is a beautiful multi-language book (Spanish and English) that talks about belonging. We may all identify differently, but we all belong together as a community. Did you know some folks uses “tree” as a pronoun?

Happy Reading!

Thank you so much Niña for these recommendations! Some of Niña’s suggested reads will be available for families to enjoy in the centre, and we encourage you to take advantage of book selections through the Parkdale Library as well. You can enjoy stories and songs with Niña on June 8th, when she joins us for guest circle time at 10:00am. Keep your eyes on our calendar for other exciting events going on this month.

HAPPY PRIDE!

-Creating Together

Springing into March at Creating Together

March 2, 2022 by Melanie

Dear Families and Friends of Creating Together,

The month of March brings days that are longer and brighter, and the much anticipated first day of spring. Yet as we all know, this time is not without its darkness. We wish to say that given the current events in Eastern Europe, we know this is a difficult time for so many. Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian community in Toronto. We at Creating Together are here for you, and we stand with you.

As we begin this new season, we continue to plant the seeds of resilience, play, and learning at Creating Together. Read on for some much anticipated programming news, and help us to welcome new faces at the centre.

Program Updates

In-Person Program

Beginning the week of February 28th, we’re pleased to announce that we’ll be increasing our capacity from two families per session, to four families per session.

Additionally, as of March 7th, we will be increasing both our session lengths, as well as our days of in-person programming! Our sessions will now run for two hours, from Monday through to Thursday.

As of March 7th our new in-person program schedule will be as follows:

Monday-Thursdays:

9:00am – 11:00am

12:00am – 2:00pm

Two Saturdays a month:

10:00am – 1:00pm

To book your time, please contact Creating Together by phone or email: (416) 537-1004 / creatingtogether@rogers.com.

We continue to follow all of the Toronto Public Health safety recommendations and standards, as well as our screening process and temperature checks upon arrival to the centre. We ask that if any member of your household is feeling unwell, that you stay home and call the centre to cancel your registration.

Virtual Programs

With the expansion of our in-person programming as of March 7th, our virtual programming will be slightly reduced, however we still offer the following programs:

Live Circle Time

We invite you to join our live circle time Fridays at 10:00am using the following zoom link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5199316471

On March 18th we’re excited to bring you an extra special live circle time with invited guest, Nina from Glitterbug! Join us at 10:00 am!

We’ll also be continuing our new science program…

March Dates: Science with Sal

Looking for some interactive live virtual science? Our new virtual science program Science with Sal continues with three new dates for March! Join Salvina in our virtual lab for an interactive science program from the comfort of your own home. This program offers opportunities for you to embark on a hands-on learning experience no matter where you are, using easy-to-find at home materials.