Celebrating Community Archives | Creating Together Parkdale

Happy Thanksgiving!

October 5, 2021 by Melanie

It is the time of year to reflect on all that we are grateful for, in our families, homes and communities. When hard times hit, Gratitude has the power to energize, reduce stress, and align with optimism – and who doesn’t need that?

While several factors go into emotional resilience and optimism, studies show that cultivating a sense of gratitude can help you maintain a more positive mood in daily life and contribute to the greater emotional well-being and bring social benefits as well (Very Well Mind). Evidence from research at Berkeley suggests that grateful young adolescents (ages 11-13), compared to their less grateful counterparts, are happier and more optimistic, have better social support, are more satisfied with their school, family, community, friends, and themselves, and give more emotional support to others. If you’re looking for ways to cultivate traditions of gratitude in your family, take a look at this blog we shared: Increasing Happiness and Well-Being Through Traditions of Gratitude.

The Board and Staff at Creating Together would like to take a moment to say how grateful we are for the honour of working with you and your little ones. Never doubt your impact on our lives, the meaningfulness of this work for us, and the impact of nurturing the children of our communities on creating a bright future.

Blessings of Gratitude and Abundance to you all!

Celebrating the Earth on Earth Day (and every day)

April 13, 2021 by Melanie

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!

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:

Happy International Women’s Day 2021!

March 8, 2021 by Melanie

March 8 is International Women’s Day, a global day of recognition celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and girls, and raising awareness of the work left to be done.

Celebrating at Creating Together

At Creating Together, we will be celebrating throughout the week of March 8-12 through our online and remote programming, to honour the women of our communities. Whether it’s crafts, circle time, story time, or the parent info sessions, we have a great line-up for you. Check out the calendar, invite your friends, and join us!

National Theme: Feminist Recovery

Each year, the Government of Canada promotes a new theme for International Women’s Day, to increase awareness around important issues affecting women across the country. This International Women’s Day, the Government of Canada invites all of us to take a pledge to advance gender equality and support an inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by using #FeministRecovery on your social media accounts.

What is an Inclusive Recovery?

An inclusive recovery offers the opportunity to advance gender equality and provide economic and social stability for all Canadians.

It has identified fundamental gaps in our society and disproportionately impacted those who were already marginalized, vulnerable or struggling. On every front, the COVID-19 pandemic has eroded hard-fought gains to gender equality. From layoffs to lack of child care to increased unpaid work to the rise of domestic violence, women have been most deeply impacted by the health and economic crisis.

The Government of Canada is working to create an Action Plan for Women in the Economy to help women get back into the workforce and ensure a feminist, intersectional response to this pandemic and recovery. This Plan will be led by a diverse task force of experts and guide a whole-of-government approach.

How to Get Involved in Canada’s Response

Learn more about Canada’s Response and Recovery Summit taking place on March 8 and 9, 2021
Pledge to advance gender equality and support an inclusive recovery from COVID-19 in your community using the hashtag #FeministRecovery
Visit the Women of Impact in Canada Gallery to learn about the inspiring achievements of the former inductees

Learn more about how to get involved by clicking the image below:

Creating Together Offerings

Link to craft video to make a card for a special woman in your life: https://fb.watch/42eU9iinQi/

Watch our Circle Time with Leah that is all about loving your body: https://fb.watch/40REt0ARs0/

Also – Join Leah for Women’s Day parent and caregiver discussion and resource share on raising feminist children on March 8th at 2:30 pm (Zoom Link – zoom.us/j/7391226799)

See our virtual program poster below for more information about our virtual programming to support you in being the best you can be for your children).

Happy Lunar New Year: Celebrating the Year of the Ox

February 10, 2021 by Melanie

The Lunar New Year, Chinese Chunjie, Vietnamese Tet, Korean Solnal, Tibetan Losar, also called Spring Festival, is celebrated during the second new moon after the winter solstice, usually between January 21 and February 20 on the Gregorian calendar.

The festival is typically celebrated in Asian countries, beginning with the first new moon of the year and ending on the first full moon of the lunar calendar, 15 days later.

Lunar New Year, February 12

This year’s Lunar New Year begins February 12th, as we move into the Year of the Metal Ox. This year, the traditional parades and festivals will not be held around the world because of the pandemic, but here are a few rituals that are traditionally done to celebrate, to help you bring in this renowned celebration with fun and positivity.

Lunar New Year Activities

Visit family and friends – This tradition is so crucial that LNY travel is annually heralded as the ‘world’s largest human migration’. In 2019, 3 billion trips were projected to be made during the holiday season. With the pandemic, getting on zoom and arranging virtual family get togethers is where it’s at.

Share wealth with family – Red packets carrying cash gifts are given to friends and family. It is also tradition for children to give a gift to their grandparents / elders. Take a look at the history of the Red Envelope HERE.

Clear out last year’s clutter – In the days leading up to the Lunar New Year, the last year is washed away: windows, walls and furniture are all cleaned and dusted. However, all cleaning stops on the first day of the Lunar New Year, so good fortune is not swept away.

Hang red decorations – it is said, according to lunar new year mythology, that red is hung to ward off Nian – a lion-like monster that is afraid of the colour red.

Watch a traditional dance – Further to the red decorations, Nian also doesn’t like loud noises, so drums and cymbals accompany a flying lion dance outdoors. This year, enjoy the dance from home through youtube!

Enjoy this Gallery – and discuss with your loved ones what the lunar new year means for you.

Gallery: Lunar New Year celebrations from around the world

Create Origami Oxen!

A very happy Lunar New Year to you all!

Join Us March 8 for International Women’s Day

March 4, 2018 by Melanie

Each year, the team at Creating Together puts on a special day for the women of our community, for International Women’s Day (IWD).

This Thursday March 8th, join us at for homemade facials, hand softness and a special snack for all!

We hope do see you there!

What is International Women’s Day?

International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. (https://www.internationalwomensday.com)

Origins of International Women’s Day

We can trace the beginnings of International Women’s Day back to labour movements in North America and Europe in the early twentieth century, with a growing force for women to take part as equals in society. The first International Women’s Day was observed on March 19, 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. That day, more than one million women and men showed their support by participating in public events. In the years that followed, other countries began to observe and celebrate this day. The United Nations began celebrating IWD in 1975, later adopting March 8 as the official International Women’s Day.

This Year’s Theme: Feminism

Each year, IWD carries a different theme, and this year, the theme is Feminism. According to the Government of Canada, “Feminism is simply about equality – equality for women, men and people of all gender identities. Achieving gender equality means that everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential.” (http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/commemoration/iwd-jif/theme-en.html).

This year’s theme, #MyFeminism, is inspired by the role feminism and celebrates the feminists, activists, advocates and allies to lead the way to global change.

Other Ways to Get Involved

Here are ten ideas from “The Status of Women Canada” for how you can celebrate International Women’s Day:

Take part in an International Women’s Day event in your community.
Participate in the #MyFeminism campaign by providing your answer to the question: What does feminism mean to you?
Recognize the achievements of an exceptional woman in your community by profiling her in a local paper or online platform, making a donation to a charity in her name, or nominating her for an award (such as the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case).
Print the International Women’s Day poster to display in your office, home or community.
Share the International Women’s Day infobites across social media.
Encourage youth to get involved through classroom discussions and activities, using the Educators’ Toolkit.
Learn more about the challenges facing women around the world from international organizations like UN Women.
Donate your time to a local, national or international organization that supports women and gender equality.
Talk with men and boys about their role as advocates and allies for gender equality.
Plan a fundraising event at your workplace or school for a charity that works with women or works to advance gender equality.