Happy Valentine’s Day!

Hi Owlkids Family!

If you’re looking for ways to celebrate this sweet holiday together, you’ve come to the right place! Here are some Valentine’s activities you can enjoy as a family.

• Take turns naming one thing you love about each family member. Don’t forget the pets!
• Make a special treat together. Try this cocoa fruit dip.
• Cut out paper hearts and tape them to string to make garland. Then decorate the house together.
• Make a confetti Valentine’s card for an older person in your family, like a grandparent or aunt or uncle. This video shows you how.
• Dye white flowers pink with this experiment.
• Build a giant 3D heart sculpture out of Lego blocks.
• Read a book together about how we are all connected: You Are Stardust by Elin Kelsey. There’s even an app to go along with it!
• Craft some friendship bracelets. Choose a set of colours that represents your family.

Whatever you do this Valentine’s Day, we hope it is filled with lots of love and laughter!

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10 WONDERFUL WINTER ACTIVITIES

Hi Owlkids Family!

Are you ready to dive into the snowy season? Here are 10 fun activities to keep you busy this month.

1. Make an easy recipe together. Check out the Owlkids Recipe Book.
2. Build snowpeople that look like the members of your family. Don’t forget the family pet, too!
3. Go fishing for ice with this science experiment.
4. Blow bubbles and watch them freeze in the air.
5. Clear out space in the living and build a giant tower of blocks. Watch this OwlConnected General Knowledge LEGO video for inspiration!
6. Grab your shovels and help a neighbour clear their driveway or sidewalk.
7. Make a mini scarf for a stuffy or doll.
8. Use sticks to write messages and draw pictures on snow-covered surfaces.
9. Have a snow-angel making contest. Who can make the most in one minute?
10. Learn about different types of evergreen trees and then go on a nature walk to try to identify trees in your area.

Have fun everyone!

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10 Fun Fall Activities

Hi Owlkids Family,

Are you ready to dive into the fall season? Here are 10 family-friendly activities to get you started!

1. Grab a fine-point pen, collect some acorns and turn your fingers into puppets (see above photo). Put on a little play for the whole family!
2. Visit a fall fair or market and taste all the seasonal snacks offered there.
3. Take advantage of the wind and fly a paper airplane. Bonus points go to whoever’s plane flies the farthest!
4. Collect fallen leaves and make leaf portraits of everyone in your family.
5. Make trail mix using leftover Halloween candy, roasted nuts or pumpkin seeds, and popcorn.
6. Learn why clouds are white with this OWLconnected GeneralKknowledge video.
7. Build a cozy indoor or outdoor fort and read books together. Check out these fall-themed Owlkids books: Counting on Fall, Poppy and Sam and the Search for Sleep.
8. Take a walk, bike ride, or even a scenic train ride to admire the fall colours.
9. Bury your old jack-o-lantern in the garden. It will make the soil extra nutritious for next year’s plants!
10. Dig into a frosty fall smoothie. Yum!

Stay cozy, everyone!

• Jackie

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HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hi Owlkids Family!

It’s that time of year again.  Are you ready for some Halloween fun? We’ve got you! If  you’re looking for a quick and easy Halloween costume you can make at home with the kids, try one of these!

 

1. Go silly with stuff from around the house. Gather supplies and see what you can come up with!

 

2. You don’t need a lot (just some felt and old clothing) to make a simple superhero costume like one of these.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Feeling artistic? Get super detailed with face paint and pick out clothing to match. Click on the video for a tutorial.

 

4. Give your house a Halloween look too, with a no-carve pumpkins craft. 

 

We would love to see your family in costume. Share your photos in a comment!

Have a safe and happy Halloween, everyone.

• Jackie

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Back-to-School!

Hi Owlkids Family,

It’s that time of year again! Here are some tips and tricks to get your family ready for September.

• Get kids involved in back-to-school shopping. Set a budget and let them pick out school supplies and clothing within that budget.
• A couple weeks before school starts, gradually shift bedtime a few minutes earlier every night.
• Form good hygiene habits with these Chirp, Chickadee, and OWL handwashing guides.
• Turn last year’s backpack into something new with this DIY Galaxy Backpack how-to.
• Talk about what kids are excited about but also talk about fears and worries. Books like What Happens Next,  A Line in the Sand, and Raj’s Rule (For the Bathroom at School) are great conversation starters.
• For younger kids, practise opening and closing lunch boxes, containers, and backpacks independently.
• Create a morning schedule together.
• Test out simple snack and lunch recipes that kids can help with. Try these yummy cucumber roll-ups!
• Get everyone’s brains into problem-solving mode by building a Rube Goldberg chain reaction contraption.
• Pretend it’s the first day of school and have everyone in the family put on the silliest first-day outfit. Take a school family portrait to commemorate your silly school day!

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