Making Gingerbread Houses!

momstown Oshawa - Port Perry got together yesterday to make gingerbread houses! The kids were excited, and the moms were excited too! We got all the materials out and began the construction. They were looking fantastic, and although mom had to do most of this part, the kids were right in there, ready to help!

 

The instructions on the packaging suggested a wait time of approximately 30 minutes after building the house before decorating! But, we didn't wait at all! We didn't actually read this instruction until after the gingerbread houses were complete, but even if we had read it, can you imagine trying to tell a whole table full of preschoolers that they had to wait? Not after already tasting the yummy icing and candies! It would not have been an option! So we just went ahead and started adding the candy to the houses!

Everyone was working really hard!

The gingerbread houses were starting to look really great!

Until...they started falling apart! This is when the instructions were read! Who knew you needed instructions for gingerbread house building? Well, we hadn't waited for the icing to set before adding candy and so that could have been part of the problem, but the other part was that we didn't use Royal Icing to stick all of the walls together. We had decided to use regular icing because we had just used it a couple of days prior to construct a fantastic Rice Krispies Christmas Tree and it had held the Rice Krispies Tree together like glue! Again, maybe if we had just let it set, this would not have happened...

The little ones were upset at first, which of course is the worst! The last thing you want during a nice holiday tradition is tears! The tears never came though, the kid's all got over it quickly and decided to just go with it! There were a couple of houses still intact, but those that fell apart we simply improvised with!

The morning turned out to be great fun, with a lot of laughs! Memories were made and relationships were strengthened! Isn't that what the holidays are all about anyway? That's what momstown is about too!!!

After the Gingerbread Houses were finished being decorated, the children burnt off some of the their sugar high in the playroom while the moms enjoyed a nice hot cup of tea and shared a few more laughs!

For our next great adventure, that's not so much about the finished product, but more about the process and the memories created along the way, check out the momstown Oshawa - Port Perry calendar of events!

Christmas Tree Ornament Making

Everyone loves homemade Christmas Tree Ornaments made by children! They are so sweet and give any Christmas tree a little extra love! momstown Oshawa - Port Perry children got busy at a full morning of ornament making. They made Silver Bells, Rudolph the Red Nose Candy Canes, and Glittery Snowflakes!

The Silver Bells were made by using the little cups of an egg carton, wrapping them in tin foil and then poking a hole in the top for a pipe cleaner to go through. Attach a little bell to the pipe cleaner and you've got a shiny little Christmas bell ornament for your tree that really jingles!

Next we made Rudolph Candy Canes. Start with a candy cane and wrap a brown pipe cleaner around the top and twist it so it stays put, then you can bend the pipe cleaners to make the antlers look just how you'd like them. Get a couple of googly eyes and stick them on the candy cane along with a red pom pom to make Rudolph's nose (an adult is required for this as you will need a glue gun to make the pom pom stick). Finally, tie a another pipe cleaner, or a pre-made little red bow, around the reindeer's neck and you are done!

Glittery Snowflakes were the final craft of the morning and likely the most enjoyed! We took a couple of glittery pipe cleaners and cut them in half so that they were not so long, tied three of the short pieces around each other at the middle to make a six pointed snowflake and then had the children put glittery beads onto the pipe cleaner. Children of all ages love this and it keeps them very busy as they pick out their favourite colour of beads and concentrate on their hand eye coordination getting them onto each point of the snowflake. A great craft for at home on a cold, snowed-in day!

 

For all those moms out there that were not able to join us on our Ornament Making morning, be sure to stop by the local dollar store and pick up a few supplies of your own! These ornaments will look great on your own tree and are perfect for attaching to a grandparent's gift! 

momstown Oshawa-Port Perry is always making fun crafts that are great for keeping preschoolers and toddlers busy. If you are already a member, that's perfect, sign up for the next crafting event on our calendar and you won't have to worry about thinking of a great developmentally appropriate craft or purchasing all the materials - momstown covers that for you - all you have to do is sign up and join in the fun!

momstown music & movement - Spiders & Bats

On Tuesday morning, momstown Oshawa - Port Perry gathered at the Port Perry United Church for another great momstown member exclusive event! "momstown music & movement" is a monthly themed event at which we sing some songs, read some stories, and get busy making crafts all while having fun and making friends!



This month's theme was a fitting "Spiders & Bats"! We talked about Hallowe'en, what we'd like to dress up as, where we'd like to go trick or treating, and what creepy things scare us!



The children really enjoyed story time and the book "The Busy Spider" by Eric Carle. This isn't actually a Halloween story, but it has a spider in it and that was good enough for the kids!

It wouldn't be a momstown event without some great art activites to keep the kids busy! After circle time, the children made some Halloween decorations - creepy crawly spiders and oh-so-cute handprint bats!

The mommys loved that the kiddies were busy and that they were all wore out by the end of the morning! Ready to head home to decorate the house for halloween before settling down for a nice, long nap (hopefully)!

Want to sing momstown Oshawa - Port Perry's favourite Halloween song at home?

If you'd like to join in the momstown music & movement fun, you need to first make sure you've joined the momstown Oshawa - Port Perry neighbourhood!