Fatherhood | Kids | Current Affairs
The kids and I had the opportunity this weekend to participate in the sneak preview for media of the new ZOOOM Children’s Innovation Zone at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. We were very excited to go and check out at least part of the newly renovated museum. We live down the street from the museum and before its closure three years ago we were regular visitors. The museum will be reopening November 17, 2017. [Read more…]
As regular readers know, I have a small woodworking business that I set up almost four years ago. This year I will again be participating in the Etsy Made-in-Canada show as a vendor along with another 150 local makers. It is a tremendous opportunity to buy handmade products directly from the makers.
This show takes place in communities across the country the weekend of September 23 – 24. In some places it is one day. In Ottawa it is a two day show that has added a night market the evening of the 22nd to provide additional options to shop in a less crowded environment.
Since not everyone lives in Ottawa or will be able to make it out to the show I’ve picked some of my fellow makers to highlight to my fellow parents and dads.
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I love the idea of a hand drawn family portrait and I really like the style of this artist.
We never had any chew jewels with any of our kids. I’ve seen these made by various makers over the years since my kids were born and I think they are a great idea. Teething kids chew on everything – Why not elephants?
We installed a large chalkboard in our playroom and my older two daughters use it when they are teaching their little sister and / or dolls how to write letters and numbers. They use it for art and to write messages. I didn’t know of anyone making handmade chalkboards when we acquired ours or I would have picked up one of these.
I make wood toys and activities for kids and I am a fan of anyone else working in the same space. Wood toys are so classic, long-lasting and don’t result in more plastic in our landfills. I love the simplicity of this play house and the flexibility of the space and pieces that allow kids to use their imaginations to tell stories and build scenarios as they play.
Given that Disney now owns the Star Wars franchise, it is only a matter of time before we see a mickey stormtrooper. Get ahead of the fashion curve with this brooch!
We have several dinosaur shirts spread among our daughters’ wardrobes. I love these hand-drawn dinosaur shirts. I picked the T-Rex because really who doesn’t love a cuddly T-Rex?
Speaking of cuddly, these stuffed monsters look so soft and friendly – as far as monsters go of course…
I wish I had space for a lathe so that I could do turned wood. These beautiful pieces from JG Woodworking don’t serve a great many practical parenting needs. That said, I could sit and stare at any of them and get lost in the swirls and lines of the woodgrain. I can imagine letting the sounds of arguing kids drifting through the openings in the vase and out the other side…
I am thinking about sticking these giant scrabble letters on the wall over our dining room table and getting a pointer stick that I can use to point at the words and tap the wall whenever my kids are doing everything but eating at dinner. I could do it without having to actually use my voice. Actually this is kind of a fantasy of mine.
Origami Beaver you say?
I am a pretty big Tragically Hip fan and if I had some wall space for more art, this Bobcaygeon lyric piece would definitely be on my list.
I live in a house full of sisters. The three sisters in my house are powerful and often gang up on me so I have experienced the power of sisterhood. I might set the three of them up with this sisterhood shirt.
We are out of the rattle stage of life with our kids. I need to find some friends with a newborn so that I can send over one of these beautiful wood rattles that can be kept and passed on from kid to kid.
Today I am excited to announce a new patron here at the DadGoesRound writing factory. For the next couple of months I will be partnering with STEM Camp to bring you weekly posts on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math activities. I think all kids are natural scientists and we as a society do a poor job encouraging and supporting their interests. At my house we often have math quizzes at dinner time and they aren’t started by us adults. Frankly sometimes the questions are a little tough to answer…
I personally don’t have a strong background in STEM and I have struggled to come up with activities and ways to stimulate my daughters’ interests and encourage them to dive deeper, which is why I am so enthusiastic about this partnership.
STEM Camp operates across Ontario, Canada and is expanding into my hometown of Ottawa this summer. The camps will be operating at two locations – Carleton University and Algonquin College. Each week is a different theme featuring STEM activities throughout the week. Some of those activities will be featured here each Wednesday – as my daughters demonstrate how much smarter they are than me!
My daughters are excited to be taking part in the CSI and Scooby Doo Mystery Week. They are regularly joining forces with friends to investigate mysteries and they are big fans of Scooby Doo so this camp will give them a leg up in their investigative skills. Other theme weeks at STEM Camp include Minecraft, Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Ocean Adventures. Each theme week runs once in July and then again in August. If you are looking for fun, day camp opportunities where your kids can learn how to identify candy thieves and you live in one of the many southern Ontario communities where STEM Camp is operating this year I encourage you to check them out. You can find all of the details at www.STEMCamp.ca.
If you live in Southern or Eastern Ontario, check out STEMCamp.ca for great summer camps for kids.Click To Tweet
I am a Viking!
Part of my family comes from Northern England and Southern Scotland. I, my brother and my kids all have blonde hair and I carry a battle axe in my work bag for resolution of any conflicts I encounter during the day. [Read more…]
The year was 1999 and it was Canada’s 132nd birthday. I spent the day on and around Parliament Hill with a couple of long-time friends. One friend was from Ottawa and the other was a friend from high school who was visiting for Canada Day weekend. In those days, like today there were the big shows on Parliament Hill where musicians played a couple of songs and moved on. The Parliament Hill shows are about showcasing Canadian talent for a TV audience. One year I even got to write the speeches for the flag raising on the Hill in the morning and the opening speech for the evening show on the Hill. [Read more…]