Congrats to #16, Elizabeth and Aiden! Christine picked you as our winner of 10 free passes!

These cold months are no excuse to stay at home when there are so many cool indoor play centres in Durham.

One of our favourites is Creative Play Indoor Playground and Party Centre in Ajax. We took the girls here with Jen O. last February for the Valentine’s Day party and had a blast! I love that there is still to do for all age groups — a play area with smaller toys, ride-em cars, jumpers and padded seating for babies and toddlers, and several climbers for older kids.

We enjoyed decorating cupcakes (extra charge) in the huge eating area, colouring (free — and Lucy drew her first face!) and tons of free play. With two kids more than two years apart, I’d definitely recommend two people, if possible. Creative Play is quite large — more than 3,500 sq. ft., with some equipment around corners — so it can be difficult to keep track of them. That being said, there’s a TON of room to play!

One of Creative Play’s claim to fame are their character days: Tea with Ariel, March Break Art Day, visits with Elmo and Upsy Daisy. Be sure to sign up for their newsletter and keep track of their calendar to see what’s coming up.

My only complaint was this day was also a PA Day — so there were a ton of older kids around. Children to the age of 10 are allowed, and I found Lucy intimidated by the school kids. None of the were in the baby area, so Alice and Avery were fine.

Owner Christine has given me 10 FREE PASSES to a lucky Durham Region Baby reader!
Head on over to Creative Play’s website and pick your favourite feature of the place (or share, if you’ve been there before) and leave a comment below. We’ll pick a winner Monday.

Happy playing and good luck!

Our friends at MusiGo are throwing a FREE dancing, instrument-playing, yoga-posing wiggle party this coming Monday in Bowmanville for kids 6 months-3 years:

Mon., Sept. 14
9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Theatre Dance Academy
2445 Baseline Rd., Bowmanville
Registered programs begin the following Mon., Sept 21st.

We’d love to attend and share the fun with you, but both my girls are in daycare.

Are any of you free to go in our place and share the experience with a write-up and photos?

Leave a comment and let me know!

My lovely friend Laura has two kids, Carson and Hannah. They were both spoiled this Christmas, and the house is now drowning in toys new and old.

Sound familiar?

Instead of selling the excess, Laura, being the thoughtful and generous woman she is, wants to donate toys to a local women’s shelter, single parent or some similar charity/situation.

Any ideas?

I’m sure there are many of you in the same situation, so any suggestions would be wonderful.

When Jen and I went Playin’ at the Patch, the girls got their hands on these…odd plastic bucket thingies.

We didn’t know what they were. And Lucy and Eirinn certainly didn’t either, nor what to do with them. I think they held their attention for a few seconds.

Turns out they’re a Bilibo. Some sort of Swedish…odd plastic bucket thingie. The company calls them “elementary shells” that, “instead of imposing a specific play pattern, Bilibo is open to a wide variety of interpretations and encourages the children to invent their own games.”

Apparently our Canadian girls require play patterns.

I wanted to see Jen O., and Jen wanted to see me, but Jen has a newborn and didn’t want to tidy her house, and I wanted the kids occupied so I could fish for second-newborn survival tips, so a few weeks ago we decided to meet up at a play centre and stuff said newborn into a sack so we could talk.

(Look! Newborn in a sack! Also, Jen. Only a few weeks postpartum, and don’t you want to smack her because it looked like she was never pregnant?)

We went to Pumpkin Patch Play Centre in Bowmanville, a place we’ve both wanted to visit for ages. Lucy and Eirinn, you can see, had a blast.

The centre is geared towards the 0-5 set, with a fluffy section for immobile and crawling babies, plus jumpers and swings. There’s also a convenient couch in the midst of the fluff section, perfect for parents to lounge while babies, well, lounge, too.

I loved the neat selection of dress-up clothes, hats and accessories sure to keep older kids entertained. Lucy and Eirinn poked through the pile, but their real interest was with the awesomeness that is the giant plastic pirate ship and treehouse gym things. Up and down and up and down the slide, crawling in and out of the port holes and ramps.

The girls also loved the magnetic chalkboard at the back. And took great and rather…disturbing pleasure in chucking dolls in and out of the ball pit. Loved that the ball pit has a teeny slide, and isn’t too deep to make it intimidating for smaller kids.

There were lots of other play pieces, including a kitchen with food, shopping cart, lawnmower and tons of stuffed animals and dolls.

It’s not a huge place, however. I think it’d feel really crowded with any more than a dozen kids (plus parents) running around.

Pumpkin Patch Play also has a kitchen, great change table room, kid-friendly bathroom and potty, and snacks for purchase. A great place for kids and parents alike to blow off some steam.

Check them out here. Babies under 6 months are free, and there are lots of family and multi-visit payment options.

It’s our first birthday, and we’re celebrating over here.

• May 21-28: Mastermind warehouse sale ‘08 — Richmond Hill at 9325 Yonge St.; click link for hours. Discounted, discontinued or slightly damaged packaging. Items include toys, board games, arts & craft and puzzles, from brands such as Melissa & Doug, Playmobil, Gund and Ravensburger.

• May 24-28: Samko & Miko spring toy warehouse sale — Toronto at 77 Fima Cres., and Richmond Hill at 60 East Beaver Creek; Sat. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Wed.-Fri. 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Toys, books and arts & crafts, from brands such as Crayola, Graco, Fisher-Price, Mattell, Hasbro, Step 2 and little tikes.

Even with Lucy’s birthday already passed and Christmas so far away, I’d totally check these out if we weren’t down to one income…

Happy shopping!

For all of you Once Upon a Child readers, the Bribery Photo Contest details are coming Monday.

Tonight we are all pooped after a super busy day at Little Feet for Miss Lucy and her BFF Eirinn’s joint birthday party. The only thing my brain is capable of right now is bringing my arm to my mouth to each salt and vinegar chips. And perhaps paint my toenails.

Please pop by after the weekend to get the scoop. See you then.

I hope all of you have noticed the growing sponsors on the left sidebar.

I am a small town, community girl at heart. Although a decade ago I physically ached to bust out of my hamlet and catapult into j-skool at Ryerson, I knew after less than five years of living downtown Toronto that Big City living wasn’t for me. I knew after five weeks at the Toronto Star that a Big City reporter job was not for me.

And so — having picked up a fiance along the way — we moved back to Durham. In that full-circle way of life, I landed my first Big Kid Job at the very first newspaper I ever worked for (at the tender age of 15).

And so began settling back into the community feeling I felt missing from downtown. That closeness has only intensified after moving to north Durham — now with a baby — back to the stomping grounds of my youth. We are planting roots here.

So you have no idea how awesome it is to have these wonderful local businesses on the site. To have other people value and validate what is so important to me, and what I strive to achieve with this site, is incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. And what better way to showcase Durham Region and the network of businesses that support it than share them with you?

I have purposely chosen not to go with a ad network. There is more money that route, but little if any control over content. There are restrictions on what you can say about your ads and advertisers (nothing, mostly), even where they can go on the site itself. I have no interest in that, and it defeats the purpose of what I am trying to create here.

Please take some time to visit them when you have a chance. A big fat thanks to all of you (and my endlessly patient and supportive sister) for the immeasurable help in reaching this point.

I’ve spent an eye-crossing amount of time updating and adding to the links section the past week or so. They desperately needed to be done to preserve my sanity, and also in response to what Mr. Google says people are looking for (namely: stuff to do, places to go, and birthday party centres — all for Durham).

Things are now split into what I hope are easier-to-navigate categories for y’all:

Durham links: The main entrance, also found on the right-hand toolbar over there, and directly above, under the logo

Places to play: Municipal recreation programs, indoor gyms, dance, birthday party centres

Stuff to do: Get out of the house with grown-ups (including, of course, Durham Mom’s Night Out!), Early Years Centres, public libraries, event listings, travel/tourism links

Durham daycare/nannies: Places to find childcare, resources

Safety and support: Recalls, breastfeeding, car seat safety checks, postpartum depression, parenting etc.

Local businesses and mompreneurs: List of consignment stores, baby gear, online sales, local entrepreneurs

Health: Labour, fitness, beauty

Fave Canadian retailers: The Eh! online stores we love the best

Coming soon: Baby shows, crafts and photography. Got any to add?

Have a site you love you want listed? A category to suggest? Business to add? Leave a comment or drop me an email. These are ever-expanding.

Enjoy!