momstown Milton takes a trip to Morocco

Salam!

Our momstown Milton mamas and kids explored Morocco at our Trip Around the World program this week.  The momstown theme for July is 'the desert', and since Morocco has the amazing Sahara desert it was a great country to travel to.

We looked at some pictures of the desert, including sand dunes, an oasis, and camels.  We also looked at some of the handiwork that is famous in Morocco, including beautiful carpets, hand painted pottery and multi coloured lamps.  The kids got to look at and touch a Moroccan carpet done in a traditional Berber pattern in bright red, with black, orange and white design.

 

We talked about a very popular symbol in Morocco called a khamsa.  A khamsa is a lucky charm in the form of a hand.  The hand is often embellished with semi precious stones, and metals, and usually has an eye in the centre.  The khamsa is often hung on doors to keep bad luck out of the house.  For our craft, we made our own khamsas using our hands for the design.

We outlined our hands, then decorated them with sequins, "fingers" cut from design magazines, glitter glue and an "eye" - also cut from a magazine.  Moms helped their kids cut out the hands and put them on colourful paper.  The home made khamsas turned out beautifully.

When we were done with our craft, we all had a sample of a Moroccan tagine.  We first looked at the beautiful tagines, and talked about their interesting shape.  Our tagine today was a veggie version, with sweet potatoes, carrots, potatoes, chick peas, lentils, kale and apricots.  Twelve spices were added to make this delicious and easy dish.  This is a very healthy tagine.  The recipe makes a huge pot of stew and uses only two tablespoons of oil.  Moms were delighted to see their kids happily eating the dish.  Only one of our little travelers decided that he wasn't a fan of the tagine!  Not bad for a stew filled with vegetables!

 

 

After our snack, a couple brave travelers tried on a head scarf that is worn in the desert while riding on a camel.  I wore this beautiful scarf back in 2007 on a safari in Erg Chebi while traveling in Morocco.  These turbans keep the sun's heat and rays away from the head and it is tied in a way that leaves a piece of fabric that can be draped over the face to shield from the sun and blowing sand.

 

 A fun morning for all.  Thanks to all who came out, and see you at our next adventure!

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Submitted by Paula Porter, a momstown Milton member and

 mother of two amazing girls.

momstown MIlton Kids learning to use recycled materials for craft projects!

It is amazing what great things you can find in your recycling bin!  Our momstown Milton mamas and kids had a wonderful time exploring and painting using recycled materials for crafts from the Blue Bin at our Recycled Treasures program.

We used plastic bottles, paper tubes, left over Easter grass, Christmas tinsel, corks, and the spongy wrap that protects Asian pears in the supermarket.  All of these different finds made for some fun exploration with paint on a beautiful spring morning!

We spread out some craft paper on the fence and attached it with masking tape, and also had paper out on a play table for kids who preferred painting on a surface.  The little ones had a great time choosing from the variety of tools and bright paint colours.  

Soon we had a beautiful abstract painting and lots of messy kids!  Everyone was proud of their creations, and enjoyed seeing the different shapes that the different objects made on the paper.

 

Some of the little artists discovered that the plastic bottles created a flower on the paper, and then added colourful centres with the corks.  They made some beautiful paintings! 

Our Recycled Treasures morning eventually became a fun playdate, with some kids concentrating on painting while others preferred the sand box, pool, or snack table.  It was a relaxed and fun morning for the kids and moms alike.  It is so wonderful to discover new, easy and inexpensive ways to be creative with children.  

Thanks for coming out, everyone!

To learn more about what momstown Milton is all about - Click Here

To register for a 6 week FREE trial membership - Click Here

If you are a business that would like to sponsor our events or advertise with us please contact info.milton@momstown.ca

 

Submitted by Paula Porter, a momstown Milton member and

 mother of two amazing girls.

Little Scientists - Discovering Shadows and Light with Shadow Puppets

Our Little Scientists explore Light & Shadows!

In honour of Earth Hour when we will all be turning off our lights, our momstown Milton  Little Scientists had fun learning about light and shadows.

We started off with a short video about a hippo who discovers his shadow when the sun shines, and notices it goes away when the sun goes behind the clouds. The kids had fun doing an experiment with a toy tree and a flashlight. We saw how the tree cast no shadow without light shining on it, and then how the shadow appeared when we shined a light on the branches.

 

The group headed to the basement for some more fun with shadows. To play with shadows in the basement, I hung up a white sheet from the ceiling. The little scientists had fun making shadows with their hands and bodies, illuminated by flash lights. By turning on a bright light behind the sheet, our basement was transformed into a shadow puppet theatre! We used shadow puppets cut out of black paper in the forms of flying saucers, aliens and planets. We saw how the shadows got smaller and bigger as we moved them farther from and closer from the source of light.

  

Playing with shadows is a fun and free activity that can be done anywhere. Kids are fascinated by shadows, and teaching little ones about how shadows are formed can be helpful in reducing bed time fears.

Thanks to our Little Scientists for bringing their curiosity to our group today!

See you next month when we will be Little Explorers, exploring the world of birds!

 

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