November 12, 2010

November Goodie of the Month: The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada

The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada was, without a doubt, a charity we wanted to feature on “Goodie of the Month”. Their passion and dedication in fulfilling children’s dreams that are faced with life-threatening illnesses is inspiring. We were thrilled to have the opportunity to speak with Sandra Gregory & Leslie Hughes of The Children’s Wish Foundation. Our Q & A (listed below) allowed us to gain a deeper awareness of the foundation’s values and goals. This foundation truly embodies the meaning of creating treasured memories for children and their families. Making a dream come true is as simple as providing a donation, becoming a wish hero, volunteering or referring a child.



LPG: Please explain briefly about the history of The Children's Wish Foundation such as, how and when the charity was started and who and or how they help children:

Children's Wish: Since 1984, The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada has worked tirelessly to grant exceptional wishes to over 16,000 children and their families. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Children’s Wish.

Laura Cole, the committed and passionate founder of the Children’s Wish created an all-Canadian organization to help fulfill wishes of children between the ages of 3 and 17 who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

We understand the trauma and stress that overwhelm families when a child has a serious illness. Therefore, we do everything in our power to look after every detail in granting wishes. For example, if the child’s wish is for a trip, we arrange for flights, accommodation, passes, Blue Cross travel insurance, per diems and trans
portation. We enlist the help of nurses and other medical personnel when their expertise is required. We also arrange for respirators, wheelchairs and other special medical equipment when the need arises. Our staff are on call 24 hours a day should the wish family need assistance or have an emergency situation. The magic of a wish provides children and their families with an opportunity to share the joy of a special experience, and an escape from the day-to-day challenges of illness.

LPG: What makes The Children's Wish Foundation unique?

Children's Wish: The Children’s Wish Foundation is an all-Canadian organization with offices in every province. We have never refused a wish to an eligible child, and we never will.

LPG: What is the number one thing that you want people to know about this charity?

Children's Wish:
I think that the number one thing for Children’s Wish is that we have NEVER refused an eligible child their wish ever. Also, I think we work really hard to be the number one wish granting charity in this country. We will continue to do that. We exist because of the children. We are here, all of us, to make sure that e
very eligible child in Canada receives their most heart-felt wish.

LPG: What goals do you want to achieve as a cha
rity now and in 5 years?

Children's Wish: For us, it is about the granting of wishes to children that have life threatening illnesses. We strive to bring that magic to a child and their family.

LPG: Lastly, how can people help support the Children's Wish Foundation?

Children's Wish: We rely entirely on the generosity of our donors and volunteers to grant our children their wishes.

To learn more, or to make a donation, please visit www.childrenswish.ca or call us at 1-800-267-WISH (9474.).

November 11, 2010

November Activity of the Month: Connect Four



Why this activity? At every event this game is always a huge hit. Why??? Well, there must be a reason that this game has existed since 1974 and children of all ages absolutely love playing Connect Four! It’s a great game that captures children’s attention allowing them to use their thinking skills without being aware of it!

Skills children can learn through this game: Children develop their problem solving skills and patience by playing Connect Four as they each take turns placing their coloured disc through the 7 column grid. Their cognitive abilities and mathematical skills are challenged as players have to predict what their opponent will do and where they will place their disc. Each player is engaged in strategic planning as they decide their next move. The winner will have comprised a group of the same 4 coloured discs in a row.

For children ages 2 ½ and older, this game allows them to use their fine motor and coordination skills, as they grab a disc or two and try placing it in an open slot. Cause and effect is another component that children can learn at the end of the game. This is also one of the most exciting parts of playing. One person has to pull the bottom bar underneath the gird and release all of the discs. As a result, the discs will fall all over the place and make a loud banging sound that children find so much fun!

Ways to modify the game for children: 1. Make the game into a race and whoever places of all of their coloured discs into the slot first wins. 2. Have free play! Allow children to play alone and experiment with patterns and design. For example, red red black, black red black or red black red black...what comes next? 3. Transform the coloured discs into mathematical counters as they help children learn their numbers!

Where can you buy this activity? Wal-Mart, Zellers, Toys R Us, the Bay, Sears and several other retail stores that sell children game products.

Suitable ages: Although the Connect Four box advises parents with children ages 4+ to play the game, children ages 2 ½+ could play a modified version of this game with parental supervision of course!

***Please note: Younger children will need adult assistance and supervision during this activity as small objects (discs) are included and may be a choking hazard! ***

October 22, 2010

October Activity of the Month: Halloween Scarecrow


Why this activity? Planning for Halloween is very exciting for most children as they get to decorate their house all spooky, carve a pumpkin, wear a fun costume and go trick or treating! Involving children in Halloween activities such as, making a wooden spoon scarecrow craft to decorate the inside or outside of your house can be very entertaining. Children love to show others especially their friends the crafts they created!

Items you will need: A large wooden spoon, wooden shish-ka-bob skewers/coloured pipe cleaners, scraps of fabric (i.e. cotton, felt), construction paper, markers, yarn, 2 googly eyes, pom-poms, feathers and glue.

Where can you buy the items? Wooden spoons can be purchased at your local dollar store or can be found in your kitchen (recycle your kitchen utensils). The craft supplies can be found at Michaels, various dollar stores or any other art & craft stores.

Suitable ages: 5 1/2 years old to12 years old. This craft can be modified to make it suitable for children under 5 years old.

***Please note: Adult assistance and supervision during this craft for children ages 5 years and younger is a must! ***

September 1, 2010

King City - Private Residence: Wedding Child Care

On August 28, 2010 we had 2 events the same day working with Spectacular Spectacular & Devan Events! One event was held at a private residence with all girls and 1 boy and the 2nd event was at the Gardiner Museum with all boys and 1 girl! Both events were tons of FUN!!! One consisted of lots of arts and crafts and dress-up fun while and the other had car racing competitions and lots of play-dough making...can you guess which event was which???

For the event that was held at a private residence, we were given one room to transform into the children’s room...images are posted below, let us know what you think!



Riverbend Inn & Winery: Wedding Child Care

Can you believe it summer is gone and now on to fall? June to August was incredibly busy over here at Little Party-Goers. Our weekends were fully booked with amazing new clients, events and adorable children who just wanted to have fun partying....and of course we need just that!

In the next week few weeks we’ll be posting pictures from our super summer fun events! A big shout out to all of the wonderful event professionals & venues that we had a pleasure working with: Spectacular Spectacular, Bliss Events, Cynthia Martyn Events, Savoir Flare, One Fine Day, Alicia O'Brien, Devan Events, Graydon Hall Manor, Langdon Hall, Gardiner Museum, ROM, Four Seasons Hotel, Ancaster Mill, PeterandPauls, Le Jardin, Boiler House, Mimmo and Naz, Crimson Photos and Nikki Leigh McKean! Also a big THANK YOU to all of our LPG staff for their amazing work and team spirit!

Here are a few images from Riverbend Inn & Winery...we transformed a suite into a playroom!Comments always welcomed!


Our craft table for children under 3.5 years old...


Our craft table for children 4 years old and up


Our baby and toddler play area...


For preschoolers to school-age children!

August 2, 2010

August Activity of the Month: Kidsports


Why this activity? I don’t know about you but if I was a kid I would love to go to an 18,000 square foot indoor playground filled with a 3 level maze with tunnels and slides... Oh let’s not forget the 2 large ball pits that children can jump in while having tons of fun! There’s even an area called “Wee Challenge” for children really young who want to have fun too! If this doesn’t sound exciting I don’t know what does? Kidsports is the perfect place to take your children on a rainy day or even host a birthday party at, as they’ll have an amazing time and won’t want to leave!

Items you will need: A pair of socks is a MUST, no outside food and an adult for supervision....that’s all!

Suitable ages: 1 years old to 12 years old... although I saw a few adults trying to fit their bodies in the maze that’s made only for children in hopes that they could join in on the fun!

Where is place located?
Kidsports
4500 Dixie Rd. #8, (Dixie & Eglinton)
Mississauga, On
905.624.9400
www.toronto.com/kidsports

Hours of operation: Open Monday to Sunday from 10am to 8pm

Mimmo&Naz: Unique Photography & Cinematography

Image courtsey of Mimmo and Naz

This post is way over due however we could not forget to thank Mimmo and Naz for providing Little Party-Goers with the images posted above. Back in June we had the opportunity to work together with Mimmo and Naz at a wedding! Mimmo is a talented photographer, his style in capturing images is absolutely amazing, unique and candid. Naz on the other hand is an incredible cinematographer who captures memories through his super 8mm camera lens...his video’s remind you of the film taken in the 1950's and 60’s ....absolutely love!

For more information about Mimmo and Naz visit:

Website: http://www.mimmoandnaz.com/
Blog: www.mimmoandnaz.com/blog