A great place to go: Firefly Play Cafe

Terra G. shares with us a great new addition to Columbus, Firefly Play Cafe. Offering green play toys and wide open spaces for running and scooters, as well as free WiFi and coffee and lots of space for parents to relax... what's not to love about it?! Actually, there is more to love and Terra tells us all about it below.

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Firefly Play Café (www.fireflyplaycafe.com) is a new addition to Columbus, and offers a great alternative for moms (or dads) to another afternoon with the little ones tearing the house apart while you wish you could get out or accomplish something. The space is designed for kids ages 2 to 5 to run, climb, slide, bounce, read, draw or pretend play while parents or caregivers enjoy a coffee bar, tables, sofas and free WiFi.

Located in a storefront in Beechwold, Firefly is open and inviting, offering climbing structures, a slide, dress up clothes, educational toys, a chalkboard playhouse, scooters, books and a bounce house. I stopped in on a whim after an early release from preschool, knowing the alternative was a LONG afternoon cooped up in our house. This was a great option because I was able to pay my bills – which at home the girls would never let me get away with, but at Firefly they were so occupied discovering new things, they totally ignored me – have something to drink, and catch up on email while the girls played themselves silly. While I was there, a playgroup of about six moms showed up with their little ones, and it seems like a perfect place for it, especially when the weather turns cold and rainy.

In addition to free play, Firefly offers classes like mom-and-kid yoga, art, painting and clay.

Here are some photos of my girls having a great time (look at how wide open it is and how fun the toys are!):

Hours are 9:30-5:30 most weekdays, until 8pm on Wednesdays, and 10-1 on Saturday.

Pricing is $5 all day for the first kid and $3 for additional, if they are two or older. Younger kids are $3.

Classes are around $7-12 each.

Healthy snacks, coffee, juice and water is available for $1 each.

Address: Firefly Play Café 4822 N High St (next to the Verizon store) – enter from the parking lot in back

On Facebook: Firefly Play Cafe.

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Thanks Terra! Does anyone have other places in the Columbus area that are great to take the kids (of any age) during the quickly approaching colder months? Comment below or send us a post! columbusmultiples@gmail.com

Kelly's Art Easel - Fall Leave Prints

This is a fun project that allows you to incorporate nature and art. It's a perfect fall project and gives your children (and you) a unique wearable (t-shirt) afterwards. This project can be done with children of any age. For the young ones, like mine, you might need to assist more. However for each age range, children can customize these shirts to their skills, even making cool collages, shapes and words with their nature art.

Fall Leave Prints

Materials:

• plastic baggies (for collecting leaves)
• leaves
• masking tape
• large sheets of paper (place mat size is best)
• acrylic paint (or similar paints for fabric/paper)
• t-shirts
• art smocks (or old shirts of daddy's)
• small plates (or something else flat to put paint on for printing)
  

How to: We completed this project with our friends Elaina and Miles who are 2 and 1/2 (Rhys & Kyle are 2 yrs old).

We started by giving each child a plastic baggie and then we went and collected sticks and leaves from around the neighborhood. Flowers are great for this project as well, if you can find them! While we were walking, we named different things we saw and collected the items we wanted in our bags. We tried to only take things off the ground and not remove them from the trees.

Once we finished collecting, we brought them back where Shana (Elaina's and Miles' mom) and I had taped down large sheets of practice paper. We also had filled small plates (cake/dessert plates) with a small amount of acrylic paint that we spread out on the plate so it was flat. For this project, we spread out six different paint colors thinly onto six plates. Let your children put the used leaves into different colors, which will mix the paint nicely for cool color combinations. Once we had the paint ready, we showed the kids how to take a leaf, stick or flower and to dip it into the paint. The key is smearing the paint around the entire shape (of the object) as even as possible. Too much paint makes for a sloppy prints because it moves, just think about stamping with ink - the less ink, the better the print. Once our objects were covered, we pressed it onto the paper, having the kids help. They were amazed when we pealed it off to reveal the shape in paint on the paper. Our kids were able to mimic what we did with some help from us spreading out the paint on the shape and pressing it onto the paper. Of course, finger painting was added, which is fun and fine (and great for sensory)!

Once we "practiced" on the paper and the kids got the hang of it, we went to the t-shirts. I used Hane's t-shirts (which are currently buy 2 get one free at Hane's.com)! Note: it does help to place a piece of cardboard inside the shirts so there's a firm background on which to press. I used the backs of old notebooks, and another idea is boxes (like a cereal box) cut to size. Once the shirts were prepped and ready, we used the same process as above to stamp the t-shirts with the leaves, sticks, flowers, etc. that we had collected. The kids enjoyed being creative with their t-shirt nature stamping. Note: the shirts will need at least 24 hours to dry before wear and I'd suggest 48 hours before washing.

Bonus craft: we loved the practice paper stamping pieces so much that we laminated them for great fall place mats!

Have fun and enjoy!

If you have any suggestions or requests for future Kelly's Art Easel columns, please comment below or email (columbusmultiples@gmail.com). As well, if you have any art questions for yourself or your little ones, let me know!

Kelly

Special thanks to Shana and her twins for trying this project with us! ;)

BabyPop Designs cape and mask sets - and the winner is...

Sara W.

(comment number #21)

Congratulations on winning the awesome set of 2 customized capes and masks for your duo!! Please email us (columbusmultiples@gmail.com) your contact information (email address).

Costume ideas for multiples

Kathleen P. has shared with our CMOTC blog readers a great list of costume ideas for multiples, listed below. Many of us have a hard time thinking of the perfect, unique and fun idea for costumes, luckily the list has quite a few that fit the bill.

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Trick or Treat! Here are some costume ideas for multiples at any age or even couples.

• Hamburger, Hot Dog & Bag of Chips
• Fork, Spoon & Knife
• Spagetti, Ragu & Prego Jars of Sauce
• UPS & Fedex (even add postal service)
• Show & Tell (this could be funny)
• Sugar & Spice
• Half & Half
• Cookies & Milk
• Thank You & Have a Nice Day
• Beer & Brats (ok not really for a young child)
• Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
• Gas & Electric
• Eat, Drink & Be Merry
• Headlights & Tailights
• Mother Nature - and the 4 seasons
  

Family Fun also has a great list, which you can view here.

Have a Happy Halloween!

~Kathleen

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Thank you Kathleen! What about you? Do you have some ideas for twin/multiple Halloween costumes? Maybe even some photos to share? Website resources? Please comment below or email your ideas/photos.

Katie's Nutrition Nook: Healthy Brain Food Breakfasts for Kids (and Moms)

With school back in session, it is important to provide your children with healthy foods in order to have the energy and focus to learn. Mornings can get crunched and often nutrition is sacrificed. You need quick things to eat, but unfortunately, many of us do this at the cost of nutrition. Pop tarts, muffins and most cereal bars are loaded with sugar and minimal nutritional value. Sure, they’re quick and portable, but a breakfast of pure sugar does not supply sufficient fuel.

Many of you have heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I agree that it is. However, putting nothing but sugar (and maybe a little fiber or whole grains to fool you into thinking you’re eating healthy) in our own or our children’s bodies is not doing any good. A meal consisting of protein (found in meats, beans, nuts, dairy products and eggs) and carbohydrates (found in fruits, starchy vegetables, grains and milk), but also low in sugar and high in fiber will help to start the day off right and keep you going.

Here are some examples of healthy, balanced breakfasts, ideal for the entire family!

• Cheerios with low-fat milk
• Plain yogurt with fruit and low-sugar granola
• Whole grain toast OR English muffin with peanut butter
• Oatmeal with almonds and/or milk*
• Egg/Egg whites in a whole wheat tortilla
• Fruit** smoothie with yogurt and fresh fruit

* Whole milk should be used from the time the child is 1-2 years old and then switch to !% fat or fat-free skim milk at 2 years of age.

** Most of us do not get enough fruit, so offering fruit or fruit juice at breakfast is a great idea! If you offer juice, make sure it is 100% fruit juice (i.e. juicy juice) and limit to 4 oz/day.

What are your favorite brain food breakfasts? Please share your family's favorite quick and healthy breakfasts that keep your body and mind going!

Feel free to comment below or contact me at columbusmultiples@gmail.com with any questions you might have. Whether the questions are about weight loss, specific plans for you, general nutrition needs for you and/or your children, or whatever, I am here to help you!

As well, if you have suggestions for topics you would like me to discuss in Katie's Nutrition Nook, please let me know.

- Katie

A GIVEAWAY to thrill your little superhero and/or princess: BabyPop Designs customized capes and masks

****This giveaway has ended*****

Do you have a super hero duo in your family? If so, we have the perfect gift for them! We are very excited to announce that BabyPop Designs is giving away a set of two capes and masks on our blog. These customized superhero/princess capes are a must have for any child who is out to save your backyard.

Sherry Aikens, mom of two beautiful children and owner of BabyPop Designs, started her business a few years ago on Etsy.com after leaving her 15 year career in the apparel industry to be a stay at home mom. With all of her experience in the industry and love of apparel, she found a new avenue in making superhero and princess capes. Her offering includes capes customized with the child’s initial (and choice of emblem), shirts, masks, crowns and gloves. She even makes pet, teddy bear and adult capes… if you happen to be an entire family of superheroes! Their slogan: “Saving one backyard at a time.”

I first found BabyPop Designs featured, with rave reviews, on a blog two years ago and instantly fell in love. I quickly ordered one for my soon to be four year old at the time, who was convinced he was a superhero (and still is). I will never forget how his face lit up when he opened his gift and how quickly he put it on… and how hard it was to get off of him that night (no doubt the “hole in one” gift of the year). What makes me giggle to this day, is how his mannerisms change when he puts his cape, shirt, gloves and mask on. He walks, talks and cocks his head like a true crime fighting superhero. His younger brothers, the twins, turned three years old last month and given that they were following in their older brother’s path, it was time they had their own capes as well. Now we have three masked and caped men happily keeping us safe from harm.

With the joy my children have wearing these nicely crafted capes and the holidays quickly approaching, I thought this was a perfect gift idea to share with the club. One better, after hearing about our CMOTC club and blog, Sherry generously offered to give away a set of two capes and masks to our CMOTC club moms! WOW! The capes for your duos come in a large variety of colors, as well as the option of emblems along with the child’s initial. Check out the options on her website.

To enter to win a set of two capes and masks (required):
Become a Facebook fan of “BabyPop Designs”, (click here), by clicking “like” on her fan page. Once you have done this, comment* below stating you’re a FB fan of BabyPop Designs.

For additional entries – yes, you read it right, you can increase your chance of winning with two more entry options! – do the following: (please create a separate comment for each of the three entry options)

• Become a follower of the Columbus Multiples Mom blog OR sign up for email notification (of blog posts) via feedburner (both are in the left margin). Once you have done this, comment* below stating which you did. If you are already following us or subscribing through emails, that counts too. Comment* below letting us know.

• Become a fan of CMOTC on facebook. Search for CMOTC in facebook and select the one with the photo of our club or click this link, then click “like.” Once you have done this, comment* below stating you did. If you are already a fan, that counts too. Comment* below letting us know.

PLEASE make sure you use your full name or at the very least your first name and last initial, as it will be hard to determine for sure who is the winner if there are multiple people entering with the same first names.

Winners will be selected on Friday September 24th at 9 p.m. by random selection, using Random.org. Be sure to check the blog on Friday to see if you won. If an email address is not included in your public goggle account profile, you will need to contact us within three days or we will have to select another winner. See giveaway policies for more information.

*Comment section is located below the "You might also like..." section and within the "Posted by..." line. Click on the word "comments" (which will have a number before it showing how many comments there are at that moment) to enter a comment for each of your entry options. Please let us know if you have questions.

If you are viewing this on Facebook, please come to the blog to enter to win.

Craft Project: Instant Nature Friends

Do your children love to collect things from your yard, the park, camping trips, vacations or other places you venture to outdoors? Here's a fun craft to do with all those things they collect and all you need in addition to their finds is googly eyes and a bottle of craft glue.

They can make rock pets, stick snakes, nutty friends, and... the possibilities are unlimited with some imagination!

So easy, so cheap, and what a great way for them to explore nature and use their imagination (and creativity)!

Craft idea from Familyfun.com.

If you try this craft, please email us photos of your children's nature friends to share on the blog or you can also upload them to our CMOTC facebook page.

CMOTC Member photos: