West Coast Families

What Families Can Expect at EAT! Vancouver 2013

wcfmag — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:44:58 +0000

We asked EAT! Vancouver what was in it for families this year, and we got an earful. Or would that be a mouthful?!

You can bring the family down to the 11th annual EAT! Vancouver Food and Cooking Festival at BC Place Stadium on May 24-26 to sample, shop, and rub shoulders with your favourite stars from Food Network Canada. This year’s festival welcomes Spice Goddess and mother Bal Arneson, baker extraordinaire Anna Olson of Bake with Anna Olson, Chuck Hughes of Chuck’s Week Off, and Executive Chef Cactus Club Restaurants, Chef Rob Feenie, all on the Food Network Celebrity Stage.

For the kids in everyone, Regal Confections will be presenting fun contests on the International Culinary Stage on May 25 and 26 to see who can hold an enormous bubble for five seconds, build the most original structure with candy blox, and count the number of licks it takes to get to the centre of a Tootsie Pop. Winners will receive prizes, but you can always visit the Regal Kidz Kandy Korner where PEZ, Ring Pop Gummies, Rockets, Tootsie Roll, Tootsie Pop, and Dubble Bubble will be available. If you’re lucky, you might spot the Regal candy girls who will be handing out sweet treats!

Also on the International Culinary Stage, the SuperChefs Cookery for Kids will teach younger kids the importance of healthy eating. Along with local restaurant chefs, children can learn concepts like Marvelous Meatballs and Tasty Indigenous Treats, It Hasta Be Pasta – Traditional Pasta Making for Families, The Art of Sliders and Creative Crepes, and Making Old-World Handcrafted Gelato for Kids.

Finally, EAT! Vancouver has responded to the demand from 2012 for more gluten-free products. Find out more about this year’s gluten-free exhibitors HERE

Tickets are $16 for adults ($14 online), $14 for seniors, $9 for youth 13-16, and free for kids 12 & under. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.eat-vancouver.com

Happy 35 to Marpole Oakridge Family Place!

wcfmag — Fri, 17 May 2013 07:25:08 +0000

Being welcomed by enormous stilt walkers, delighted by circus aerial dancers hanging from the high ceilings, enlightened by a speech by Keith Pattinson, author of What Every Kid Needs and Money Can’t Buy, and entertained by a well-produced fashion show were some of the many surprises encountered at the Under the Big Top 35th Anniversary Celebration and Fundraiser event for the Marpole Oakridge Family Centre. It was great to see how the community got together to help support this great organization for all the amazing things they have done for families in our community! And of course in a celebration like this a huge cake was a most!

For more information on the Marpole Oakridge Family Place and their programs, CLICK HERE

Science World celebrates Music Monday 2013

wcfmag — Fri, 17 May 2013 07:14:55 +0000

Music at Science World reached high on Monday May 6. This time it made it all the way to space!

Over 200 local young-students performed the Music Monday song I.S.S (Is Somebody Singing) directed by Maestro Bramwell Tovey of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and written by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield who join the fun and played his guitar all the way from the International Space Station!

It was an amazing experience to witness how music met science and technology when putting together a simultaneous musical performance by 600,000 of young musicians from all around Canada to space and back.

This event brings attention to the importance of music education, as Maestro Bramwell Tovey said, “Music is a universal-expressive language that we all should be fluent to be able to express what is inside ourselves. Music brakes down anger and aggression, music makes peace and harmony and those are good enough reason to make music part of everybody’s fundamental education and preserve music programs in our schools”.

Science World also believes in the importance of music in education. With that in mind, they are pleased to announce a complete, immersive musical experience (AMPED) opening October 2013. Get ready to be inspired, interact, make your own music and have creative fun at Science World.

Canadian Space Agency Live Webcast
http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/webcast.asp

wcfmag — Tue, 07 May 2013 23:36:06 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, Girlz Rock Boutique in Vancouver invited us to join them for a “Rock What You Got”. This was a night of beauty and fashion celebrating self-confidence for Moms and Daughters aged 9-15. Two of our team members from WestCoast Families were lucky enough to attend with their girls, and had a great time. Here’s what one had to say:

Last Friday was a fun “date night” for my daughter and I at Girlz Rock Boutique. She is 10 years old which makes her the perfect age to take in the self image presentation, learning to make lip gloss, the manicure and of course the clothes shopping! (super cute clothes). The food was great and the owners were so helpful and nice. It was a fun night. Huge thank you to Girlz Rock Boutique!

The girls were absolutely blown away by the amazing clothes at Girlz Rock Boutique. To see for yourself, head to their store at:
2652 Arbutus Street, Vancouver. 604-742-1335
Twitter: @ShopGirlzRock

BC Green Games

wcfmag — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 20:00:42 +0000

This Earth Day, students across British Columbia will celebrate their entries into the BC Green Games contest. This is the fifth year of Science World’s annual province-wide contest that rewards students’ environmental success stories. Winners of the contest, including 10 teams from grades K–7 and 10 teams from grades 8–12, have been announced. Each winning team will receive $1,000 for their school to sustain or begin environmental initiatives. Three teams that demonstrated a strong commitment to energy conservation will each receive an “Energy Prize.”

Four teams will also receive $500 in prize money for their schools as winners of the Viewer’s Choice Awards. Over 4,500 votes were cast by students, teachers, parents and other community members.

All 132 projects entered this year, as well as over 500 past projects can be viewed at bcgreengames.ca. Participants are encouraged to celebrate their projects on or before Earth Day in their own communities. Science World will host participants from across Metro Vancouver at TELUS World of Science during the first week of Science World’s “Green Month,” April 18–May 17.

Science World manages BC Green Games with input from youth, government, school district, university, science and environmental education community partners. Presenting sponsors are BC Hydro and FortisBC.

Elementary Winners:

Chalo School, Fort Nelson
Chartwell Elementary, West Vancouver
Daniel Woodward Elementary, Richmond
Dogwood Elementary, Surrey
General Currie Elementary, Richmond
Huband Park Elementary, Comox Valley
Pender Islands Elem-Secondary, Gulf Islands
Royal Oak Middle School, Saanich
Sardis Elementary, Chilliwack
Spring Creek Community School, Howe Sound

Secondary Winners:

Brocklehurst Middle School, Kamloops-Thompson
Carson Graham Secondary, North Vancouver
Dover Bay Secondary, Nanaimo-Ladysmith
Highland Secondary, Comox Valley
New Westminster Secondary, New Westminster
Pleasant Valley Secondary, North Okanagan Shuswap
Reynolds Secondary, Greater Victoria
Richmond Secondary, Richmond
Spring Valley Middle School, Central Okanagan
Wellington Secondary, Nanaimo

Elementary Energy Prize Co-winners:

Dogwood Elementary, Surrey
Erma Stephenson Elementary, Surrey

Secondary Energy Prize:

Chemainus Secondary, Cowichan Valley

Elementary Viewer’s Choice:

KLO Middle School Eco Club, Central Okanagan
Eagle View Elementary Electric Circus, Vancouver Island North

Secondary Viewer’s Choice:

Highland Secondary Eco Team, Comox Valley
Churchill Secondary Youth4Tap, Vancouver

Elementary Honourable Mentions:

Bamfield Community School, Alberni
Henry Anderson Elementary, Richmond
Ecole des Sept-Sommets, Conseil scolaire francophone

Secondary Honourable Mentions:

Mount Sentinel, Kootenay Lake
Lucerne Elementary-Secondary, Arrow Lakes
Rockridge Secondary, West Vancouver
Reynolds Secondary, Greater Victoria

Experience Green Month at Science World

wcfmag — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 20:00:52 +0000

It is easy being green! Starting April 18 and running until May 17, Science World, thanks to the generous support of Vancity, is celebrating green technology and sustainable living.

They kicked off the month with Science World After Dark, adult event on April 19, and a Vancity Member Day on April 20, where Vancity Members got 50% of general admission for the day.

A large component of being green and sustainable is recycling. Call2Recycle and Science World are teaming up to take care of battery and cell phone recycling. On April 24, there is a giant scale and Travis Lulay, quarterback for the BC Lions, on site. Bring in your batteries and cell phones and try to lift Travis off the ground! Travis and Leo the Lion will be available for photos and autographs.

During Green Month, the dome lights will be Cowpower-d! Cowpower is an energy supplier that provides BC businesses with renewable energy from BC Farms. Check them out at http://www.cowpowerbc.com/.

Bring your food scraps to the front entrance of SW during the Community Partner weekends and Food Scraps Drop Spot will recycle your food waste. While you’re there challenge yourself to recycling and composting trivia.

Don’t forget to visit Creativity in Motion: Springs, Sprockets and Pulleys in the Feature Gallery. This exhibition is an homage to recycling with interactive dioramas created from recycled objects.

Green Month is also all about science: Meet a Scientist, Green Iron Scientist Competition and the amazing Ken Spencer Science Park - just a few of the scientific offerings. Visit http://www.scienceworld.ca/greenmonth for full details on this action-packed month.

An important component of Green Month is the BC Green Games. This contest challenges elementary and secondary students to come up with green initiatives for their school or community. Science World is celebrating these environmental success stories starting on Earth Day, April 22, and continuing through until April 26. All 132 projects entered this year, as well as over 500 past projects can be viewed at bcgreengames.ca.

It is Earth Day after all, so hop on transit, or ride your bike (there is even a new bike repair station and bike pump) and come see and celebrate what being green is all about.

www.scienceworld.ca

Surrey Children’s Festival – tickets now on sale!

wcfmag — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 22:00:33 +0000

Tickets for the 9th annual Surrey Children’s Festival went on sale April 16th at the Surrey Arts Centre box office.

Six ticketed headline performances occur on May 23 – 25 for $10 each and an all access pass is available on Saturday for $12 each which admits you to all the performances (subject to availability) and activities on site. Entrance to the festival is free, as are many community performances and art activities.

The goal of the Surrey Children’s Festival is to expose children to the arts in a fun and interactive way. This year’s line-up of performers ranges from a preschool performance from Australia, Grug and Alberta circus performers The Chairmen. Medicine Bear is dance theatre from Toronto at its finest, while Grand Dérangement gets kids moving with Acadian music from Nova Scotia. The Spirit of Harriet Tubman from Ontario and a film from the U.K The Itch of the Golden Nit round out Festival ticketed performances.

Tickets and all access passes go on sale April 16th at the Surrey Art’s Centre box office and may also be purchased on site during the festival. However, there are a limited number of all access passes available.

www.surrey.ca/childrensfestival.ca
Dates:   May 23-25, 2013
Time:   Thurs/Fri: 9:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
            Sat: 10:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Samsung School Comes to Canada, right here in the Lower Mainland

wcfmag — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:00:54 +0000

Riverside Secondary School looks, on the outside at least, like your normal suburban high school. But Deb Nordheimer’s grade 11 physics class would like to tell you differently. This class is the first of Samsung Canada’s classrooms of the future, equipped with a fully interactive digital learning environment.
“This new system increases the engagement of my students with the lessons,” says Nordheimer, “ and allows me to closely monitor individual students, which greatly increases student accountability.”
For this pilot project, Samsung provided the class with 31 Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1 units, a 65-inch digital e-Board and powerful Samsung software. Not just for physics classes, this software can be configured by individual teachers, bringing to life whatever subject they are teaching.
With this system, teachers and students can share content with each other, and individual student’s work can be shared on the large screen. Teachers can administer pop quizzes during the class, can conduct polls and quickly assess how the class is comprehending the lesson.
After the class, the tablet goes back to being a regular tablet, containing everything the student needs to study and do homework.

To watch the classroom work, visit www.samsung.ca.

Heart-Mind 2013 Conference

wcfmag — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:24:16 +0000

How Mindfulness helps children thrive
Thursday May 9 to Saturday May 11
Explore the latest science and practice that shows how Mindfulness fosters the development of compassion, confidence, and resilience in children, and helps them develop respectful and nurturing relationships. The pieces of this conference are designed for parents, educators, clinicians, coaches, and more – all those who care FOR and ABOUT children.

Featured speakers: Shawn Achor (author: The Happiness Advantage), Adele Diamond, PhD (UBC Professor), Goldie Hawn (The Hawn Foundation, developer of MindUP), Linda Lantieri (Director Inner Resilience Program), Rob Roeser PhD (Portland State Univ Professor, Mind & Life Institute), Clifford Saron PhD (Assoc Research Scientist Univ California Davis Center for Mind & Brain), Kimberly Schonert-Reichl PhD (UBC Professor), Paul Tough (Author: How Children Succeed), Roy Henry Vickers (Artist, Author, Storyteller)

All events are held at the UBC Point Grey Campus.

Email heart-mind@dalailamacenter.org

Recycle your batteries and cellphones at Science World!

wcfmag — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:26:37 +0000

By Monica Gonzalez, Events Coordinator for WestCoast Families.

Three billion batteries were thrown away into the garbage last year in Canada! Science World along with their partner Call2Recycle are on a mission to reduce this number starting today!

Travis Lulay of the BC Lions is lifted by the weight of all the batteries and cellphones brought in for recycling at Science World today.

It was a morning of learning the importance of recycling, but also a day full of fun at Science World’s Green Month event.

Students attended the Tip Zone Battery Drive to drop off their used batteries with the goal of tipping the scale and lifting BC Lions’ quarterback, Travis Lulay, off the ground, illustrating the power of recycling!

Science World staff delivered a simple message that will stay with our kids forever. There are four things you should never do with your used batteries and only one thing you should do with them:

1. Never throw them in the garbage
2. Never put them in fire
3. Never eat them
4. Never put them in a lion’s ear (that last one made many laugh except for Leo the Lion, the BC Lions mascot!)

As for the only thing you should do with your used batteries and cellphones, they kept it very simple:
Come to Science World and recycle them!

Thanks to the partnership between Telus World of Science and Call2Recycle, the battery and cellphone collection kiosk is here to stay! This 3-year project aims to increase awareness, make recycling easy, and accessible!

Families visited Science World today to drop off old batteries and cellphones for recycling.

To learn more about recycling and locations where you can drop your used batteries go to www.call2recycle.ca