Story Book Magic at Casa Loma

Monday, November 30, 2009 to Sunday, January 3, 2010

Inspired by famous children's storybooks from around the globe like Jack and the Bean Stalk, Hansel and Gretel, Aladdin and Pinocchio, award winning magician Lawrence LaRouche and Majinx present a dazzling world of spectacular illusions that bring these classic stories to life.
Showtimes: 10:30, 11:30, 12:30 2:00* & 3:00*

*These shows do not occur from Monday to Thursday between Nov. 30 and Dec. 17 

Prices: Adult (18-59) - Storybook Magic $18.50
Includes Admission, Storybook Magic Show, Peter Pan Storytelling and Capital Improvement Surcharge.               

Senior (60+) - Storybook Magic $12.50
Includes Admission, Storybook Magic Show, Peter Pan Storytelling and Capital Improvement Surcharge.           

Youth (14-17) - Storybook Magic $12.50
Includes Admission, Storybook Magic Show, Peter Pan Storytelling and Capital Improvement Surcharge.             $12.50    

Child (4-13) - Storybook Magic $10.50
Includes Admission, Storybook Magic Show, Peter Pan Storytelling and Capital Improvement Surcharge.            

Read More

Celebrate the holidays with the ROM!

Starts: December 26, 2009 -  Ends: January 3, 2010

 

There's so much for families to do at the ROM this holiday season!  As a Holiday Gift to Our Visitors enjoy special extended hours and half price admission after 4:30 pm* from December 26 to January 3. During this special offer the Museum will remain open until 8:30 pm every evening and is open until 9:30 pm on January 1. Please note: family activities end at 4:30 pm daily.

For more information contact: 416-586-8000 or visit ROM's web site

Read More

34th Annual Toronto ZOO CHRISTMAS Treats Walk

Walk off your christmas dinner and support endangered animals!

Saturday, December 26th, at 10:00 am sharp

Half Priced Admission* All Day!

See exotic animals enjoy their seasonal food treats.

Meet polar bears Inukshuk, Nikita, and Aurora.

Admission proceeds on this day will go to support the Endangered Species Fund.

Visit torontozoo.com for details

Read More

See Emily Osment at Living Arts Centre!

Content Courtesy of Mississauga Kids

Recording artist Emily Osment, from Disney's Hanna Montanta is set to kick off the New Year with a 4 city Canadian concert tour: Surrey, BC; Ottawa, ON; Belleville, ON; and Mississauga, ON.

Driven by heavy rotation of her highly successful video All The Way Up, the rising star's brand new EP All The Right Wrongs has been a fixture on the sales charts since it's debut in October. Emily's portrayal of Lilly Truscott in the highly successful Hannah Montana franchise has ade her a household name among Canadian youth. Her fans will now have the opportunity tosee her perform live and in concert as she continues to build on her success in the musical arena.

Joining Emily on her tour will be Wax Records recording artist Jesse Labelle. Having just released a 4 song digital EP, Perfect Accident, that debuted in the Top 20 on the iTunes Top Sellers Album charts, this up and coming singer/songwriter has been turning heads with his
heartfelt pop songs! Jesse's first single and title track Perfect Accident is already making waves at radio across the country. The video for the single has just been completed and will be released mid December. Jesse's debut full length album, produced by Dave Thomson (Lights)
is set for release early in 2010 on Wax Records. Expect to hear much more from this promising Canadian artist.

Take this chance to see these stars right here in Mississauga!

Tickets for Emily Osment are $25 and go on sale Friday, December 11, 2009 at 10 am.

Tickets are available online at www.livingartscentre.ca; by phone at 905.306.6000 or 1.888.805.8888; or in person at the box office from 10 am to 6 pm, Monday through Saturday, 90 minutes before and 30 minutes after the start of all shows.

The Living Arts Centre is located at 4141 Living Arts Drive, Mississauga, on the west side of Square One Shopping Centre. Complimentary underground parking is available.

Read More

Blinds Safety Warning from Health Canada

OTTAWA — The cords on window blinds are a real "strangulation hazard" and parents should keep them away from small children, Health Canada warned Tuesday, in light of a massive product safety recall in the United States.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Window Covering Safety Council issued the recall on more than 50 million Roman-style and pull-up blinds sold in the United States at major retailers including Wal-Mart, JC Penney and Pottery Barn.

The commission said there have been five deaths and 16 serious injuries associated with the blinds since 2006 in the U.S. Since 1990, there have been a total of 200 infant and child deaths in the United States.

Health Canada urged consumers to contact the American groups online for retrofit kits, shying away from announcing a similar recall despite the fact that some of the blinds were sold in Canada.

Safety advocates have been raising concerns for years, because the long cords that pull the blinds open and close can easily loop around a child's neck and strangle them.

According to Safe Kids Canada, there have been 27 deaths and 23 injuries reported resulting from Roman-blinds.

"In the past number of years, the design of window blinds have changed dramatically but there are still blinds out there that use the older mechanism and the longer cords," said Pamela Fuselli, the group's executive director. "Especially if the cords that are looped, those are the ones that are most dangerous. They're quite longer and a child can get their necks entangled them more easily."

Fuselli said parents should make sure the ropes on their blinds are tied down and are not reachable by small hands. All furniture, such as couches and cribs, should not be near blind cords.

The U.S. groups also recommend that only cordless blinds or drapes be installed in homes with young children and that all Roman-style blinds be replaced with window coverings manufactured after 2001.

The recall affects the majority of blinds sold in the U.S. including types manufactured and distributed by West Elm, Draper Inc., Lotus & Windoware Inc., All Strong Industry (USA) Inc. and Airtex Design Group Inc.

Last month, Swedish retailer IKEA issued a large recall in Canada on its Iris and Alvine Roman blinds because they posed as choking hazards. There were 200,000 blinds sold in the country. At that time, Health Canada also issued a recall on Roman blinds by Brampton, Ont.-based Vadain International. Nearly 2,000 of the blinds were sold at Home Depot locations across Canada from July 2009 to October 2009.

No deaths or incidents involving these two last recalls have been reported by Health Canada.

Read More

Fishing with Santa

Read More

Speech Disorders in Children

Content courtesy of City Parent

After talking with Matin and Hosna Safar you would never know that these two sweet, energetic and bright children ever had trouble speaking. The truth is that both have struggled deeply with stuttering and the negative effects associated with it. “Before I went to the Speech and Stuttering Institute I was stuttering on almost every word,” says Matin who is going into Grade 4 this year. Seven-and-a-half year-old Hosna was stuttering 30 per cent of the time before she started treatment. “I was speaking horribly,” she says. “I had lots of thoughts but couldn’t say the words properly.”

Stuttering is a speech disorder that has to do with coordination difficulties. It impacts quality of life as kids can be bullied at school leading them to withdraw from situations, avoid making phone calls, using specific words or having conversations because they can’t say certain things. Self-esteem is also involved, and people with communication difficulties take advantage of fewer opportunities. Stuttering often runs in families and is more common in boys that girls.

The children were placed in a program with Rachelle Vekris, one of the Institute’s speech-language pathologists. “After the first week I knew they would do really well,” says Rachelle. “The program takes a lot of work and involves about 20 minutes of homework a day. Hosna and Matin helped each other, practiced together, and were really motivated.”

Vekris taught them strategies on how to talk, how to use their breath and how to move their vocal folds together slowly. Taking these strategies and using them to tell jokes and play games made the program both fun and educational. “At one point they had signs up all over their house. They even had a sign in the bathroom that said ‘remember your Full Breath,’” says Vekris.

When she first started working with the Safar children they were withdrawn and upset about their stuttering. On a scale of one to 10, 10 being that stuttering was the worst problem they encounter, Matin marked his stuttering as an eight, and Hosna said that hers was a nine. Both kids were exhibiting secondary behaviours – signs of tension or body movements that are used as coping mechanisms but don’t actually help lessen stuttering. Hosna would blink, move her eyes and grope with her mouth in the effort to find her words. These behaviours fuelled the teasing from friends.

After almost 10 months of therapy, both Safar kids stutter less than five per cent of the time and neither shows any signs of secondary behaviours. They are more outgoing and very happy. “I am speaking very well now and my friends don’t make fun of me anymore,” says Hosna. Matin is most impressed with the fact that “when I went to school I didn’t stutter anymore.” Visit www.speechandstuttering.com.

Read More