Celebrating national family week

Invest in Kids
News Release

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Toronto - From October 6th to 12th Canadians will be
celebrating National Family Week and this year's theme is Strengthening Ties Through Family Traditions. Invest in Kids is proud to support The Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs (FRP Canada) during this week as they bring important messages on this topic to people nationwide.

Creating traditions and finding ways to celebrate the people, events and experiences that you cherish can build strong family ties, provide wonderful memories and positively influence the traditions your child will enjoy for years to come. Traditions contribute to your child's social, emotional and intellectual development as they give him security in who he is, as an individual and as a member of his family.

"The Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs is delighted to acknowledge Invest in Kids for its contribution to National Family Week this year. Using the ideas and resources posted at www.frp.ca/NFW, families across Canada will be encouraged to cherish their own traditions and learn about new ones," says Janice MacAulay, Executive Director, Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs

To help support parents, Invest in Kids, a national charity that helps parents become the parents they want to be, has created a tip sheet with Comfort, Play & Teach ideas and activities to help families with young children celebrate long-time family traditions and create new ones.

Comfort, Play & Teach is Invest in Kids' research-informed approach to positive parenting. When you comfort, play with and teach your child through the everyday moments, you open up a world of possibilities for you both. The tip sheet is included in FRP Canada's online resource kit and is also available at www.investinkids.ca/tips.

Comfort:

Share songs, rhymes and lullabies with your infant, toddler or preschooler that you remember from your own childhood. He will learn words and melodies through these loving interactions with you that he will enjoy hearing and repeating again and again.

Play:

Use craft materials to make decorations that can become a special part of your family's celebrations from year to year to build confidence in her developing fine motor skills (e.g. cutting and drawing) while adding something she made to a memorable event.

Teach:

Ask family members from each generation, or who live in another country, to show pictures, tell stories and share special memories with your child. Scanned photos, emails and tape recorded stories are gifts that will be treasured and that will help him discover his roots and learn about different cultures as he receives and explores a variety of information about who his relatives are, where they live and what makes them unique.

National Family Week provides a wonderful opportunity for parents to spend some Comfort, Play & Teach moments with their child. For more great tips and activities that provide fun family moments while supporting your child's healthy development, head to
www.investinkids.ca/.

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