If you’re a new mama, or a mama who is new to Hamilton, you should know and check out the EarlyON centres. As a first time mom who was new to Hamilton, I’ve found the EarlyON centres to be an invaluable resource that have helped me meet other moms, get a change of scenery, and expose baby to new experiences from toys to culture.
Although we have an EarlyON centre closer to our house, my favourite centre in Hamilton so far has been the Wesley EarlyON centre at 155 Queen Street. At first I wasn’t so sure about taking baby to a location downtown, having to park, and potentially be exposed to some of the less than savoury characters that can be found in downtown Hamilton. However, I quickly learned that they have dedicated parking available at one of the apartment buildings on Oxford Street, so you don’t have to feel rushed about using the 1 hour street parking in the area.
I first discovered EarlyON (formerly known as Ontario Early Years) when baby was around 7 months old– summer was coming to a close and I thought he was old enough that we could start planning to attend some organized activities. I had heard from some other mamas at the Westmount Pool that they were taking their babies down to Baby Picasso class at EarlyON, so I decided to check it out for myself. I signed us up for the September session, and we ended up doing weekly sessions all the way through to when I went back to work in January.
Baby Picasso was super fun for me, because the crafts involved a lot of hand and foot prints, which was perfect for documenting baby’s size over time. Baby enjoyed observing the other babies, the sensory experience of touching paint, stamp pads, and other sensory activities that the facilitator would set up! They always had themed activities during the holidays so we could make cards for our families, and at Halloween the babies had a costume party and each took a turn sitting in a pumpkin. Super adorable!
When we started going baby was still pretty young, so a 45 min Baby Picasso class was enough to wear him out. But as he got a bit older we were able to stay for a bit after class and baby would play with the other children, sit at the little toddler table for a healthy snack (provided for free by the centre, daily) and explore toys that were different and engaging to him. When he got closer to a year old we also began to participate in “gym time” when they open up the adjacent gymnasium and have lots of walking and ride-on toys, like Little Tikes Cosy Coups. Especially in the winter it was nice to have a place for little one to burn off some energy!
More recently we’ve started going to EarlyON on days when toddler seems to have cabin fever– those days where he doesn’t want to have anything to do with his toys and is just wandering around the house aimlessly. We can head on over to Queen Street for an hour or two, and he can free roam around the centre checking out things like the sand table, the sensory table, the art table, or the building or dress-up areas. They also have an awesome outdoor garden patio set up during the summer months.
You can find the monthly program calendars at the bottom of Wesley Urban Ministries‘ website. The calendar shows the weekly program schedule, opening and closing times, and contact information if you’d like to register for a program.
Mama advice! They try to get the monthly program calendars out a month in advance– as soon as the calendar is out you can call and register (for free) for programs like Baby Picasso, Yoga, or Suzuki Music. Call quickly, as the spots book up quickly! However, I’ve found that if I haven’t managed to snag a spot during registration, you can still often take part in a class by just showing up during the class time and asking the instructor. There’s often an absent baby whose spot you can take!
When baby was about 10 months old we did register for the weekly 10-week program and attended the first class. The age bracket is 0-6 years, so during the first class I found it really difficult to understand how a 10 month old could participate in the activities that a 6 year old would be interested in– I found it off putting that there were kids way bigger than my baby running around while my baby could only sit. It was distracting and to me it seemed like the program would be better broken up into babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers, with age appropriate musical activities. I loved the concept and appreciate all of the efforts of the EarlyON staff, but I definitely wasn’t the only mom who left with concerns about how the class was run, and we unfortunately didn’t end up returning.
We’ve checked out a few other EarlyON centres in Hamilton and I will share out thoughts on them in upcoming posts! We are so lucky to have a diverse collection of EarlyON centres to take advantage of here, and in the rest of Ontario. It’s my go-to solution for something to do when visiting grandparents as well! Maybe grandma and grandpa’s place isn’t babyproofed or doesn’t have age appropriate toys? No problem! Take baby to EarlyON for a little bit and grandma will enjoy watching little one interact with the other tiny tots!
Have you visited EarlyON in Hamilton? What is your favourite centre, and why? What programs should I check out next with toddler, who will soon be 18 months?
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