Coined as a term in South London circa 1998, dubstep is a genre of electronic music with roots in reggae and Jamaican dub. It’s characterized by intense baselines, shuffling rhythms, a heavy drum element and cross-genre samples. Usually slower than most electronic music, it requires some creative dance moves, and usually involves costumes to match. Here’s our guide to enjoying dubstep for kids.
PLAYLIST PICKS
1. Discover dubstep along with Sesame Street’s Yip Yips. The friendly aliens descend from Mars, happen upon a radio inside a residential home, and proceed to get their minds blown by some Skrillexremixes. Watch the furry critters go wild and get yippy to the wobbly beats:
2.Bassnectar’s music is a treat for the senses. His kid-friendly tunes are majestic and hypnotic, and they incorporate vocals with fun images and characters like belly dancers and snake charmers. Give his remix of Ellie Goudling’s “Lights” a listen! Read more...
There’s no way a grown man in a bunny suit isn’t terrifying, right?
We had fun finding creepy chocolate bunnies, but at least you could eat those. That most likely defeats the evil. But while we were looking for creepy edible bunnies, we came across these. And excuse us for our second Donnie Darko reference, but you just want to ask these guys, “Why are you wearing that stupid bunny suit?” Enjoy, or not. Maybe don’t show these to your kids.
Alice! Do not follow that thing down a rabbit hole! Wherever this guys lives ain’t no Wonderland.
“Oh you like those Cadbury Mini Eggs? Me, I like the babies. They’re so tender. That’s my favourite Easter treat.”
“Hi kids! Would you like to see the Bunny’s power saw?”
This one reminds us a little too much of Tim Curry in IT. Read more...
Being pregnant with twins, and starting to show at10 weeks, gets me a lot of attention from the general public. Strangers often ask me when I am due and they’re eyes widen with surprise when I tell them some date that is not tomorrow, so I explain “I am having twins, that is why my belly is so big.” When I went to vote the gentleman registering me looked at my belly with concern and asked, “That isn’t going to happen now is it?”
Or, I am showered with lovely comments such as: ‘You are huge.’ or ‘Wow are you showing.’ Now this may be particularly hard to hear when I have spent the majority of my life as small/petite. But I am not huge I am pregnant, with twins! So lay off and let me waddle through the rest of my pregnancy.Read more...
2 Styrofoam balls or pom-poms, one being slightly smaller than the other. This is your spider body
Black paint, fabric, sparkles, or some other method of making your spider body black (or whatever colour you wish). We sacrificed a black reusable shopping tote because it’s what we had on hand
Googly eyes. For a less goofy spider, we think two red sequins would make good eyes.
Sure, Christmas is alright. There’s tasty baked goods, family dinners, A Christmas Story and gifts, but where’s the spookiness? Yes, a large man dressed in Coca-Cola colours creeping around and eating your cookies is a tad spooky, but it’s no Halloween. October 31st has ghosts, goblins, freaks and free candy. The Pettit household loves Halloween so much, we’re planning on making a eerie advent calendar filled with ghoulish goodies to help count down the days. Read more...
2. Chris Nuttall-Smith in the Globe and Mail says he’s more afraid of hydrogenated palm kernel oil than the possibility of someone slipping a razor blade into his kid’s candy. He’s making his own candy this year.
Catherine Romano blogs about crafty projects for kids and parents
This Halloween, we are planning a party. In addition to the usual spooky-themed loot bags and creepy looking desserts, I wanted to come up with a fun activity for parents and kids. Since we love to play dress-up (and I love to take pictures), I came up with a costume booth idea. The plan is to set up a designated area in my living room with costume pieces, a camera, and a photo printer. Since the party isn’t happening until the weekend, I asked my little boy and husband to play the part of party goers for this post. Surprisingly, my little boy easily took on the role of a devil.
Take a look at what we did.
1. Set up the costume booth area. 2. Try on a few costumes. 3. Start snapping photos. 4. Print out the best photo, and voila, a special way to remember Halloween. Read more...
