kids and family

Diapers

Pooped Out

Every parent goes into the process of having a child while knowing that diapers are unavoidable. Those sweet and precious little babies…

Glacier Nights Snow Festival

Glacier Nights Snow Festival, a community-focused snow sculpting event in Haines Junction, Yukon. Will feature snow sculptor Joshua Lesage.

A toddler riding on a merry-go-round

My Dearest 2022 Two-Year-Old

The terrible twos, they say, will be difficult. As I look back at old photographs, I often find myself thinking, Oh, how things have changed.

Bubbles

Looking back, I did not know how important bubbles would become in my life. As a child I have no recollection of blowing bubbles.

An ABC Aviation Adventure

There are all sorts of ABC books out there, but they are seldom as focussed on a particular subject as this one, which manages to do the job of introducing all the letters while remaining firmly in the air.

Parenting in a Pandemic

Having my kids home all day isn’t a new thing, as I was a stay-at-home parent for the last six years of my life. But being home all day with my kids while simultaneously watching the world fall apart around us is a new thing, however.

Cool schooling for homeschooling

Ever have dreams about homeschooling your kids, but never got the opportunity to? Now that you have no choice because of school closures, are you constantly fighting with your kids to get their work done?

Art education wherever you are

Kids Kreate, the Yukon Arts Centre’s education program, needed to bring art into the lives of Yukon’s youngsters. The solution, go virtual.

Christmas bird counts are fun for kids too

Julie Bauer loves birding with kids. The-long-time Haines Junction resident and birder is leading Canada’s most northerly Christmas Bird Count (CBC) for Kids on Dec. 14. The unique event is part of an international citizen science program for monitoring and conserving birds. 

Literacy is one of the best gifts you can give

Walking past the library on a recent Friday evening, we passed a young woman pushing a stroller with a very young occupant. The baby was contentedly gnawing on one corner of a cloth version of Dorothy Kunhardt’s children’s classic, Pat the Bunny. (sometimes known as Sleepy Bunny.)  Instant nostalgia. “That was one of my favourite books when I …

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Ready, Set, Howl will visit Whitehorse for a show on Oct 10

Norman Mervyn Barrington-Foote is bringing his own unique combination of music, comedy and puppetry to Whitehorse for a Halloween-themed show on Oct. 10, 2019 at the Yukon Arts Centre. Music, costumes and Halloween are all part of Ready, Set, Howl.

Three days of family fun

Are you keen on learning about drama, circus, dance or crafting? The Augusto Children’s Festival features a diverse group of workshops, with a roster that includes local artists and teachers as well as groups from across North America. This is the third year for Augusto, which begins in Haines Junction on Aug. 9. Festival organizer …

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Ice-fishing with kids

If you don’t make it fun, they won’t like it. Going out again will be unlikely. In that respect, it’s like summer fishing, only it’s cold as well as boring. Kids need to be entertained and that’s your job. They also do better if they have stuff to eat and numerous cups of hot chocolate …

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Kidsfest

Let loose your inner kid

In the midst of Sourdough Sams, tattoo competitions, and beard and leg hair-growing contests, Yukon kids need a place to call their own during Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous.

Yukon See It Here: Snowman-making

We gave a call-out for some readers to submit photos of their snowman-making exploits after the big snowfall in November.

Santa: A Superhero!

Santa Claus: known by many names in countless countries. He represents kindness, generosity, sharing, positivity and goodwill to all.

Overloaded by motherhood

It’s a comedy about the darkness of parenthood. That’s how Emelia Symington Fedy describes Motherload, the collectively-created play she and three castmates are bringing to the Yukon Arts Centre’s mainstage on October 13. Fedy traces the play’s conception to a specific outing with her infant son, at a time when she was grieving her own …

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Magic under the mountains

Haines Junction is gearing up for the second-annual Augusto Children`s Festival. It’s the Yukon’s only arts and music festival for children.

South to Alberta – Part I

Exploration, adventure and community are among the most important aspects of living in the North. For many Yukoners, it was the “want” to explore a fantasized part of the world and to seek adventure in discovering Canada’s North, but it was the sense of community that made people want to stay.

In praise of good fathers

by Michael Vernon Parenting is a huge endeavour and we should celebrate those doing their best I am not a father. I am in awe of my brothers, friends and peers who are. I am not a father, in part because my fear of failing the children in my care is greater than the sense …

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Planes, burgers and pianos

The Transportation Museum has been hosting an annual spring barbecue for several years. It provides them an opportunity to highlight their summer season programming.

Coming to the Yukon as a refugee

Fiona Azizaj and her parents fled Kosovo to Germany when she was months old. They later settled in Whitehorse in 2003. She will provide details and answer questions about what her family went through to get here at this year’s Yukon Cares Annual General Meeting.

Fishing with children

Fishing for youngsters may be their first glimpse of ethics and responsible behaviour in relation to nature.

Building character, helping youth

When Bailey Rumbolt first arrived at the Boys and Girls Club of Yukon (BGCY) in 2015, she would never have guessed that it would lead her to big changes in her life.

Sipping tea for a good cause

No other service provider understands the demands of motherhood more than the Child Development Centre (CDC). As a result, the Child Development Centre is having a fundraiser on May 12 to celebrate the family CEO.

The sordid saga of ‘Shoeless Joe’

Shoeless Joe is the only player in baseball history to win multiple World Series as a pitcher for one team and a home run hitter for another; a distinction that will last forever.

Eat Right, Stay Bright

Breakfast is brain food. According to the Breakfast Club of Canada approximately 60 per cent of learning happens before lunch, making it even more important to get some food in their bellies first thing in the morning.

Kiddos! We’re leaving on a jet plane

Travelling with young children is not easy; it throws all sorts of challenges at you, and your days of travelling with just carry-on are gone. Yet, after 50+ flights with my tiny, travelling companions I’ve realized there are some things you can do to make the journey more enjoyable, and less epic.

A Dog Day Rendezvous

A Dog Day Rendezvous

Brooke Rudolph with her howling buddy Timber, 2nd place finisher in 2016 The Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous and the unique relationship between a Yukoner and their beloved canine companion are two of the most enduring images of life in the North. So, it should come as no surprise that man and woman’s best friend features prominently …

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A weekend of kid fun

With the advertised Burlesque Workshops and the Pub Crawl, at first glance the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous may seem like an event geared towards adults. But there are a lot of activities for kids too. Just like Yukon’s expanding birth-rate, KidsFest at Rendezvous is also expanding in 2018. Last year KidsFest had one tent with activities …

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Helping the youth to heal

Motivational speaker Mike Scott of the Sturgeon Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan has a created the “Sober is Sexi” social media campaign and will present a talk called “Finding the Warrior Within” The Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council (YAWC) will host the Gathering of Youth-Family members of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Kick Off …

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Through dark to the light

Winter Child, the first novel by Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau to be translated to English, is a lyrical journey through a mother’s grief of losing and outliving her child.

An interview with Kayla Morrison

When you decide to pursue baking as a career, there’s only so far you can go up before the only option is opening up your own place.

It’s no picnic

If teddy’s looking a bit peaked this season, you’re in luck. Whitehorse General Hospital is offering health care for bears this week.

Kids and parents can play in the big sandbox

The 45th annual Geoscience Forum is organized by the Yukon Chamber of Mines as an opportunity for everyone to learn more about mining, aviation, the environmental sciences and other aspects of the mineral exploration industry.

He is a steward of the trails

To begin to understand Mark Daniels, you must first discard the stereotypes of a snowmobile owner. Yes, the president of the Klondike Snowmobile Association (KSA) owns snowmobiles – and ATVs and dirtbikes and quads and boats – but these are mostly used to get to far-off wilderness areas so that he can hike and camp …

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Helping to Warm Whitehorse Feet

Knitters work to warm others. Whitehorse knitters are aiming to craft 150 pairs of socks to contribute to the city’s Outreach Van.

A Family Tradition

Of all the portraits Daphne Lovett-Barber’s has drawn so far, her favourite is one she did of her grandmother. The 5-year-old Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in artist may have just started kindergarten this year, but she has been creating art since she was a toddler. “My mommy is an artist and my daddy is an artist,” Lovett-Barber tells …

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Augusto! Children’s Festival the First of its Kind in the Yukon

“We are proud and excited to be founding the Yukon’s only dedicated art and music festival for children,” says Darlene Sillery, one of the five main organizers of the Augusto! Children’s Festival in Haines Junction this weekend. “We have a great variety of workshops and an excellent group of presenters, including visual artists, performing artists …

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On the Quest For A Good Story

Parents and teachers, do you have a budding Jack London in your midst? Kids in Grades 1-7 are invited to enter the Yukon Quest Short Story Competition. The contest is divided into two categories with children in Grades 1-3 and Grades 4-7 will be judged separately, and one winner chosen from each category. The winners …

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14 Months of Fun and Joy

Yukoners are adventurers of all sorts. A Dawson City non-profit organization has captured 14 babies on their exciting start into this adventure called life. Dawson City’s Healthy Families, Healthy Babies initiative has created an adorable 2017 wall calendar as a fundraiser project, called Babies of Dawson. The goal of the initiative is to support young …

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Burning Questions

“If this show is revealing something about me that’s touching people and moving them, then I have to pursue it,” he decided. The burning personal question Heins originally set out to address came from the fact that he was an only child, and grew up wondering what it would be like to have a brother …

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Winter Anticipation

December is the Friday of the year. The whole month is filled with giddy anticipation for the budding winter wonderland, parallel to the giddy anticipation one feels for the weekend, while staring at the clock Friday afternoon. That’s when the wise ones will let us know that Christmas doesn’t have to be perfect. Our idealist …

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Back to school? Not for Me

As the summer comes to an end, I reflect on my first day as a homeschooler. It marked the day of a wonderful beginning of a new chapter.

A Colouring Book for Adults

When Kyley Henderson was in elementary school her mother, Elaine, encouraged her to draw, and one year a drawing of hers was used in the Robert Service School yearbook. Elaine, who is herself a landscape painter and sculptor, says that she always encouraged Kyley to develop her art as a kid. Kyley remembers her mother telling …

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How Foster Care Shapes Lives

Amelia Merhar knows what it’s like to be a foster child, to go from home to home, and to be without a home at all. She wonders how that movement affects young people today, so she’s asking them to tell us, through art. Merhar, also known as Yukon’s singing, ukulele-playing Big Mama Lele, has just …

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In Support of Mental Health

The Second Opinion Society (SOS) is holding its annual barbecue on Thursday, July 28th, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and all are welcome. SOS is located at 304 Hawkins St. adjacent to the Yukon Conservation Society offices. There will be hotdogs and burgers, as well as vegan and vegetarian options, thanks to generous donations …

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Aroused and Ecstatic

Ping pong might be what prevents Shawn Hall from harpooning Matt Rogers, or keeps Rogers from dismembering his musical partner with an axe. The duo known as The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer discovered the stress-relieving game in London, England during a recent tour. “We went to a night club and there were 75 ping …

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The Joys of Reading Aloud

Jack London’s The Call of the Wild is not a particularly long book. A mere 70 pages, perhaps a few more in a version with illustrations, it is often published between the same covers as its thematic opposite, White Fang, often along with some of the better known short stories to round out the page …

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Summer Fun has Begun

Look around. The birds are singing, canoes and kayaks are back on Subaru roof racks and my neighbour seems to have an urge for gardening at 11:30 p.m. These are signs of summer. It’s a change from spending much of our time inside, sipping hot tea and feeding the woodstove to living the wild and …

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Stay on the Trail

“It requires a lot of discipline to stay on the trail – not just the ski trail,” says Gary Bailie, “but the trail of life.” Skiing is definitely a way of life for Bailie, who has been running and coaching the Whitehorse-based youth cross country team the Kwanlin Koyotes since 1999. His hard work and …

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Barb McInerney

Barb McInerney came up to the Yukon in the 1970s to work in a camp kitchen. Though she worked in mining before starting at Kaushee’s Place in 2000, she says that no matter what job she had, she was always trying to advance the most vulnerable of her communities. “I feel like I’ve been doing …

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Soul Migration band members

Frostbite is Back

Yukon’s winter music festival, Frostbite is back for 2016, finally. A small group of volunteers have been working hard to make this happen.

Perogy Blessings

Perogies have always been a part of my life. Every meal that includes homemade perogies is a special occasion. Learning the best way to make them has been a lifelong process. I am the child of first generation Canadians. My mother’s family emigrated from Finland; my father’s from the Ukraine and Poland. My father, who …

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Tannenbaum

Historians agree that our modern Christmas tree tradition originated in the German Renaissance period (circa 1500). Martin Luther added candles as decoration. Prior to candles, Tannenbaum (or Christmas tree in English) were decorated with apples and nuts. The practice of bringing evergreen boughs into the home at Solstice is much older.  Egyptian culture used evergreen …

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Talk Daddy To Me

I arrive in Ontario on a Monday at 1 a.m. It’s late on a work night and the airport is an hour’s drive from home, but my father is here to pick me up, having made it clear when I booked the flight it was no problem for him. It’s the cheapest option that gets …

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Two Yukon Kids in Utah

What happened to the kids from the class of 2009? Where are they all now, six years later? They must have finished their studies or done their travelling. Do they have kids? Government jobs? I do know what life is like for Austin Davignon and Alexander Chisholme; Alexander is my son and Austin is his …

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A Budding Artist

When my nephew was six he ran a grocery store. He sorted cans of fruit, vegetables and soup. He priced each can and stocked shelves. Then he sold the products to his sister and brother. He was able to add the prices and make change in his head. At a very young age his mathematical …

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Dreams and Hopes

The great Klondike Gold Rush brought people to the Yukon in the pursuit of their dreams and hopes. To this day, many individuals continue to come to the Yukon like their predecessors over a hundred years ago. I’m the same; I am here to pursue my dream job and hope for a thriving community. It …

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The Big Top Comes to Whitehorse

The circus arts are some of the oldest performing arts: acrobats, contortionists, the bearded lady, bears pedaling bikes, clowns, and juggling. The big top, pennant flags waving in the wind. The smell of wood chips and animals. It’s mysterious, glamorous. Magical. From the outside. In reality, “everyday is the same” — a new town a …

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Girls Rock Camp

The closest I’ve come to being in a band was brought about through my love of the Spice Girls. When I was eleven, my friends and I entered a big impersonation contest at the mall, practicing our dance moves and lip-syncing for weeks beforehand. As we grew older and our tastes evolved, we began visiting …

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Mini-Fibi and Radio Rob in Tagish, circa 1988

Radio Rob

I’m almost at the Tagish Bridge when 106.7 CFET kicks in and the truck is flooded with Estonian pop music. I’m on my way to interview the fellow that makes this happen. I spent some time growing up in Tagish, and it’s there that “Radio Rob” Hopkins continues to be a close neighbour to my …

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Puppet Dreams Coming True

Nicole Edwards was raised on the Muppet Show, and she dreamed of duetting with Kermit since she was a kid. As an adult, she decided to make her puppet dreams a reality. She debuted her new video, Lychee Martini, to a packed house at Epic Pizza last month. Diagnosed with scleroderma, an autoimmune disorder that …

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Gone But Not Forgotten

Great changes are moments that define your life. In an instant the axis of your world spins, and you have no choice but to see it through. On December 28, 2013 at 11:13 am, my world tilted. My father, Andrew Westover, died.  I had been under the weather for a while, but on that fateful …

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My Bro’s a Dad, Man

My brother’s been embarrassingly responsible for as long as I can remember. He’s the oldest of five, and old-fashioned familial responsibility lay on his shoulders from the beginning. His shirt was always tucked in, even when he was playing volleyball or shooting his BB Gun. He always told on me, too. Looking back, I’d say …

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Dads Can Be Moms, Too

My name is Jay and I’m a stay at home dad. It wasn’t always this way. A few months ago my wife and I were working full-time in Whitehorse and our two-year-old daughter Emily was whisked off to daycare, where she played and learned with other toddlers. I saw Emily about an hour a day, …

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Assignment: Fred Penner

About six years ago, Fred Penner came to town and I was very excited. I was freelancing for the Yukon News at the time and I pitched the idea of a profile to my editor. Alas, it had been promised to someone else. But now I am an editor and, when I heard Mr. Penner …

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Almost Everybody Knows One

It seems almost everybody knows an O’Donovan. Some of us know nine or 10 of them. All told, there are 11 siblings and they tend to be an active and creative bunch. After seeing different brothers and sisters pop up at different community events, it is only natural for one to wonder where they all …

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