A little Garden for her

One of Doll's thematic learning at school was about garden.

She came home and bugged me to get her a garden. So I did.

 

 

 

Pretty?

 

Here's how I did it.

 

 

Materials needed:

 

daddy's old t-shirt (brown in color)

toilet rolls

 

basket

fake flowers 

(basket and flowers are from Daiso)

 

 

Cut out the shirt big enough to cover the toilet roll. Wrap securely the cut out shirt around the roll.

 

 

Cut out another piece of the t-shirt and lay it in the basket.

 

Stuff the wrapped toilet rolls neatly into the basket.

 

 

You may start your 'gardening'!

 

Stuff the flowers in between the rolls.

 

 

And viola!

 

Have fun!

Just Play and Learn

Every holiday, my kids get to play their hearts out be it locally or overseas. This June holiday, it is no exception. Although we didn't travel too far this time, they still played like there's no tomorrow. We hardly did any studying yet, they learnt a lot purely by playing.

 

Kids pretending to be construction workers... I couldn't but help hear 'Bob the builder! Can we fix it? Yes, we can!' ringing in my ears as I watch them, LOL!

The kids learnt aplenty during their visit to Kidszania. I adore it's play concept! The kids earned money 'working' as a professional and spent as they buy services. The kids learned to ration their dollars, made decisions if they want to splurge or save etc. At the same time, they gained insights on how the various professional work their part. All that learning in one place! 

It makes me wonder how learning would be if we remove the rigidity of the classroom and restructure it like Kidszania? Where each classroom focuses on a specific concept. Imagine, the school would be a one stop learning center where the kids learn hands on and apply on the go. Imagine every point is a learning center where they learn math through counting their dollars. There would be no shortage of science learning with learning laboratories like say, a chocolate 'factory' or 'hospitals' with perhaps occasional appearance of real doctors.

And how would they learn language? They would learn how to converse as a professional or as customer everyday. (Versus in the classroom where communication is purely one way) I saw how Sonshine was 'forced' to speak to the others (something he is reluctant to do) as he work through jobs like postman and courier services. Whereas at school, he keeps quiet because as he claims they are not allowed to talk during lessons AND in between lessons (least the monitor writes their names on the board).

And oh the life skills they would pick up along the way! All encompass in one place, all through play! Imagine what fun learning would be!

Taken during our visit to Kids Stop

As I watched Doll play at Kids Stop, I saw how she picked up social and life skills all through play. She learnt that resources are scare (baskets at the supermarket, brushes at the dinosaurs fossils etc) and she better hold on to them or risk having them taken away. (That's the reality of life isn't it?) At the same time, she understood that the resources are limited so she learnt to wait for her turn (instead of snatching) & better yet, let others have a turn. I saw many times over how she willingly passed on her items to the next child when they politely asked of her. You can imagine my pride! She learnt to exert her stand whenever someone tried to snatched her items from her. She learnt to find alternatives when other kids took over her place. She learnt to be confident and approach the right people when she needs help. She learnt to communicate with her peers and form friendships. All these valuable lessons learnt just by playing and imagining.

 

We had a blast at Legoland water park!

At play, the children get to explore, create without restrictions and without limited time frame. But in the classroom, they are expected to create a perfectly composed writing or complete a worksheet in all but an hour or even less. At play, there is no right, no wrong. They learn naturally what works and what doesn't. There is no grading, the child is not told he's one mark shy of his classmate. Instead, his every unique creation is celebrated and awed. I love how play sets the children free physically, mentally and emotionally.

 

 

Play sets the children free. Not only them, but us parents too. I found myself more liberated during holidays than school terms. There were no strict routine to follow. The kids and I could wake up any time we want, go any where we want, do anything we want and sleep anytime we want. Best of all, we choose what we want to learn and not be dictated what we should learn. At play, I never scold Sonshine for a careless mistake or pushed him to work harder. On the contrary, at play there are bountiful praises, proud moments and laughter.

 

It is no wonder that experts strongly advocate the children to play. This June I have witnessed how Sonshine and Doll easily picked up social, life and cognitive skills. Learning is less boxed up instead it is more varied and relevant to real life. I can see how the kids can become more prepared for their adulthood simply through play. How awesome it would be if our schools were organized in such fashion like Kidszania. I've no doubt that the children will learn and absorb more than being confined to a table, chair, and four walls.

 

The June holidays are ending and I hate that that signals to the end of free play. Rigid routine would set in and there will be more paper chasing which means more yelling and crying. How utterly meaningless! If only schooling is about play. If only schools were more like a playground. If only the authorities would let go and trust that our children will excel even through play. How different schooling would be? I can only imagine. I hope to keep this state of mind even as the school term starts, but knowing me, I know I'd surely get sucked into the day to day pressures. Oh well, I can only look forward to the next holiday and relish the memories I have of this June holidays.

 

Random stuff

I have been relaxing for weeks now but as usual I try to do things with Doll whenever I can. Such random times, I love to rely on everyday things or materials I've prepared eons ago. :P

 

 

 

 

Sensory play with Ikea beads (those type you can form a shape and then iron them on to make them into a coaster)

 

I was never into sensory boxes although I know of them like 6 years ago! But out of lack of ideas and energy, I decided to whip out one for Doll. I was happy that it entertained her for a long period of time, I was not happy that she insisted I played along with her (I wanted to just fade into the background while she entertains herself).

 

These heart buttons were made when Sonshine was a toddler. I took it out for Doll to practise her buttoning/unbuttoning skills. Actually, it was more to entertain her than anything. She is already buttoning and unbuttoning her pyjamas!

 

Another material I had stashed in my cupboard! This was printed (sorry forgot the site) long ago for the then toddler Sonshine. It is a simple activity of arranging the pictures from the smallest to the biggest.

 

AH! I had wanted to brush up her chinese, she's way under exposed. So I made these cards and have her match her toy food to the cards.

 

 

True to my style, I made her match cards. She took a super long time to remember the words and I blame it on the lack of exposure. I don't speak in mandarin to her nor read a lot of mandarin books hence, its a no wonder that she had difficulty remembering the words! But with constant and persistent practise, she finally can read these words! PHEW! As a follow up, I read to her a simple chinese reader that covers most of these words.

 

What a (little) girl wants and needs!

 

 Lately, Doll has been pretending to be a waitress taking my orders and serving me my meals and collecting my money. I felt sorry that she had to make do with the little space available (due to HER clutter) on our coffee table for her 'cooking'. Hence, I put together a little play area at, where else, my kitchen.

 

First, I gathered some of her cooking toys and displayed them in a basket (which I bought from Daiso for this very purpose).

 

A bakery basket

 

Carbohydrates!

 

 

I had an empty shelf so I displayed the baskets of food on the shelf- inspired by the ones we saw at Kids Stop, Science Center. A poor version of it but still...it is an invitation to play! Besides the bakery and carbo baskets, we also have a basket of fruits & vegetables and a tray of an assorted cakes. :P

 

Next to that black shelf is MY kitchen shelf. Just for her, I cleared one tier for her. I placed her cultery, rice cooker, water flask and what-nots.

 

And what use is a kitchen without a cooking stove? I shifted this from her usual play space into our kitchen.

 

To complete my mini project, I painstakingly snapped photos of each and every item displayed on the shelf and created a menu. I forsee that I can use this to teach her to read and the concept of money!

 

Next, I really should set up a cashier counter for her! Man, I envy her! I wish I had an play area like that when I was at her age!

Open ended activities

A recent discussion in one of my FB group got me thinking about open ended play. At first thought, I was aghast that I have not purportedly gave any thought about this. But upon further analysis, I realised my kids have lots of open ended play everyday. The best part of it is, I rarely dictate or plan it that way. It just happen naturally.

 

I decided to share some of my 'unplan' open ended play/toys here. But I hope to add more on to my list as I research for more ideas.

 

1. Free play

 

The best open ended play is Free play. I know I always blog about my kids home learning to a point that it seems we are one sided. Truth is doll gets about 10-15 minutes of home learning and Sonshine only 20 minutes a day. The rest of their time? Free play.

 

I don't have the habit of sitting down and have one on one play with my kids. I feel like a horrible mother but 24 hour of babysitting is enough to tire me out. So my kids learn to find their own entertainment since they were very young like crawling infants. The good that came out of that is, both have learnt to find ways to keep themselves occupied in the house. I have to add, I rarely entertain my kids with TV shows. My kids can clock 0 hours of TV a day and still find things to play with (and STILL complain they have not enough time to play!).  They can coop up at home 24 hours, a few days straight and won't complain of boredom. I credit this to their independence (in play) & ability in finding their own entertainment. {As I am typing this, doll is finding much joy & amusement just by playing with one sock! How apt!}.

But be warned! Free play also means a topsy turvy house!

 

2. Lego/Duplo

 

This is redundant to say really. But one thing I like to add is that I try to avoid buying those pre-packed theme Lego. I don't see how these stimulates creativity. I don't understand how hard is it to follow step by step instructions to build that magnificant looking structure? I rather my child use his own imagination to build his tallest building, racing car, bus stop, the entire township, angry bird structure. Heck that it looks less than glorious but at least it was born out of his creativity. I think anything that he builds on his own is 100 times more awesome than those pre-packed boxes. So, in my house, we have boxes of assorted Legos and Duplo, three kid-size tables lined up in a row and they are free to build anything they desire. Sonshine loves to build a small little town from scratch and than destroys the who town as he pretends that there's an earthquake. LOL!

 

3. Playdough

 

Let me declare here that I HATE PLAYDOUGH! It is so messy! But like all children, my babies LOVE them. Doll ask to play with it EVERYDAY. But yes, playdough is one of the great open ended play- you don't need me to elaborate on this do you?

 

4. Drawing

 

Sonshine loves to draw and will ask to do it frequently. I can't say he's drawing is fantastic (looks more like scribbles actually) but it helps him to express himself and let loose his imagination. Nowadays, I buy drawing paper in bulk because it runs out too fast. Doll is picking this up too and love to doodle whenever she sees her big brother drawing away. I have to admit though, my art & crafts corner is not accessible- because I am afraid doll would scribble at the wrong places (and she already has). So I would like to explore and see how I can make this more available for the kids.

These are my kids' daily dose of open ended play. We have other stuff like cooking. cashier and stuff toys for pretend play but my kiddos aren't too keen  though they do play with those toys once in awhile. I am not sure but I get a feeling that it isn't enough and we need to add abit more spice. Hence, I have been researching more activites that can provoke their imagination and creativity- especially for Sonshine.

Some of the ideas (for older kids) I found feasible & doesn't take much time/preparation work:

- Drawing games: You draw a squiggly line or a circle and show how by adding more drawings it can turn into something else like the someone's eyebrow or a happy face. Invite the child to do the same.

- Creating a story: Together with your child work out a story about anything and everything. Once while driving to school, Sonshine and I created a story together about a boy and what happened to him etc. It was quite funny and fun!

- Ask open ended questions: What will happen if people could fly? Brainstorm as many ideas as you can with your child.

When doing these activities, the last thing you want to do is to shoot down his ideas. Welcome all his ideas, though ridiculous they may sound. The objective of these games is to let his creative juices flow NOT to find the politically, technically correct answers.

I am still searching for more ideas, I hope to be inspired!

Cardboard FUN!

 

I am always reluctant to let go cardboards especially those that are massive in size. So when my husband was about to discard this HUGE cardboard box- I HAD to stop him. I knew what I wanted to do with it!

 

I slit the slides and open up the box.

 

Give the kids water guns and let them shoot away!

 

The kids had a whale of a time (while mummy kicked off her feet and space out). It was a GREAT way to entertain the kids without being involved much! :P

 

 

It doubled up as a painting board! The girl painted away and mummy didn't care if she spill the paint because the floor was nicely protected by the other side of the box. :D

 

I was delighted when I discovered we could also doodle away with chalk.

 

SO MUCH FUN! We haven't throw it away yet. The kids are still loving it!

Sensory Play- Moon sand

 

Weather's too nasty to go outside and play? Or just too lazy to bring the kids out?

 

Then make Moon sand you must!

 

I saw this on Pinterest- my favourite online site and since I've the ingredients I decided to make some too!

 

All you need is flour and baby oil. I used A LOT of baby oil- like half a bottle. Good thing is, the baby oil is due for throwing else it does feel like wasting actually.

 

 

 

Took the tray out to our balcony and just PLAY away! I sprinkled some beads into the moon sand just to make it look prettier. You can add other stuff like animal toys for the kids to 'dig' out. But ah, I was too lazy.

Easy Peasy outdoor fun- indoors! Have fun!

How we combat the haze!

Ah, now that the haze is clearing up (for good i hope), I am slowly feeling my life coming back to normal. That also means, I am drawn back to blogging once again.

HELLO BLOGGING WORLD! * BIG WAVES!

 

So how did we manage during the hazy school holidays?

 

Well, typically, my kids & I are normally happy to stay home. I guess, I am fortunate because my kids can stay home 24 hours all week and not go crazy bouncing off walls and what nots. They can pretty much entertain themselves at home. However, because of the haze, I refused (read: it was just me. My kids were ok) to stay home.

 

I felt my lungs were going to burst if I trap myself in a stuffy home all day. That was it!! I decided we HAD to get out of the house. But with the haze, we couldn't do anything outdoor so the next better thing to do was to hide out at indoor playgrounds. Much to my kids' delight of course!

 

As i blogged earlier, we checked out Happy Willow- TWICE.

 

We went to Hokey Pokey at Millenia walk. It was another fantastic place to go! My definition of 'fantastic' is being able to space out while the kids play themselves silly. Here, i could also sit strategically and watch my kids while i ate and drank coffee. AH, life is good.

 

We went to The City at Liang Court. The kids went bananas like all the other kids. This is an indoor place where the kids get to pretend play; they can pretend to grocery shop, be a doctor, teacher, mail man & play dress up. Unfortunately, doll wanted me to stay by her so i couldn't space out as much as i wanted to. :I

 

 

Other than that, we hung out with my sister & her kids at malls & have a cuppa for tea time.

 

And that's how we tackled the haze- indoors! :)) The kids had loads of fun and I would have to say all thanks to the haze! Otherwise, we would stay home and do nothing for the whole month like we always do!

 

How did you & your kids do?

 

H is for Happy (Willow), not Haze!

As if the heat and dengue fever situation isn't bad enough, some people decide to send hazardous smog our way.  Because of the haze, i have had my windows shut ALL day, ALL week. And we cannot go outdoor unless we want to risk our lungs. So because of the heat AND haze, we have been locked at home, making me feel downright suffocated in my own home. Not funny. Not funny at all.

 

It made me moody, irritable, annoyed and left me feeling extremely sluggish all week. I had no other desire than to hibernate in my room with the air-conditioner blasting with a vengeance. Needless to say, there was no Homeschool@sg. Period.

 

So imagine my JOY & relief when the good people at Happy Willow invited us over to check out their playground. It is an INDOOR playground. That means, we get to escape the heat (because it is air-conditioned), stay indoor (to hide away from the polluted air) and still have fun (entertainment to kill all time high boredom). At times like this, i am most grateful to indoor play areas such as these!

 

 

The kids curiously checking out Happy Willow! 

 

 

Shoes area. I love the shoe storage!

 

THE PLAY STATIONS

 

There are 3 main play areas.

 

 

 

One of which is the Toddlers' Turf.

 

This is a a cozy & safe (away from the naturally rowdy, older kids) area for the little ones.

 

 

In this area, there are some building blocks. I couldn't resist taking that chance to 'homeschool' doll! I played a mini game with her; i asked her to sit on certain block with certain alphabets or shapes. :P

 

 

 

There is also a separate mini ball area just for the toddlers. A really thoughtful gesture  because we all know how rough & oblivious to the young babes, older kids can be. :)

 

 

 

The second area is the Kids' Den for the older kids. In it are a number of play stations.

 

 

One of me kids' favourite in the Kids' den is the slide! Doll loves the slide and was happily helping herself with many turns.

 

 

The older kids can venture further up to the second level which will lead them to another slide and right into the bigger ball area.

 

 

You can see the slide at the background.

 

 

 

A mini (and extremely) safe rock climbing wall.

 

 

 

The third area is a pretend/toy play area.

 

 

Babydoll busy cooking a storm for mummy!

 

OTHER AREAS

 

 

For kids who need to take a little breather, they can seek refuge at this cosy corner & read a book or two.

 

FOR THE PARENTS

 

 

As you wait for your kids to explore & tire themselves out, you can chill & have a cuppa over at their cafe.

 

 

 

Or maybe catch some winks? :P

 

 

A rack of magazines to entertain you while you wait. How nice!

 

MY RAVES

 

 

Admittedly, the place is relatively small. But it is right up my alley. For one, I'm the sort of parent who needs to know the precise location of my kids like at ALL times. This place allows me to do just that! With one glance or two, I get instant feedback on where my kiddos are.

 

 

Because of the small area, I can easily plop myself on the chair and literally chill. I don't have to hover around my kids.

 

I have to be honest and say the play areas aren't as thrilling but again, it sits just right with me. Because that means, i am assured that my kids are always safe away from rough play and won't be hit by some kid shooting balls at them.

 

 

The other thing that I absolutely love about the place is that the accompanying adults can easily walk through the playground without bending their back.  I have been to the many indoor playgrounds where i have to risk breaking my back as I follow my kids like a leech. O.U.C.H.

 



A locker! I thanked the heavens when i saw the locker! If you can't tell by now, i am one paranoid parent. I need to watch not only my kids but also my belongings. But that's really hard to do especially when you have two kids running in separate direction. That's why, I appreciate the lockers where i can keep my bag & know that my stuff are safely locked in while I keep my eyes peeled on the kids.

  

Overall, i think it is a great place for parents like me who prefer smaller playgrounds for easy management. This is also especially great for kids who prefer quieter, more peaceful, not so rough play like my kids. More importantly, it allows the parent to just kick back and space out. AH, HEAVENLY!

 

I am definitely going back! In fact, i am going back very very soon! :P

 

INFORMATION

 

WHERE:
                        1 Fusionopolis Way, Fusionopolis, Connexis Tower, #B1-06

 

Opening hours:

 

Mon-Fri: 9:30am to 6:30pm

Sat, Sun & PH: 9:30am to 7:30pm

 

Admission Fees:

 

Monday to Fridays (3 hour playtime)

S$18 per child (2 years old and above)   S$10 per child (9 months – less than 2 years old)

 

Weekends – Saturday, Sundays & Public Holdiays 2 hour playtime

S$18 per child (2 years old and above) S$10 per child (9 months – less than 2 years old) S$3 per subsequent block of 30 mins.

 

For more information please visit http://www.happywillow.com.sg