Messy Fun - 30 Day Challenge (Day 20-22)

I've been procrastinating... not sure why... perhaps there were just too many photos... it was also a vicious cycle... as I procrastinate I've more updates to do... well anyways... here were some of the stuff we did the past week...

Day 20 - Happy Cookie Baking
Since it was Tim's last term in school, I've been wanting to bake some stuff for his teachers in appreciation of the time and patience they've put into taking care of Tim the past two terms...
Got the cookie dough prepared and let the kids have some hands-on fun in making cookies...
Though the cookies weren't perfectly cut, but I like it that every piece of cookie had a character of its own... *smile* as usual... it's the process that mattered!
An eager beaver who couldn't sit still to wait for the cookies to be baked... I am sure he felt a sense of accomplishment as he knew these cookies were for his teachers and he was rather involved in the entire process. *grin*

Day 21 - Fabric Drawing and Blot Butterflies
Something new to both the kids and myself... fabric drawing... I'd imagine this to be something rather fun...
Little Missy was curious how such crayons could be made permanent on a piece of fabric...
Tim wasn't too enthusiastic about drawing on fabric as the fabric moved along with every stroke that he made on it... (read: frustrating)

5 minutes into this art, the kids decided to abandon it totally... they weren't enticed when I told them that I was going to sew their drawings into pillow cases... -_-

Decided to whip out some paints to do blot painting...something that was in the list that I've wanted to do for a while... I like it that there was a surprise element involved in this form of art...
These recycle paint pots were perfect for this art. I put one colour into each paint pot and placed an eye-dropper into each one...
This certainly caught the kids attention more than fabric drawing... *smile*
Little Missy's satisfied look would have given you a clue as to how happy she was while working on this piece of art...
A surprise awaiting Tim as he peeled open the blot paint work...
VOILA!!! Beautiful butterfly revealed!

Day 22 - Lazy Mom's Art
Was too lazy to whip up all the prep work for this day's Messy Fun Challenge... decided to just let the kids have some fun with simple painting... well, fun prevailed nevertheless... *grin*

Five Loaves & Two Fishes...

Just a few days ago, while I was doing my daily devotion, I was wondering if the work I am doing now as a SAHM worth anything at all... compared to those who are busy climbing the corporate ladder, who are called to do BIG things and are also busy accomplishing big things in life... I suddenly felt very small...

But today, I think I heard God speaking to me through this song... I guess whatever little gifts that God has blessed me with I'd just offer it to Him to do as He will... be it big or small... I'm His instrument...and my wish is to be a blessing to everyone whom I come in touch with...

May you be blessed too... enjoy the music video... *smile*

Something to think about...

It's getting a little more challenging to manage the needs of Tim recently... while Little Missy is still rather docile and easy to deal with... I am constantly reminding myself of the need to apply the Five Love Languages of children on the both of them...

Here's something I've come across a while ago that I thought it'd serve as a reminder to myself as I approach a defiant/non-compliant boy daily...and truly see him in the positive light rather than negative... to deal with him with more love than anger... to draw the good out of him rather than the bad...

If I were to raise my child all over again: I'd build self-esteem first and the house later; I'd finger paint more and point the finger less; I would do less correcting and more connecting; I'd take my eyes off my watch and watch more with my eyes; I would care to know less and know to care more; I'd take more hikes and fly more kites; I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play; I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars; I'd do more hugging and less tugging; I'd see oak trees in the acorn more often; I'd model less about the love of power, and more about the power of love. ~ Author Unknown

I've been fantasizing...

I discovered this wonderful playschool, Preschool Daze, recently and shared it with my friend, Evelyn... there's a saying that goes, birds of the same feather flock together... teehehe... we believe in play base learning and when I first encountered Preschool Daze, I knew she'd appreciate the activities that this playschool did with the kids...

I've been fantasizing running a playschool such as Preschool Daze... and have also wanted my kids to have the opportunity to learn through those activities that they did... if only my dreams to run a playschool could come true... sigh... alas...

Maybe one day I might... maybe... I'm still fantasizing...

Outdoor Fun - Feeding The Animals

It's been a while since we last visited the park or garden... it was an impromptu play date that Mommy Adeline asked if I'd like to join her day out with C.

I love it that the kids have lots of space to run and have fun (read: expending their boundless energy)...while still be able to make new discoveries and learn something as they enjoy their time in the outdoors.

During this outing, the kids had a great time feeding the animals - pigeons, kois, cat fishes, terrapins, swans etc... picking up new vocabularies, climbed a tree and learned about ants...

Building up on those literacy skills, large/fine motor skills, observation skills, science and nature at work... they've brought back so much in just one session of outdoor fun... now you know why I enjoy bringing the kids outdoor? hahaha... best of all, I don't have much prep work or crack my head thinking of activities or cleaning up much mess *smile*

Chocolate Beard

This is what happens when you leave a kid to eat her own breakfast *smile*

Messy Fun - 30 Day Challenge (Day 17-19)

Last week I had a little more time and hence was able to work on more Messy Fun challenge activities... :) these were what we have done...

Day 17 - Moon Face
Love this really heart warming story very much... it's about a girl asking her dad to get the moon for her... but the moon was a little too big for daddy to bring it down...so he waited when the moon was at a phase where it was smaller... and with his super long ladder he brought the moon down to his daughter to play with... great book to introduce the phases of the moon to the kids.
Discovered this art idea from a super cool website... name "No Time For Flash Cards"... isn't the title of the website cool??? *LOL*... that's my exact sentiment... so much fun to have while learning, seriously have no need nor time for flash cards... anyways I digressed...

For this art, we used white glue, glue paint, shaving foam and a cardboard piece cut out in a full circle.
The kids squeezing the bottles of glue onto the cardboard piece...refining their fine motor skills...
Then I sprayed some shaving foam for them to work on... super messy but super fun!!! I let it dry over night and it was really interesting to see "crater" like surface on the dried pieces of art work...

Day 18 - Little Lady Bugs
I have the kids paste the letter L onto the paper before we head onto the messy part of the art.
Took out a red ink pad and have them go finger stamping away...
With his super dirty and messy fingers, Tim drew a lady bug out of the finger prints :)

Day 19 - Tulip Confetti Fun
Drew a shape of a tulip, free hand and cut out two pieces of the template (more ideal if the tulip was in a contrasting colour to the background paper)... together with a few fancy hole punchers we cut out the 'confetti' (you may use regular hole punchers too) on paper of different colours.
Had wanted the kids to colour the leaves of the tulip green but they decided that they want to have it their way... *shrug*... can't deny an artist of his creative stance.
They had more fun messing the confetti up than to paste them onto the tulip... there were fancy shapes of paper all over the house... *fainted*

Like I've said before... all in the name of fun!!!

Day 20 - Bunnies and Stars
Goodnight Moon, a popular children's classic story book. I like it that it's simple and there are loads of stuff to observe on each page... great way to have a conversation with the kids during a before bedtime read aloud session... ;)
We read the story using the elements that I've printed for the kids to work on pasting them onto the white board. The story board elements were all pasted with magnetic tape (an alternative to feltboard story).


And we sang the Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars both in mandarin and English...
Finally we worked on the craft... simple colouring...
and pasting...
Here's the end product... *smile*

The Deed's Been Done!

Just last week, I met up with a great friend whom I've not met in months... I am so glad to have the opportunity to chat with her once again... (am very deprive of adults conversations to be honest)...

She's always been my source of inspiration, and I've been once again inspired by her to want to homeschool my kids. She gave me lots of encouragement and support in this area all this while. I'm so grateful that I've found such a wonderful sister-in-Christ to walk with me in the journey of being a better mom and guide to my children.

After the conversation I had with her last week, it gave me great courage to step up and make a decision to pull Tim out of school. This time it's for real!

I am aware that Tim enjoyed being in school, he being a sociable boy. But I have received a common complaint by his 3 teachers over the two terms that he's very restless in class... often unable to sit still at his seat and running around the classroom... much a free-spirited child...only able to sit still when something interests him... even that was for a short period only (very unlike him when he's at home; we could often sit through lapbook/workbook activities, read-aloud session for a long period at one go - most time with him asking for more).

That gave me a cue that it's really time I pull him out. The school isn't serving its purpose in helping him learn. I don't blame the teachers as they have a whole class of kids to take care of...and Tim being the eldest in class (he's a Jan boy)... has to blend in the flow of the class' dynamics.

I picked up a withdrawal form (again), and this time it's for real. Hubby supported my decision and thus, we'll start a new journey of learning from June onwards... new routine, new time table... am happy as I will not be walking through this journey alone, my dearest friend will be homeschooling her 4-year-old boy together with me and Tim. For that I am not worried about Tim's socialization with other kids yet be able to have some very valuable socialization for myself too *smile*

Sew Kawaii (II)

Ooooh what could be more satisfying than to see a happy customer donning one of my Lil' Handmades?

Joyce's little girl, Cherrlyn, looked absolutely happy in the kimono...

And I think it fitted her perfectly... *wink*

SEW SATISFIED!!!! teehehe

Philatelic Fun...

We made a trip to the Philatelic Museum recently... and discovered great new learning opportunities for the kids... although they aren't very into the history or stories behind the stamps they sure had a lot of fun running around the place...

If you wish to plan for an outing with your little ones this coming June school hols, you may want to consider this place... they have lots of child-friendly activities for the kids to explore and discover and play with too... *smile*

I'll let the pictures tell the story...
Letter boxes that come in all shapes and sizes...
Can never forget this mail scooter... oooh... so nostalgic *smile*
Stamps to be collected within the entire museum... you could purchase a passport at a dollar each to collect all the stamps at different stations within the museum.

Stamps produced after the movies... Harry Potter stamps anyone?


The Super Heroes hall...

History about our forefathers and how they communicate with their family/relatives who are in China, when they've arrived here in Singapore...
The kids having fun with the clogs and other manipulatives/props/toys within the Heritage Room...

This year is the year of the Ox, a room especially created for this... everything about the cow that you can learn about, you'll find it in this room... there is even a corner with story books in the theme of Cow for you and your little one to cozy up and learn together...
Know which mode of delivery is the fastest? Tim had his hands-on experience in this as he learn about each mode of delivery of mail...
The Post Office section where the kids learn about how to purchase stamps, weigh the letter, pasting of stamps, mailing the letter and collecting of mail by the postman etc... the entire process can be learn through this very dramatic way of play... *smile*




The kids had the most fun in this Post Office room... definitely giving this place a 2 thumbs up for kids to play and learn... *smile*