Playdough Activities

We haven't really gotten down seriously to play with the homemade playdough that I had made until yesterday. Here's what we did..

I started the ball rolling by doing a snail.

This is my first model after how many years not playing with plasticine when we were young.LOL. Joseph added that funny hat for the snail, eyes and nose.

Elizabeth copied my snail but her snail is larger than mine.

My cupcake is the one on the left and Elizabeth's cupcake is the one on the right. But where's Joseph's cupcake?

He didn't bother doing a cupcake because he was busy adding funny shapes on the snail. "Ta da!", he says. That snail must be from another planet. LOL.

More colours added to our homemade playdough collections! The yellow one looks like durian or not? Keke.

I'm done with making my homemade playdough already with all the colourings I had. Yay and phew! But actually once you get the hang of it, you can produce one coloured playdough within minutes. Now let the fun begin!

Activities For Preschoolers Or Toddlers 2

Running out of ideas on how to keep your children busy? You can actually use anything in the house to amuse them. Like I did with their empty medicine bottles and plastic cookie jars. I open their lids, placed all the bottles and lids in front of them and  asked them match lids to bottles. This can improve their motor skills right? They had fun putting the lids on and off over and over again.

Joseph got excited and stuffed all the smaller bottles into the plastic jar. Then he carried the jars and ran round and round his sister. *shakes head*

Elizabeth wants to do it too.

If you want good, old-fashioned fun then construct a tent together. I used my extra blankets and chairs. Add a night light for more fun to the atmosphere. Then playtime can begin! My tent was up for a few days. The children didn't allow me to dismantle it so fast. 



First, the living room light was on, then they asked me to switch it off. At one point, it would be pitch black if not for the night light.

Joseph was inspired by the darkness that he started singing. LOL.



I Won A Barbie Giveaway Set

I seldom have the cuts to enter competition, contest or giveaways because I have the mindset that I don't have the luck to win. But this time I just entered this giveaway for fun and was trying it for the sake of Elizabeth too. It was a giveaway contest from Musings of a Mom blog. You can follow the link to see my winning entry. Hehe.

Anyway, I'm very thrilled to be selected as one of the winners and I couldn't wait for the set to arrive. When it finally arrived, I have to contain myself not to tear open the package but I took it home to let Elizabeth do the honour.

Elizabeth opening the package. Still don't know what it is.

Ta da! Elizabeth so smitten with the set. 5 sets of clothes, 3 pairs of shoes, 3 bags, 1 hairband and stickers to decorate the clothing sets! What more can you ask for?

Elizabeth posing with Barbie and decorating the dress with the stickers.

There, some stickers on the dress.

Although it was not the same set as the one in the blog contest, I'm happy nevetheless because this set has something more than the other set which are stickers! Stickers to decorate the clothings. A good way to keep Elizabeth busy and also to bring her creative juices out.

Thank you Musings of a Mom for organising this giveaway contest. Maybe I won't be so restrained to enter contests in the future. Hehe.

Homemade Playdough

Last Sunday, I did homemade playdough. My little handy helper Elizabeth helped me during the process while her brother Joseph was having his afternoon siesta. There are many resources you can find from the internet but I based my homemade playdough through this website. You can follow her steps and there's pictures for each step too. So it makes it easier to follow and understand. I would love to show step by step pictures but alas since it was my first attempt, I was too 'kan cheong' in producing my playdoughs till I didn't have the chance to snap pictures during the process.

It's surely fun to do and after a few attempts you'll get the hang of it. I wanted to do homemade playdough because it is safer than the store bought ones. Just incase, Joseph accidentally put some in his mouth, I won't scream in fear and cry my eyes out. Imagine that!

So here's what you need:

1 cup of flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 cup of water

1/3 cup of salt (use the fine ones, I feel that it works better)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Food colouring (as many colours as you like)

These are some of the ingredients.

I'll try to give an easy explanation on the steps as possible although I don't have pictures to go along with.

1. Add 1 cup flour, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar and 1/3 cup salt into a saucepan over a low fire otherwise the flour will get burnt.

2. Stir it to avoid getting burnt, then quickly add in 1 cup water and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.

3. Keep stirring. It will become lumpy but don't worry. Continue stirring but not too long. Add a bit of food colouring of your choice. 1 drop will produce a lighter colour. Few drops will produce a darker colour.

4.Stir the colour in and once the dough starts getting thicker and dry, switch off the fire.

5. Take it out from the saucepan and place the dough on a wax paper. Wait for it to cool.

6. Once it's cooled, you can knead the playdough until you're satisfied with the consistency and you get rid of the lumps.

It's easier to work on the wax paper. So when you're kneading it doesn't stick everywhere. But don't worry, once it's cooled, the playdough is not that sticky and won't stick on your hands. If it sticks on your hands while kneading, then you'll know it's not successful.

That's it. I managed to do 3 colours so far. I still have green and red to do. Then the kids can start having fun with it.

Sorry for the blurry picture. This is orange coloured playdough.

Store them separately in a ziploc bag. This is pink coloured playdough.

This is blue coloured playdough.

Happy weekend everyone!

A Jam Packed Day!

Last Saturday was a jam packed day with activities. Elizabeth had to miss her JMC and ballet classes that day. In the morning, we arrived early at Rumah Charis, home for the children (orphanage) and home for the aged.

It was actually a charity or CSR event organised by Elizabeth's kindy, Q-dees. Only the 6 years old children were invited to join in the event if they are interested. Since it is her final year in kindy, we were happy to join in. It is a good way to teach our children about charity, giving back or create the awareness about many under priviledge children in our society.



Some of the 6 year olds came with their parents. The teachers of Q-dees were also present to lead the children during the event. All the children were required to do was just to have fun and play games with the children of Rumah Charis.



Joseph also joined in the activities. He enjoyed it!

They had KFC for brunch. This orphan girl seems to like playing with Joseph.

Watch this video to see the children playing happily.

It was a first new experience for my kids and they seemed to enjoy it. Maybe we can pay more visit to orphanage in the future. The children at Rumah Charis were treated to brunch and they each got gifts too. Even the children from Q-dees were given gifts as a token for participating in the event. The caretaker of Rumah Charis was given cheques. Those were the donations from the parents of Q-dees children. Hopefully this will help Rumah Charis in some way!

Later that day after lunch, we attended another event sponsored by Dutch Lady. It all happened when I received a call from Dutch Lady extending me an invitation to their event at Kidzania. When I heard Kidzania, of course I accepted the invitation straight away. LOL. The invitation is for 2 adults and 2 children. Perfect!

So off we go to Kidzania for the second time but it was the first time for hubby and Joseph. We registered first as invited guests and were presented a goody bag. We were briefed later that Dutch Lady will be conducting a finger print exercise and produce a report from there for our children. The report it seems will tell us our children's potential and maybe give us a guide and insight as to what their future may be.

We were ushered into the Plaza Premium Lounge in Kidzania and we were briefed clearly again about the event. According to the staff from Dutch Lady, we are the first to experience their new promotion which they will launch it next month.

The finger print of every finger were recorded into their system which generated a report after every finger has been taken.

After getting the report, there will be consultants to explain to us (one consultant to one family) the results of the report. I now know that each finger print can be analysed to find out our natural talents in different fields. For example the thumb finger print is for 'The Developer' in us and this person has the ability to recognise, find and develop new ideas. The index finger is 'The Solver' who has the ability to find solutions to problems. The middle finger is 'The Actuator' who has the ability to run an established system or program. The ring finger is 'The Communicator' who has the ability to perform well as a communicator, both verbally and written. Lastly, the little finger is 'The Observer' who has the ability to observe various things, both in small and large scopes.

Here's an example of one of the cards the consultant showed to me. She will show you the cards based on your which readings are the highest in your child's report.

Every child, I believe has natural talents in all these fields. It's just depends on the reading whether it's high, average or low. If it is high then you know that your child are more prone to that specific natural talent. What we as parents can do is to encourage and do more activities to hone that skill. In conclusion, the consultants advised us to never stop the child from learning anything. Encourage them in as many fields as possible. It is better to be good in all fields rather than just focusing on one or two. Release the potential in our children. I am so honoured to be invited and be a part of this event to have first hand experience. It is an eye opener for me and I feel priviledged as a member of Dutch Lady's Mom's Club because only selected club members were chosen. Thank you Dutch Lady!

When we're done with the consultants and got whatever information we wanted already, it was free and easy time for us. That means we can proceed to Kidzania and have fun! Of coruse we couldn't finish many jobs this time because time were taken for the Dutch Lady event and also the fact that it was the weekend. The queue and waiting time was longer. Still, we were grateful for the free access to Kidzania. Joseph and Elizabeth enjoyed themselves especially the firefighter job without any doubt. LOL. It must be that chant, "Kidzania, firefighters..Kidzania, firefighters!"

Joseph ran faster than his sister to cash in Kidzania's cheque. So excited! And so happy to receive his 50 kidzos. The first job he wanted to do was to drive car but he was not tall enough so the next best thing is pumping petrol.

Not surprise that the queue for the firefighters job was long. My kiddos looked so cute in the uniform.

We were given free meal vouchers by Dutch Lady too for our dinner. There were 2 kids meal vouchers and 2 adults meal vouchers.

The uniforms were oversized. But doesn't it made Joseph looked cuter? LOL.

That was about 5 jobs they managed to do. They did the pilot job too but I regret not purchasing the photo. :(

They were left with so many kidzos in hand, so I allowed them to purchase some souvenirs for 50 kidzos each.

We all went home very tired that day but happy. ^_^

Activities for Preschoolers or Toddlers

I'm always looking for activities for my children to keep them busy and to avoid them watching too much of the telly. Especially at night, I won't allow tv after dinner time. So there will be a window of a little spare time right before their bedtime routine.

I've gathered some ideas from the internet as usual and recently we did 'foot tracing'!

First, I trace their foot and then I let them trace mine.

Then I let them trace my foot again on another piece of paper.

Decorate the traced foot with anything. Ring, bells. flowers, etc. As you can see the drawings are mine and Elizabeth's. But those colourful strokes are Joseph's. He prefers to decorate it that way, I guess. LOL.

All those tracing and decorating suddenly inspired them to have another drawing masterpiece. This is the outcome.

Another activity we did was having fun with tapes. You can use any tape you want but I used cellophane tape. Cut a few strips and let him stick anywhere he wants. But of course be careful not to allow him to stick on precious stuff like books. 

Goofing around with the cellophane tape even before we started.

Joseph sticked it on my thigh. (Unflattering pic sorry.) And he along with other places like my body, floor, laundry basket, etc.

Children like to keep themselves busy. Go on and try them. Have fun!

Boys And Games

About a year ago, I did blogged about how my daughter was also caught in the technology web, playing Angry Birds and all that here. During that time, Joseph wasn't caught in the web yet. I mean he enjoyed playing too but usually with guidance. It was the best time for Elizabeth because Joseph would never fight for the smartphone or game console.

But things are different now. Both my kids will fight for their turn to play games on my hubby's Iphone. Most of the time, didi will win the fight. Poor jie jie won't be playing long if it's her turn. I think partly because she feels uncomfortable with her brother hot on her heels! Although the apps downloaded are mostly educational or kid-friendly, I still impose a "only-play-on-weekend" rules on them.

Joseph caught on fast and is such an expert now playing on his own by observing and learning through his big sister. Do you know that their all-time favourite game is Cupcake Maker? LOL. If only they can do a real cupcake for me instead of a virtual one. Hehe.

Here's two videos of Joseph having all the Iphone to himself while jie jie was having her afternoon siesta.

A Visit From The Tooth Fairy

Recently, Elizabeth lost another milk tooth again. It's one of bottom front tooth. This is the 3rd one already. I was not able to capture the moment or keep the teeth previously because it never happened in front of me.

There was once, Elizabeth went to bed with a shaky tooth and woke up the next day without the tooth anymore. We were wondering whether she actually swallowed the tooth in her sleep. And no, I didn't check her stools. LOL. It's still a mystery to us and we will never know the truth.

This time, her tooth dropped right in front of me while she was eating. So what else? I whipped out my camera and took pictures. She was a little shock and scared when the tooth suddenly came loose. But I calmed her down and told her that if she gets lucky she might get a visit by the tooth fairy. That made her happy and forget her fears. I told her that she has to put her tooth under her pillow that night and the tooth fairy will come to visit her while she is sleeping. The tooth fairy will give a reward in exchange of the tooth. As always, there will be many questions after a story has been told.

Elizabeth: What is the reward?

Me: We shall see.

Elizabeth: But we cannot see if not the tooth fairy won't come.

Me: -_-..I mean we will know the next day.

Elizabeth: Then what if I wake up in the middle of the night to find you? What if I see the tooth fairy and the tooth fairy sees me? Then she won't give me the reward.

Me: Then try not to wake up in the middle of the night. Try to go back to sleep quickly.

Elizabeth: But I will surely come and find you at night!

Me: Sigh. Don't worry, you won't get to meet the tooth fairy and you will get your reward.

Elizabeth: How come?

Me: The tooth fairy will make sure she won't bump into you. Fairies are not to be seen by people. She will make sure you won't wake up when she comes. Don't worry.

That night, as soon as she fell asleep, I quickly put a RM1 note under her pillow before I forget. So cheapskate this mummy, only give RM1 but never mind lah I already spent a lot on her. Hahaha.

She was happy enough with the RM1 the next day. How innocent my little girl is. ;)

Can you see I'm toothless?

Her tiny tooth on her own tiny hands.