Learning through play – A is for Alligator

We started our alphabet exploration and we begin with letter A. I am not sure whether we’ll do it in order. One thing for sure we’ll start with the letters that he likes most.

I guess it will be easy for me to incorporate his passion to animals and the learning of the letters.

You will be needing colored construction papers and a happy kid.     

Before starting he wanted to scribble on the paper so I used the opportunity of explaining the habitat of the alligator. 

I told him that alligator lived in water and he can draw a river.

  
 
    
When he’s done with his drawing he’s excited to paste the pieces.            

Presenting our letter of the week- A is for Alligator..🐊
    It’s always a must to prepare a snack to our #chinitoinigo who likes mainit na pandesal sa meryenda.😋   

 

Happy Monday everyone and stay dry! ☀️☔️ 

Learning through play – Indoor Marble Play

We love creating FREE indoor activities for kids that are easy!

  
Using last year’s marbles we created a “marble race” in the living room that is sure to keep Inigo busy for quite some time.

  

It is super easy to make. I used an empty plastic bottle and used the knife to cut the bottom part. I also used the tissue rolls and tape.

Once built it’s ready to play!

  
Ready for play!!

You are ready for races!! You could even put a solo cup at the end of the runway to see who could get the marble into the cup at the end….now that would be super fun!! 🙂

Learning through play – Wooden Shape Puzzle

We have lots of wooden toys in our house. And Melissa and Doug items are always on my shopping cart. 

Shapes learning has been taking place in our house for some time. I have toddler who is working on shapes identification.

One of our favorite and really useful is the Wooden Shape Puzzle. It has an easy-grasp knobs for little hands with matching pictures underneath! 

Playing and learning with your toddler doesn’t have to be hard. It can be fun and memorable for both you and your toddler.

             

This is nice idea big mucus!!

As I mentioned yesterday most of the party decors for little A’ s celebration will be DIY and inexpensive. One of the main highlight that we are looking for is having DIY photobooth.

Last night while cutting some of our printable prop kit, we tried some of the props. And oh boy! We had a blast!!

Such a fun night despite that I am not really feeling well..

Here’s the glimpse of our laughing trip!!

 Who would have thought that this idea will popped on little A’s mind..

He happily tried this and said “this is nice idea, big mucus!”..haha

Would you use this on Friday? hehehe

Summer activity: Painting with ice cubes

Ice cubes + food coloring + papers = FUN.FUN.FUN

Here is how it works.  In advance mix water with food color and pour it into an ice tray.  Freeze overnight but don’t forget to put popsicle stick or cotton buds like what I used.

tip: You will need extra thick paper because regular paper will tear easily..

It might not be the cute art to hang on the wall, but I guarantee that this is COOL..  painting with ice!

Summer activity: Making Pasta Beads using Food Coloring

Sometimes it’s just nice to stay inside — especially in this summertime. Whether it’s due to excess heat or  too much sun I look at it as a change of pace — a chance to do something different.

Colored Pasta beads is a very popular when it comes to encouraging kids in developing their fine motor skills. Aside from learning about patterns they will also be entertained with the colors and shapes.

Yes, I am rather cheap and I tend to save moolah so I dyed my own colored pasta beads using  food coloring and alcohol.

You will need the following:

• macaroni pasta
• food coloring
• disposable cups
• alcohol
• paper towels
• baking tray

Steps:

Scoop one cup of uncooked pasta into each of the bowls. The pasta should all be of the same type.

Add a few drops of food coloring (using a different color for each bowl) to each. Stir. Keep adding a few drops at a time until the pasta begins to change color.

Add ¾ tablespoon of rubbing alcohol and stir until evenly coated.

Transfer the colored pasta to a cookie sheet lined with wax paper (or paper towel) and let it dry overnight.

Once the pasta is dry, it’s ready to use.

I mixed blue and red but added more drops of blue so I came up with black. But it should be violet. sorry!

Here’s some of the crafts that allows little A to to enhance his creativity.

Sorting colors

Stringing beads to create necklace or bracelet

 I-spy bottle.

 Digging picture samples of  letter A

There are lots of ways on how you can have fun playing your DIY beads you just have to explore..

Have fun, be creative and explore art 

Allowing free time for toddler…

For working parents like us sometimes we feel guilty that we seldom creating structured learning activities for our kids,we feel that we are lacking in exerting effort of providing them lessons that will help them academically.

But most of the time allowing kids to create their own play without rules to follow can be learning experience as well. Even expert said that “Play is the language of children. It is their most natural activity. Through play children express themselves, explore their world and learn. Even though play looks as if it is only amusing, fun and joyful, it is an extremely important activity for children.

To maintain balance life with a growing toddler like little A,we always remind ourselves that our son needs more time to play freely, and not pressure him too much with enrichment activities.

With all the toys he has he still want to used my belt as harp. He will play with it while dancing.

He grabbed his chair from his room,arranged the blocks and starts playing he said that this is his new square xylophone..

This is daddy’s exercise tool.He likes playing with it and pretended that he’s doing the push up with matching counting pa na kala mo hirap na hirap..

This is him at bedtime reading his favorite books..

While daddy and mommy our doing the household chores,you will find him reading Sue’s Snue book.

“Parents should let children be children—not just because it should be fun to be a child but because denying youth’s unfettered joys keeps kids from developing into inquisitive, creative creatures.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” — Albert Einstein

Summer Activity: Be Bold .Get Dirt.Be Artistic

With a little imagination,a lot of preparation and keeping the summer more memorable finally I convince myself that getting messy explore the artistic side of the toddlers. And because little A loves mixing colors our Saturday afternoon were filled with endless BIG MESS ART ACTIVITY.

Tip: This art activity is ideal before bathing your kiddos.

Unlike last week where I put little A on his high chair to avoid creating a big mess.This time I set up papers on our playroom,prepared our homemade paint,grabbed paintbrush and plenty of wet wipes. Viola!!

Let the mess begin!!

The idea is letting him enjoy the process of creating, rather than being caught up in the end product.

And although this is really creating big mess it allows him to develop his learning skills about mixing colours, consistency and texture. A great way of learning without even knowing..

If you’re going to get messy, you might as well make the most of it .He was so immersed that he wanted to paint his feet as well.

And poured all the colors while mixing it thoroughly. What an awesome experience for him!

Better save the artwork.The paper can be used to wrap presents especially Father’s Day is upcoming..

Have a great summer messy art activities with your kiddos!

Dont forget to take pictures to capture the moment!!

Happy Independence Day Philippines!!

Summer activity – Let’s go to the library

Let’s Read.Let’s have Fun.Let’s visit the Library..

The most important thing we can do in helping little A to develop his early love for reading is instilling the love for books.

For a little boy with desire,interest and curiosity to explore the world it is worth spending Sunday good time at the Children’s Library.

Hor Al Anz Public Library is situated in Al Nahda near Century Mall- Dubai.

Now the question is what we can expect from the children’s library..

Aside from this is an educational place for children,huge collection of books there are also designated art area to explore.

Lifetime membership is aed 75 and library card will be provided. You will be allowed to borrow books but need to return in given time.

They also offer story telling during weekdays and other varieties of activities especially this summer.

Since we only want to introduce this kind of environment with little A,we didn’t pay the membership although we stayed there for a while so he can be familiarized.
A good start for him to learn proper behaviors such as no running and shouting.

While inside he’s browsing the library displays and bookshelves and was looking for a particular books..

He was so keen in finding Dr. Seuss collection..haha

When he can’t find one he chose to read picture books instead.

And Baby Einstein book collection.

I guess in my opinion, it’s never too early for his age to discover the world of books.

Because this new adventure in his toddler years can be a lifetime experience..

No matter where you live in Dubai, find a library closest to where you live to share in a wonderful world of knowledge and entertainment.

Al Ras, Baniyas Street: 04 2262788
Al Twar: 04 2630013
Al Mankhool : Opening soon
Hor Al Anz, Al Nahda: 04 2661788
Al Rashidiya: 04 2858065
Umm Suqeim: 04 3482512
Hatta: 04 8521022
Al Safa, opposite Al Safa Park: 04 3947279

Opening Times
Dubai Public Library
All weekdays except Fridays and Saturdays
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.(daily)

Dubai Public Library Branch of children
All weekdays except Fridays and Saturdays
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.(daily)

Summer activity: Homemade Paint

The heat is on and for parents it would be a tough job keeping our toddlers entertained. I am sure that most parents are now preparing their SUMMER bucket list of activities.

If you have a happy and creative toddler like little A then  you’ll be needing a lot of paint! But we all know that paint cost a lot of money. That’s why I end up making our own homemade paint.

Homemade paint is great,cheap and FUN-tastic especially to little boy who love to paint so much. Since this is just our impromptu activity I didn’t have the chance to google the exact recipe.

Sorry guys but I don’t have the exact measurement.But here’s what works for us.

• In a mixing bowl whisk the flour,corn flour and add cold water.
• Transfer on the muffin tins so it will be easy for him to mix the colors.
• Then I put 1 ml of food colors on art tray. I used what ever colors I have in our pantry.

When I’m done with the homemade paint I put him on his high chair in that way he will be more engaged on our art activity plus he will only stay in one place. Less mess for me! Yey!

I removed his clothes and just let him wear his Mickey Mouse brief  since he was about to take a bath that time. But I guess food colors will not stain clothes so it’s your call!

We used plastic pippets and coffee stirrer in mixing colors. The trick is I didn’t put labels on the colors I let him discover it. As he dipped the coffee stirrer and mixed it with the plain paint he was surprised seeing the color turning red,blue,green and etc.

Transferring colors to the paint using plastic pippets can be an excellent practice of fine motor skills. Best for working on the little muscles of their tiny fingers..

He thinks it would be groovy to used fingers in mixing! Cool idea!!

Overall verdict? Very easy to make yet extremely satisfying results. Little A likes texture and consistency of our homemade paint that he requested to used in our tub!!

It’s lovely to know that it is non-toxic therefore safe for little ones. Hope hubby doesn’t mind scrubbing our newly painted bath tub..hehe