Friday, August 31, 2012

Friday Fun Facts

September welcomes Spring in the Southern Hemisphere and Fall in the Northern.

So therefore we wanted to dedicate this Friday's Fun Facts to all things weather!

-Antarctica would of felt positively melting on January 5th 1974 at 59f/14.6c

-The US has the most tornados anywhere with an average of 1200 per year

-What damage could of been done with the 2.25lb/1kg hailstone that fell in 1986

-No two snowflakes are the same just like children each is unique & special

-Brrr Russia in parts are so cold that milk is sold frozen

-60% of the worlds water is frozen in the ice caps & if the Antartic icecap were to melt it would flood a quarter of the world land

Happy Play Times 

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Amino Based Formula Petition

Today's post is a slight deviation to the normal play posts but this is so important to the health of many children and we are committed to promoting and developing healthy children :-)

So please consider reviewing and signing this petition on amino based infant formula. 

Infant formula is so important for babies and when this is their only choice the quicker they can start on the right mix the better health outcomes for the babies development and parents piece of mind! 

Thank you so much in advance for any help you can provide!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

HOPSCOTCH- The Game, The Rules, The Legend...

I was looking outside this morning as the rain came down - it is that time of year with the monsoons coming into Singapore so it is odd that my mind drifted to an outside game of old!

But drift it did to one of the all time favorites of this little girl's childhood when my sister and I would draw that infamous square pattern with a piece of chalk on the ground and skip our way through literally hours of fun.

I so hope these types of games still create fun for children all over the world with the invention of so much stimulating toys, games, TV etc... 

Below is a cute video to remind us all how it is played - perhaps in the northern hemisphere it is still warm enough to play outside and in the southern nothing wrong with rugging up and doing some exercise to warm those bones.

So get your children hopping today!

Happy Play Times :-)





Friday, August 24, 2012

Friday Fun Facts - Food Edition

Welcome to Friday and an array of fun facts on food!

Please Enjoy!

- Cranberries are sorted for ripeness by bouncing them;  a fully ripened cranberry can be dribbled like a basketball. And they shoot and score

- Food to put in the in case of emergency box that will always last honey.

- A row of corn always has an even number - I think I will take their word for that don't have time to count

- China is the largest producer of garlic and India is the largest producer of banana's

- There are over 2000 different plant species we use to cultivate and consume as food, wow so many perhaps we are all fussy eaters.

Happy Play Times :-)











Tuesday, August 21, 2012

"A very hungry caterpillar" Raw vegan children cooking class at Our Pare...

This is a different one a group of 5-7 year olds learning about vegan cooking.

It is always so important to introduce your children to something a little different!

Happy Play Times :-)



Cooking Tips for Moms : Cooking With Kids to Build Their Self-Esteem

This video has great ideas on how to interact and cook with your children.

How wonderful to think that cooking is not only fun but build self esteem!

Happy Play Times :-)



Cooking with Kids: How to Make Strawberry Lemonade

Mmmm Lemonade still summer in the Northern Hemisphere to try this tasty treat with your children.

Happy Play Times :-)

PS: Look how happy this mother and daughter are cooking and playing together! 


Monday, August 20, 2012

Kids in the Kitchen for Fun Playtime

Welcome to Monday and the first post in a series this week on the fun play time of kids cooking. We look forward to sharing with you and hope you find lots of fun ideas!

*****

Fun can be had in the kitchen at all ages.

I believe kitchen play gives children
A greater appreciation and understanding of food helping to develop a lifelong love of food and healthy habits.
Provides wonderful bonding opportunities
Improves motor skills as they can do simple tasks at each stage of development

Please see some ideas below for the various stages of development.

Babies

Personal experience at this age is when I am making my own baby food or preparing dinner the girls at 8 months are fascinated to sit on the kitchen floor with a spoon, spatula and bowl to bang around with as I cook.

They are to little to help but they love the inclusion and watching Mummy.

It also gives me the opportunity to show and explain new things and words. I show them each vegetable, let them touch and smell it and name it.

Toddlers

The same can be said for toddlers as babies in explaining food and the steps involved.

At this age you can let them be a big kid helping Mummy it will do wonders for their confidence. They can do things like hold the bowl (you may want to use a non slip mat underneath just in case), hold the beater with you or press the mixer button.

At this age let their creativity take over with decorating cookies or cupcakes. I remember a friends daughters 3rd birthday when they let the children decorate their own cakes the squeals of delight and the big messy smiles as they devoured the creations was priceless.

A little older on the toddler scale let them mash foods for you in helping to prepare the family meal.

Primary 

This age you can let the children become more hands on.

I remember helping prepare summer salads with veggies from the garden at this age. I'd wash the vegetables, tear the lettuce and shell peas.

You can also show children how to measure things out and add the ingredients at this age - another benefit is using numerical skills.

Make a fruit salad using a dull blunt knife for the upper primary children they can cut easy fruits such as banana, strawberries and kiwi fruit for example.

Do you have other ideas or suggestions for kids in the kitchen? Please leave us a comment.

Happy Play Times :-)

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Play Across the Age Groups

Today's post is an observational musing on play across ages.

When we were holidaying in our home town my children loved playing with their older cousins.

At first I took photo's and cooed over how cute it was too see such sweet interactions. Then something dawned on me about what I was seeing.

During that game of tea parties my little 8 month old girls simply stared and then after a few minutes started to pick up the cups and pretend to drink, bang it back down, repeat...

When younger children play with older children it is a great learning experience through play for both.

The older children get to show how things work, they get a sense of accomplishment, they learn how to communicate and show patience as the younger children get the hang of the game or toy.

Younger children practice their mimicking skills as they copy what they see and begin to realize how play is a give and take not just parallel as the older child wants to actively play.

So perhaps you can try to find children of various ages to gather together for a play date and have fun learning and playing.

Happy Play Times :-)

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Weekend Watching - Outdoor Lawn Games

Have fun with your family if the weather is fine with these great lawn games.

Fun and healthy activity for the whole family - what could be better.

Happy Play Times :-)

Friday, August 17, 2012

Friday Fun Facts

With all the Curiosity surrounding the NASA space mission "Curiosity" to Mars (yes pun intended ;-) we are dedicating this weeks fun facts to Mars.

So here are a few fun facts for you to share with your children this weekend.

-Mars is that cool red color because of iron oxide or to us simpler folk that is rust (now how could you keep things clean!)

- Don't like dust storms then you could not go to Mars it has the worst dust storms of all the solar system.

- You would need to set out early to get to Mars it is 35million miles away from earth (could you imagine the "Are we there yet...")

- One day in Mars is 24.6 earth hours and 686.98 earth days

Happy Play Times :-)



Wednesday, August 15, 2012

How to Play with Babies on a Plane

We have just returned to Singapore from time spent visiting family in Australia, it was our girls second trip but the first they were still only eating & sleeping.

We had a seven hour flight - going over it was night time and the children slept YAY!
But the flight home was an awkward time and I knew I'd be needing to spend a considerable amount of time entertaining them.

So here are a few of my airplane playtime tips we used.

New Toys Surprise
- I had picked up some small rattle toys & chewy toys before leaving. We opened them on the plane at almost 9 months they seem to understand anticipation waiting with excitement to get their hands on them.

Old Toys Found
- A couple of days before leaving I took some of the toys away so I could use them afresh on the plane.

Find an Older Grandmother Type
-Seriously every flight has them a lovely woman who loves children - when they offer to take them for a walk or hold then say yes it's a win-win for everyone.

Peek a Boo
- Never forget this oldie but a goodie to pass a little time.

Pull it Out
- I let the children pull things out of a small bag, put it back in, repeat... It really isn't hard to clean up and it occupies little minds and burgeoning motor skills. 


Don't Forget the Books
-Last but not least don't forget the books, children always love being cuddled up in their parents lap for story time it passes the time in a nice way for all.

Hope some of these ideas help on your next flight with the little bubba's

Happy Play Times :-)

Thursday, August 9, 2012

"Gone Playing"

Well the family & I have been enjoying a wonderful break in our home town surviving the seven hour flight.

The children are loving playing with their big cousins and new friends.

I am finding so many new ideas and inspiration for children play ideas which I look forward to posting on our return.

Please keep browsing our BLOG for the many back posts and I look forward to sharing next week.

Happy Play Times :-)




Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Sink or Stay - Bath time Fun for Kids

'Sink or Stay' it makes a great headline but really I am talking about Sink OR Float.


It has become a firm favorite in our household at bath times recently.


And really it is no surprise as it is between six to nine months this game becomes engaging and fun because children are starting to understand the world around them.


It is scientific but to children and to me I like to think of it as a bit of magic (much more fun)


What You Need  
Bath tub and water
Various objects that will have the desired outcome of sinking or floating.
- I use bath toys (float), a pair of baby clippers (sink) bath book (float) baby wash container (sink)


I then pick up each object with a simple explanation as to what it is "Mummy has a Ducky - Will it Float or Sink" I know they can not answer back but all talking helps long tern language development (more on this at another time) they wiggle and squeal in delight as they await to see the magic happen.


I alternate a sinke or a float object each time.  Doing this activity also helps your children begin to make the earliest of classification skills as they find out some sink and some float. 


This makes bath time play time and learning time while both you and baby feel great from the interaction.


Happy Play Times :-)