Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Get Your Groove On

Who doesn't love a good dance off?
I can tell you your little ones certainly do.
We have had a lot of dance-a-thons in this house recently!



Children have a natural urge to move and dance so it is a great way for you to spend some fun playtime together by putting on a favorite playlist and grooving away together keeping you both fit and moving.

Did you also know that dancing helps your child with body control, creativity and mood enhancements all great reasons to participate in this form of play. 

And because we couldn't resist check out this little cutie pie doing the Paso Doble to his adoring crowd look at how much joy dancing brings him.



Happy Play Times :-)

Monday, June 24, 2013

Thankful for Play Cafe's

We wrote a post a while back about Play Cafe's and how they benefit children and parents!

Well this weekend during the Singapore Haze I was even more thankful for such venues and so to were Annabelle and Scarlett at being let loose from the apartment.

So I just wanted to show you the happiness and fun it bought them and encourage you to go back and look at our play cafe post here... 

(Scarlett enjoying a swim in the ball pit)

(Annabelle is just hanging around!)

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Weekend Watching - 5 fun activities for toddlers

As you may know from our Friday Fun Facts post we are stuck indoors a bit at the moment!

So we have dedicated this weekend's watching clip to this great video we found on YouTube of 5 fun activities you can do with your toddler inside.




We will be trying some of these out this week :-)

Happy Play Times :-)

Friday, June 21, 2013

Friday Fun Facts - Haze Edition

Welcome to this week's Friday Fun Facts!

Haze edition what do you mean haze???

Well as many of our readers know I live in the usually beautiful tropical Singapore - if you read our BLOG and are from Singapore you will well know the weather phenomena we are experiencing of hazy conditions from the Sumatran burn offs and for our friends from other parts of the world you may not know but currently Singapore is experiencing the worst air pollution from these fires in the history of the country.

Basically the fires are creating a smoky and smelly haze over the country and to see what we mean check out the view from our apartment at 9am this morning!

(The Haze covers the many apartment blocks and buildings that can usually be seen this shot only shows us visibility of one apartment complex over)
It means we are currently relegated to inside activities and boy do I have a lot to share with getting creative in keeping twin toddlers engaged and active in play who are used to spending days swimming and playing in the playground outside! The good news is it seems to be clearing fingers crossed.

Anyway that is the background now to the Friday Fun Facts which we will be dedicating to the 'Singapore Haze' certainly something new to share with your family.

  • In 1997 the highest pollution reading recorded from fires such as these was 226 in September on June 21st 2013 the next highest recorded reading was 401 (It was not much fun but hey we can all say we were part of history that is fun for the kids when they grow up!)
  • The reading used to measure this pollution is called a PSI which stands for Pollution Standards Index - bet you didn't know that well at least I didn't until this week then I became glued to that little number on a website :-)
  • The USA used to use PSI as a standard until 1999 when it was replaced by the Air Quality Index.
  • Heavy rains help to dissipate the haze let's hope for a tropical downpour!
So there you have it a few random facts about something you may or may not have ever known about!

We hope everyone enjoys a wonderful weekend be it indoors or outdoors.

Happy Play Times :-) 


Friday, June 7, 2013

Friday Fun Facts - Art

We have just returned from our art class which we now go to on a Friday and while the girls are soundly napping I will take the opportunity to put together this week's Friday Fun Facts on Art.

How creative of me especially since just returning from an art class :-) but in fairness I have been getting ready to participate in a group garage sale this weekend and after finishing at midnight last night putting everything together the girls decided to do something very unusual and wake up every 30 minutes until 6am just as my head touched the pillow. So my mind is not quite creative today lol

Without further ado... here are our fun facts!

  • There is an actual brainwave pattern that has been seen with people that are creative.
  • Do you think your a perfectionist? How about Leonardo Da Vinci who took 12 years to paint the lips of Mona Lisa - I have simply no words...
  • When was the first illustrated children's book published? In 1658 and where was it published? Germany
  • Michelangelo was left handed.
  • Those ready made mixed paints we all know and love today were not created until 1880. 

We hope you enjoyed these facts and wish you and your families a lovely weekend.

Happy Play Times :-)

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Green Light Red Light Playtime Fun

A fun game to play with your older toddler or pre schooler is the traffic light game.



My girls are a little young to understand the concept fully but we did this the other week at one of our playgroups and they understood the older children moved and stopped so if you have younger ones it can still work if they have an example to follow.

Essentially the concept is you stand at a point in a room where your children have space to move so a lounge room, hallway or entrance is probably good - or better yet get them outside to play it!

You call green light they move forward, when you say red light they must freeze in the spot, then again call green light etc... until they reach you and then you chase them back to the beginning and start all over again.

It is a great energy burner and a fun way to help listening skills and learn instructions.

We hope you have fun with this one.

Happy Play Times :-)

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Weekend Watching - Water Safety

With summer time and water fun upon the northern hemisphere we thought we should share this video on water safety featuring the 'Despicable Me' characters to help get some tips on keeping your little ones safe this summer.


Happy Play Times :-)


Saturday, June 1, 2013

Friday Fun Facts - Water

Annabelle & Scarlett LOVE the water!! I have in fact just put two very tired girls down to bed after taking them to a water spray park at a local mall.

So it made me think about what to write for this week's fun facts and what came to mind? Water especially with summer just around the corner in the northern hemisphere! And our fun filled water day.

So here are some fun, random facts about water for you to share and enjoy with your family!
  • Want to know where you use the most water in the home? 63% of it is from the kitchen and toilet.
  • Is it hot? or cold? where you are right now? Did you know either way it is water that regulates the Earth's temperature!
  • 90% of the worlds fresh water supply is located in Antarctica.
  • Pure water has no smell or taste.
  • Liquid, solid and gas are the three types of water states. 
  • That cotton short your little one wears - has 25 liters of water embedded into it.
Well there you have it hope you found something of use or fun in amongst those facts.

Wishing you all a happy Friday and wonderful weekend.

Happy Play Times :-)