Science Experiment: Volcano Eruption

It is Chinese New Year's holiday and long weekend. We continued on home schooling as we didn't plan for any outing as it surely will be jammed up every where.

I read from a web that children basically are good observers and learn in every process or changes that takes place around them. Their natural curiosity makes it easier to introduce science concepts and activities in daily routines.

For example: using toys during bath time that will float and non floating toys will make them learn that not everything will float on water. This is a basic concept and science vocab that we can teach our children at home.

I remember a Chinese proverb saying ~ "I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand"

So we have started to focus on learning science that Reya can gets her hands on it. So she understand better.

Science Experiment: Volcano Eruption

Things you'll need:

Large container
small cub/bottle
Bicarb Soda
Food Colouring (Red/Yellow)
Vinegar
Play doh/sand to mould like a mountain

First make a mountain using sand/play doh in a large container. Place the small cup in middle of the mountain.

Than, add in the bicarb soda into the cup and let the child to pour in colored vinegar mix. Watch the eruption and repeat the process. For Reya the mountain erupt more than once and produced lots of lava.

She really enjoyed this experiment and kept asking for more as i ran out of the vinegar. Promised her that we will do this again soon and switched for clean ups and other activities!.

Thank you for reading!

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Goat Year!

Its Chinese New Year and would like to wish my readers who are celebrating "Gong Xi Fa Cai and may this year of Goat brings us lots of luck and good health".

Little Reya playing fire crackers wearing her new cheongsam

Cheers and do drop by to my site!

Thank you!!

Creativity Killers: Part 2

This post is a continuation from my previous creativity killers post which is about behaviors. How our behaviors can turn as creativity killers for our children. In this post i would like share on things that can be creativity killers in our home.

Creativity Killer 1: The Television 

Watching television is Reya's favorite pastime and she do this for more than 4 hours in a day. She loves watching Disney Junior and her favorite ones are Hi-5 and Timmy Time shows. I have been all the while thinking it is good for her to learn from the television but i am wrong according to the book (Boost Your Childs Creativity). Study by Johns Hopkins, Bloomberg School of Public Health, found that children under five who watch more than two hours of television each day are at increased risk of behavioral problems and are more likely to exhibit problems with social skill development.

So its important to look around the television position in home, whether it is dominating the main play area and can you happily spend time in that room without switching it on.

Currently we do play at our play and study corner in another room if television is on for Daddy to watch football or his favorite shows and Reya's showtimes has been limited and we are focusing on more activities, coloring and writing.

Creativity Killer 2: Too Tidy Houses

I personally will feel tensed and stressed if my house is in a mess, uncluttered and jumbled. However too tidy and spotless house that is not easy for a child to pull out their books or toys can be intimidating. It can also be very sparse when it comes to objects that are interesting and accessible for them.

So balancing is always the best! Allowing some amount of noise and mess gives a clear indication to a child that of how accepting that we are on risk taking and innovation. At least allocate an area or room for play and relax the rules on mess on that area. Allow and indulge in messy plays that promote sensory skills and creativity at the same time.

Creativity Killer 3: Poor Storage

I have to admit that it is difficult to store Reya's toys and things as she loves to jumbled them up in a big box but accessible and within her reach so she plays with all of it. It is important that books are stored and stacked with covers facing out so it can be rifled by them easily.

It is best to store toys by category in smaller boxes and label them so child can finds it easier to recognize and accessible.

Creativity Killer 4 : Pets and Siblings

Pets and younger siblings often can be distraction to creative proceedings by accidentally knocking our the art work in process/drawings. If this happens often enough, eventually will frustrate them and they might give up their efforts easily. To avoid this, try to set up child's play/work area that are away from constant interruptions.


It definitely takes parents a huge effort and tolerance to create an environment that is suitable for a child to grow up creative and innovative. Hope this information on this be helpful for parents out there and lets together create creative kids!!!

Thank you for reading!

Sunday Activities

Sunday we start our school sessions really early and since it has been quite some time on sensory bins, Reya were super excited and cant wait to get her hands on it.

For the ocean, i did some blue colored rice a day before and let it to dry thoroughly. Once dried i placed fishes and plants into the bin and passed it to Reya to play.

While she played i explained that ocean is huge and there'll be lots of fish in it. She named a few, like starfish, dolphins and just a fish.. she gets too excited and starts to feed the fish colored rice.. 

He he he, thats my Reya! always think outside the box. 

Here are our sensory bin: Ocean

After sensory bin activity we did some writing and coloring activities. She already have a good pencil grip and can write a perfect D. Good improvement from her. Here we are practicing to write numbers, coloring and stickers using Little Einsteins Activity Books from BookXcess.

So happy to see my little one progressing excellently and picking up new skills. All the hard work is paid to see her showing so much interest for learning and indulge in activities. Surely i don't want to be so hard on her as she is just 2 years and 11 months old (soon 3yo) he he he yes time flies. 

At the moment we are looking around for kindergarten that offers good syllabus that include lots of playing and fun times (after all that is what a 3 yo should be doing right;-) . Although i prefers homeschooling, she still need some space to be on own, independently and making new friends. 

Thank you for reading!!