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!! 

Creativity Killers (Part 1)

We as parents often want our children to grow up creative and innovative without realising  ways or methods that might be killer to a child's ability to think creative. I came across of a book "Boost Your Child's Creativity" during the awesome extravaganza Big Bad Wolf (BBW) book sales in December 2014. It immediately ended in my basket and here i share some of the tips that can be used with your little ones. All children are naturally creative, but studies revealed that it's possible to increase creativity "IQ", particularly in young children.


How can nurturing creativity help the little ones??

We must first understand that creativity is a process and not the actual product, it is the generation and development of an original idea or thought, and the mysterious spark of inspiration which makes a piece of music or new invention truly remarkable.

Most of the time creativity for a toddler is just by asking questions that no one thought before or painting the sky purple.Creativity is about an individual response and expression-not following what others have already done.

So what are the creativity killers?

1) Helping - when they are frustrated and unsuccessful in trying new things we as parents often step in to help. this good intention will some how backfire. (I stop helping Reya with her activities and let her try on her own.. whenever she is frustrated i will just guide a little and let her on own). In a way i believe this can also boost her confidence and the opportunity to prove that she can do it.

2)The wrong toys - all the bright colors, flashing lights and loud music toys are fun.. i often find that Reya gets bored with toys frequently and go for a box or actual things in house to play (pots/ pans/ clothes/ cardboard). Children do really stretch imaginations further if they making up their own songs/music beats. Pretend plays and dancing can encourage child to be creative.

3) Deciding what is right and wrong- creativity is all about thinking out of the box and normal rules. By telling a child to color leaves in green will limit their early experiments. Its nothing wrong to color the sea in pink as well as by doing this a child is dreaming up new ways of doing things.

4) Planning their time - make sure child has some free time to do their own activities. Allow time for unstructured play. (Ok, honestly this is what have been going on for us at this moment; i just give her some random activities and after that she is off to play on own, her blocks, dancing and singing, pretend plays)

5) Right answer syndrome - Key traits of creative people is they are good at "divergent thinking" that means they can suggest a lot of idea and potential solution to a puzzle or question.

6) Competition - much research suggest that rewarding a child for doing creative things will reduce their interest in doing creative activities for which they are not rewarded.

This is for now and i will be sharing more on creativity killers in another post. Till than keep going with continuous exploring and learning with your little ones!

Cheers!


Source of information from the book: Boost your child's creativity @ Teach yourself by Victoria Wilson 



http://www.amazon.com/Boost-Childs-Creativity-Teach-Yourself/dp/1444107356

Happy New Year: Vanish the Bad and Welcomes the Good

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a Happy New Year!! May this year brings lots of luck, good health and abundance of wealth. Ok, whats my new year resolutions?? Hmmm here are some resolutions which i have to bring forward from 2014.. he he he (simply because i haven't accomplish them).

Yayy... with new enthusiasm here is my list for 2015:

1) More and more family time (precious time with my growing up daughter and still a small boy ~ my hubby), not forgetting parents and in laws
2) Lots of holiday plans (away from work) no tension and pressure (balanced life)
3) HLP! (further studies with scholarship of course, try till i get it)
4) Healthy lifestyle.. (very difficult as i am a foodie and this is the item which i am bringing forward every year) need to make this a habit.. ok! am starting this year.

That's my list and wish me luck!! Happy New Year and visit my blog frequently and leave some comments for my further improvement in this blog and my posts>

Thank you..

Messy Play: Gloopy Moments

Reya @ 2 and 8 months 

Reya @ Batu Caves Temple

It has been quite a long break from updating Reya's activity here. Its year end and holiday mood is on yet we still continue with our activities and home schooling. Reya is showing tremendous progress in fine motor skills and co-ordinations. We continues to work on music (rhymes, drums, dance and singing), painting, colouring, writing and pretend-plays. We also reads lots of books together.

On and off i add on messy plays and its usually when i have more time for clean ups, that we will indulge in this kind of mess. Gloop is a kind of sensory play that helps in boosting child's creativity. If you had not played gloop with your child then this is a must try! It will be super duper fun filled moments/activity (yes for both of us ;~)

What will you need:

2 cups of corn starch
1 1/2 cup of water
food colouring ( i used green)

Just mix all the above in a container and let them to play. Make sure the child is wearing the dress that you don't mind to get dirty and mommy can join the play too while describing the textures; slimy, runny, gooier, hard and powdery.

Reya explored the texture and powdery feel of the corn starch before we add in the water and colour. She  were pretty amaze to see how it turns out slimy and gooier after we add in water. As usual she continued to play on her own way while adding in more and more water.

Sensory plays promotes children to manipulate material and building up fine motor skills and co-ordination. Besides that it also build their self esteem and language.

Child Psychologist Dr Janine Spencer...

Giving children the freedom to play messily helps them develop their imagination and social skills. It boosts their confidence and helps them understand the world around them. That’s a small price to pay for a bit of mess.

Gloop in the making 

it is dry and powdery at first before mixing with water

She is using both hands here

 Thank you for reading.

Cheers!

Toy Centered Learning

It is widely known that toy centered learning can build imagination, promotes social skills, advances physical development and help child to work through emotions. Now mostly we are doing pretend play and the usual one will be doctor and patient. She will always wants to be a doctor and myself a patient. There will be rounds of checking, injections and feed medicine. Yes this Dr. is so cool that will ensure you eat your medicine before leaving the room.. 

Besides role play using toys to explain to her and this is another way that she can be kept engaged for at least 20 minutes.

There are few basic principles of child development and role plays. First it is important that toys are safe and suits their age. Toys also must suit children's interest to support the learning session.

Few photos and ideas from our session of toys centered learning:

Identifying fruits - match with flash cards 

she added tomato here.. had to explained that it is vegetable and she didn't bother. We have to work on categories soon...;-)

Identifying Sea Animals - match with flash cards

• She can now identify most of the animals and remembers it when ever i ask. It is surely an efficient and fun way to learn. 

Toy centered reading activities 

While reading the book we will usually play with the toys and explore while making sounds. Yes finally mommy will be exhausted with all the jumping and actions while telling stories but it worthwhile.

I sourced this books from BookXcess in Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya. They do have huge collections of books and role play sets that are reasonably priced. They also have online shopping and you can browse for more at http://www.bookxcess.com/.

Hope that you get an idea on toys centered learning and please share if you have one. Would like to do it for Reya.

Thank you for reading and dropping by.