We enjoyed some beautiful weather in Perth over the weekend. I love this time of year when spring is just around the corner, the skies are bright and clear, the air is fresh and breezy and not too hot. Perfect weather for heading out as a family for some play time together. So on Saturday afternoon, we headed down to Fremantle for an early dinner at Little Creatures Brewery . I had a craving for their crispy frites, washed down with a cold beer. And I knew we could relax and kick back while the kids had a play in the giant sandpit located in the restaurant. Here are some photos I snapped while we were there… We ordered a couple of their woodfired pizzas --prosciutto & mozarella and my favourite harissa spiced lamb & feta. I sipped on a cold cider while hubby opted for a glass of their bright ale. We also had a bowl of their frites (just a fancy name for french fries) to share. Grace just couldn’t get enough of the frites. After dinner, we went for a walk along the jetty b...

The other day, my three-year old boy elbowed his cup of milk on the table. It was a pretty full cup of milk, the contents now sprawled across the floor. I pursed my lips. Then picked up a cloth and bent down to clean up the mess. “Why did you go ‘haaaaaaaaaiiiiiiih…’ like that mum?” , said Nathan. “Did I?” , said I. “Yes you did, mum. You said ‘haaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiih…’ like that.” “Oh. That was a sigh.” “A sigh? Why sigh, mum? Why?” “I don’t know, Nathan. Sometimes I just need to sigh” “But why, mummy?” Cue : *Sigh* A couple of days later, it was Grace’s turn to knock something off her highchair. Something goopy and messy. Before I could say or do anything, it was my three year old who exclaimed, “Tsk. Haaaaiyaaaa… Grace! ” The inflection and intonation he exuded into his exclamation was so comically real, I couldn’t help bursting out laughing out loud right there and then. I recounted the incident to hubby later that evening while we were getting ready for bed… “Well, it’...

One rainy morning, we decided to do some painting. Nathan was on a roll, producing painting, after painting, after painting… After he had finished, we laid out his paintings across the floor to dry and sat back to admire his artwork. As Nathan talked about each painting, I started to see a common theme and pattern running through his pictures. I could see a story emerging. So, adapting the same concept from our ‘ Write your own book ’ activity we did a couple of weeks back, I jotted down Nathan’s narrations of each painting, arranged them and bound them together to make a book. This is Nathan’s favourite book he has written so far and often requests to read it together at bedtime. He has already asked if he could paint another story book. Well, it’s definitely a terrific way to fill up our little library. P.S. More activities and play ideas .

So our house has been affectionately nicknamed as ‘The Sleepy House’. I’m not entirely sure why, but there is something about our place that helps all the little ones sleep so well. Little Grace when she was three months old sleeping soundly I used to think that I just happened to be blessed with kids who turned out to be really good sleepers and nappers. But now that I’ve started having more little ones around in my family day care --all who happen to sleep really well whenever they are at our house (at least two and sometimes even three hour-long naps). And their parents all insist that they never sleep this well at home. Maybe it’s sleepy dust. Or something in our water. Whatever it is, it seems safe to say that it’s more than coincidence that sleep descends so well on everyone during naptime at our house. So I thought I’d share a few personal tips from our Sleepy House… #1. Burn off their energy This is probably the most challenging part of the programme. I certainly don...

Sharing a few bits and pieces I’ve made recently to add to our collection of loose parts for open ended play …   Bean bags For stacking, throwing, tossing, and even balancing on our heads with…   Mini cushions For counting, sorting, squishing, and even using as pretend food…   [More of my sewing exploits ]

Because I don’t have a proper post prepared today (or possibly not for next week either). And also because I am presently focusing most of my writing energies on my Early Childhood Education course assignment (due this Saturday). So in the meantime, here is something light and fun for you to get to know a bit more about me… Q&A: What’s your favourite… What was your favourite food when you were a child? Fried Bananas (a.k.a. Pisang Goreng). To be honest, I wouldn’t say this is my favourite food as a child. But it always evokes vivid childhood memories whenever I think of the smell and taste of piping hot, fragrant, crispy banana fritters. What’s the #1 most played song? Currently it’s ‘Let It Go’ from Disney’s Frozen. Only because my three year old asks to listen to it umpteen times each day. But apart from that, my favourite music artists include ABBA, Steven Curtis Chapman and Frank Sinatra. What is one of your favourite quotes? ”Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took th...

This is a simple but really engaging activity I did with my kids recently. It provided a lot of scope for learning opportunities and creativity but was also lots of fun. So I thought it would be worth sharing. Materials/Supplies Assortment of coloured paper Plain white paper Glue/paste Scissors Crayons/markers/pencils Instructions/Preparation Cut out geometric shapes of varying sizes from the coloured paper (squares, rectangles, triangles, circles etc.) and sort them into different containers. I chose to sort them by colour. Lay out the plain white paper together with the containers of coloured shapes and the other supplies (glue/paste, scissors, crayons/markers/pencils). Then just let the kids dive in. Allow the kids free hand to create anything they like out of the coloured shapes. I also cut out white circles and added a black dot in the middle for the children to use as eyes to add character to some of their creations. Encourage the children to use the scissors to customise...

One of the interesting things about running a family day care is being able to observe the various children in my care and see the different ways they play and engage. When I first started out, I always set out as many toys as I could fit into the play area. I thought that more toys would equal more engagement in play. I was so wrong. On the contrary, it resulted in chaos, mess and poor focus and engagement during play. Since then, I’ve now scaled back the number of toys I put out in the play area and I rotate them regularly to spark new interests with the children’s play. Here are a few things I’ve observed about the objects and toys that seem to captivate children the most… #1. Children really LOVE boxes Large, medium, small and even teeny tiny boxes. I always have a few large cardboard boxes that get turned into trucks, trains and tunnels. They also adore shoeboxes and teeny tiny boxes which they just love putting things into, taking them out and putting them in again and again ...