Monday, December 23, 2013

Finish the Picture


By Iris

Activity with Foam Paper Stickers

As Iris can now read in Bahasa Melayu, I made this simple activity for her using foam paper stickers I bought from Mr. DIY store. I wrote down the animal's name and she matched it with the right sticker. (Note: Mr. DIY store offers varieties of products with low prices. They also sell lots of fun activity kits for the kids. If anyone is interested in purchasing the kits (e.g. stamp sets, fun stickers, etc.) just leave me message. I'd love to help you to play with your kids! Well, I'm not doing any online business here, I simply want to help you "Keep calm and play with your kids!").






Sunday, December 22, 2013

Read aloud: Curious George Series Books

The series starts with "This is George. He was a good little monkey and always very curious." It is mostly about the adventures to mostly places with his friend Man with Yellow Hat. The series is beautifully illustrated with vibrant colors and it is so easy to understand by the young ones. Iris and Iesha love this series so much they wanted me to re-read like five times a day. I have to admit that sometimes I get so annoyed (particularly when the kitchen sink full of dirty dishes) so I came out with a good escapism, and I needed their father to be my partner in crime. He pretended to be George and made a phone call and talked to my girls. This act could only be pretended while he wasn't at home or somewhere outside the house so that the girls will not find out the true George. I don't know either this is good parenting tricks or tips or not, as I just want to skip reading and focus on the kitchen sink. But one thing for sure, Iris and Iesha love their conversation with George and they can simply improve their English (well, hmm... George is calling from America). Iris told me in her joyous tone "Mummy, George wants to come to our house. But he only come if you buy banana. Jom pergi Giant, buy the banana, NOW!" That NOW wasn't a joyous thing for me, I blamed their father for that. But after all, they still counting hours for the next call from their beloved monkey friend, George. 

For curious little monkeys everywhere...

They have a book dedicated to George.

Now they keep asking me to draw George.

George and friend.

Read aloud: We're Going on a Bear Hunt

This is one of our favorite books. We actually have two sets of this titles but we love the celebratory pop-up edition more. I purchased the pop-up edition last two years at Bookxcess only at RM40. This much-loved children book is written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. This story is about a brave family and their dog who are determined to search for a bear and they went through several obstacles in their way. Along the way they chanted "We're going on a bear hunt, we're going to catch a big one, what a beautiful day, we're not scared." They went through many obstacles and finally came to a cave with a big brown bear in it. The book is truly loved by my girls. I mean seriously who would not? We would finished reading this book by watching its animated version. And we would singalong and copy every single move performed by our beloved Uncle Michael!

Are you ready for the bear hunt?

Uh-oh grass, a long wavy grass!

Uh-oh a river, a deep cold river!

Uh-oh a forest, a big dark forest!

Uh-oh a snowstorm, a swirling whirling snowstorm!

WHAT'S THAT?

This is my girls' favorite part. They loved the feeling that the bear is going to catch them.

(Perhaps the bear just wants to play?)


Saturday, December 21, 2013

Screaming Balloon

What you need:
Balloon
Hex nuts


What you need to do:

1. Squeeze the hex nut through the mouth of the balloon. Make sure the hex nut goes all the way into the balloon so that there is no danger of it being sucked out while blowing up the balloon.

2. Blow up the balloon and tie it off.

3. Spin the balloon then stabilize it once the hex nuts spins in the balloon. Listen to the sound. Do you hear your balloon screams?

Results:
This is actually a 2 for 1 experiment - you're learning about the science of motion and sound. The hex nut circles inside the balloon due to centripetal force. Centripetal force is the inward force on a body that causes it to move in a circular path. It is a "center-seeking" force. A hex nut has 6 sides, and these flat edges cause the hex nut to bounce or vibrate inside the balloon. The screaming sound is made by the sides of the hex nut vibrating against the inside wall of the balloon. To prove this, repeat the experiment using a coin in place of the hex nut. While the coin spins beautifully inside the balloon, the "spooky" sound is gone. Thanks to Steve Spangler for the explanation.

Discussion with my girls:
They were so petrified with the screaming sound that made them automatically jumped to me. They asked me what happened. I told them the sound was coming from the balloon. I told them in the simplest form, "Bila kita pusing-pusingkan belon, nut tu akan bergerak dan langgar dinding belon. Sebab tu-lah jadi bunyi yang spooky tu." Then suddenly the balloon popped! And we discovered the pinkish stain on the hex nuts. The proof made my work easy and they believe in science even more. Iesha concluded, "Haa, betul-lah nut berlanggar dengan belon. Tengok, belon pink ni melekat kat nut."     


Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Dedikasi untuk Bahasa Tercinta

Aku berasa sedih apabila mengenangkan hal orang Melayu yang masih belum insaf mengenai kemunduran mereka, kerana mereka tidak mahu belajar bahasanya sendiri dan tidak mahu menyediakan tempat untuk belajar bahasanya. Adakah orang yang tiada belajar itu akan pandai sendiri? Bukankah segala bangsa di dunia ini belajar bahasanya sendiri? Kata mereka, "Apakah gunanya belajar, bukankah itu bahasa kita? Gunanya di dunia sahaja. Lebih baik bahasa Arab, berguna di dunia dan akhirat." Hal itu benar, tetapi bagaimana boleh mengetahui bahasa orang lain sekiranya belum mengetahui bahasa sendiri terlebih dahulu? Mereka berkata-kata, berjual-beli, berkirim dan membalas surat, semuanya dalam bahasa Melayu ataupun peranakan, yang menggunakan bahasa Arab sewaktu berniaga, membuat kira-kira dan berkirim serta membalas surat, melainkan dalam sembahyang dan berdoa sahaja.~Hikayat Abdullah karangan Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir, 1849.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Terkini aku membaca buku Hikayat Abdullah yang diadaptasi oleh Pak Hamzah Hamdani keluaran PTS Publication. Sungguh buku ini manikam dalam beribu yang dijumpai hasil pencarian Firdaus dalam Pesta Buku Terbesar Big Bad Wolf 2013 baru-baru ini. Tapi aku tak menjangka Iris juga turut berminat dengan hikayat ini. Disuruhnya aku baca setiap kali sebelum tidur. Sebaris-sebaris habis perkataan sampai habis seperenggan disuruh pula perenggan yang lain. Semalam, hikayat ini berjaya menarik perhatian Iesha pula. Bukan mudah membaca hikayat magnum opus dari orang bijak pandai. Susun irama, makna ayat, ikatan kata nak diterjemah pada anak-anak 5 dan 3 tahun bukan kerja mudah. Ini bukan bahasa Melayu layanan jejaring sosial. Ini bukan susun kata puisi-puisi picisan tertulis dari penyajak picisan yang dambakan "Like"! Ini bahasa Melayu agung!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuan Raffles itu kulihat tubuhnya sederhana, tiada tinggi, tiada rendah, tiada gemuk dan tiada kurus. Dahinya luas tanda orang berhemah dan kepalanya buntar bincu ke depan tanda orang berakal. Rambutnya berwarna perang tanda orang berani, dan telinganya lebar tanda orang yang banyak mendengar. Bulu keningnya lebat, matanya sebelah kiri juling-juling air, hidungnya mancung dan pipinya cengkung sedikit. Bibirnya nipis tanda orang yang pandai berkata-kata, lidahnya manis mulutnya luas dan lehernya jinjang. Warna tubuhnya tiada putih bahana, dadanya bidang, pinggangnya ramping dan kakinya sederhana. Apabila berjalan, dia bongkok sedikit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cantik sungguh Munsyi Abdullah memperihalkan orang, sampai terkesan macam sungguh muncul di depan. Rasanya rata-rata orang kita termasuk aku cukup payah untuk memperihal sesuatu sampai begitu. Paling-paling muncul "Cool gila kot!", paling tidak "Macam comel je." Aku harap Allah bagi peluang pada anak-anak untuk menguasai bahasa sampai sedalam Munsyi Abdullah. Kalau diselami hikayat hidup Abdullah, proses mencari ilmu bukan perkara senang. Bermacam-macam hukuman dikenakan pada orang bodoh dan tak mahu belajar. Tapi hukuman yang paling diingat Iris dan Iesha ialah "...hukuman kepada budak-budak yang suka berbohong dan memaki orang. Caranya, digosokkan lada cina ke mulutnya."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sedangkan gajah berkaki empat yang besar itu kadang-kadang terserondong dan tersungkur jatuh, dan burung yang terbang di udara itu ada masanya gugur ke bumi, apalagi kita ini manusia yang bersifat lemah, bernyawa rapuh dan berbaka mati, sentiasa berubah-ubah dari semasa ke semasa. Kebesaran dan kemuliaan dunia ini berpindah-pindah kesudahannya, tidak kekal pada seseorang. Hanya nama yang baik ataupun jahat akan disebut orang akhirnya.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Berbaka mati, itulah kita. Semasa membaca perenggan ini pada anak-anak, kupesan agar jadi orang yang beramal baik, supaya dikenang orang sebagai orang baik. Pesanan ini lebih kepada diri sendiri, sebab banyak masanya terlupa yang aku ini bakanya mati. Satu lagi bila diamat-amati, orang-orang bijak pandai macam Munsyi Abdullah, orangnya sangat merendah diri. Mungkin dengan sifat rendah diri, Allah mudahkan jalan mencari ilmu dan jadi orang baik-baik. Seperti biografi Badiuzzaman Said Nursi yang menulis karangan terhebat Risalah i Nur, juga orangnya tunduk ke bumi. Semoga Allah anugerahkan kita dengan sifat itu. Amin!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apabila engkau mendapat wang, belikan emas, jualkan emas itu, belikan intan; jualkan intan itu, belikan manikam; jualkan manikam, belikan ilmu. Begitulah kemuliaan dan keteguhan ilmu kepada orang yang memperolehnya. Ia diibaratkan seperti tiang batu, berapa berat pun barang yang ditanggungnya, tetap ditahannya. Jika terlampau berat, akan remuk ataupun patah, tidak melentur ataupun condong seperti tiang kayu.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carilah ilmu!

Pop that Balloon!

Last night the girls asked for science experiment. I had a few in minds but I saved it for this weekend. Not to upset them, I gave them balloons and needle. I asked Iris to pop the balloons with the needle. It was more like Acara Sukaneka rather than scientific activity. Iris was unwilling at first, but I encouraged her to knock out her fear. She did well with the first balloon but the fear strikes her back with the second one. They continued bouncing the balloons after that. Note: If you were about to do the same activity, please keep the needle out of reach of your children. And please clean up any balloon fragments immediately after the balloons pop to avoid choking.

Popping out balloons wasn't that easy.

Knowledge brings fear, right?

Take every chance, drop every fear, dear!

She made it! Now on the second balloon.

Knowledge brings fear. That's a fact.

Monday, December 16, 2013

December Babies

Happy birthday to my beloved Ba and Mama!

"Your parents may not be perfect, but they are the most precious gift God has ever given you." 
Thank you Allah for Ba and Mama.

Erti Hidup Pada Memberi


White Ribbon Run & Walk 2013 by AWAM

We've joined fun 3 km fun walkathon organized by All Women's Association Society (AWAM) on Sunday, 8th December 2013 held at Padang Merbok, Kuala Lumpur. This was our first family walkathon event. Began at 7.30 am, we were quite struggling with diapers changing and morning breakfast on-the-go, however we succeeded to get to the starting line on time. Thanks to Dr Shariza for the extra stroller. Enjoy the medals everyone! 

Put a stop to violence against women!

Iris woke up really early for the walkathon.

Warmed up.

'Why I need to have my breakfast on the stroller?'

In 3, 2, 1...

Iyra wanted a clearer justification on what was really happening.

The extra stroller was planned for Iyra, but Iesha wasn't ready to walk.

Iyra enjoyed walking.

Iris and Iesha started to get their feet working.

Handyplast, anyone?

Kegigihan seorang bapa.

The girls learnt a lot from this event.

Jauh lagi ke?

Yay, finish line!

Yay, kejayaan!

First medal!

Yummy!

Say no to violence!

Love your woman!

She spelled her name.

And while Bapak get the car, they found marching ants.

They were amused with the hardworking ants.

Healthy morning activity.