Fine Motor Skill with Toothpicks

We had activity with the toothpicks.  It is good for fine motor skill especially for Iesha and Iyra.  But I still need to be near them, just to ensure they didn't get hurt with the sharp end (I wonder if they sell any blunt end toothpicks).  To add extra fun, I challenged Iris and Iesha.  Who can first put all their toothpicks into the shakers would be the winner.  There are lots of fine motor skill activities we can probably find in the websites, but I'm sure we'd prefer to do the easiest first.  Let's see how focus they are.

 What we need:

Toothpicks

Salt shaker

Focus mind

Shake it, shake it!

Siblings Rivalry

I am thinking to get one myself. (Source)

The Wonders of The Hundred Yen Store

It's Daiso.  I was introduced of this fabulous store by my Mom last year.  Before that, I have never have love or whatsoever for Kedai Serbaneka.  But Mama is a brilliant shopaholic. She has that sixth sense with shopping.  I just love Daiso since then.  There are  so many treasures just waiting to be discovered.  See what I've got from my last shopping spree at Daiso, a fun sponge-containing capsules of animals!  The girls always love any Japan made stationeries and crafts. Yesterday, they were so excited when they came back home from schools and found out these kawaii stuff!  Let's kawaii!

 We need:

Sponge containing capsules animals

Water

Animals flashcards

Clear glasses

 So kawaii!

 Luckily they have instructions in English and in diagrams. 

 Iris pour in the water into the glasses.

 They put the capsules into the glasses.

Truly Asian (the peace sign).

 They can't wait, obviously. 

 Show off their coloured nails. Cutex are girls' bestfriends.  Go get Elianto nail colors.  They are cheap.

 See, the animal sponge is free now!  

 Iris take out the animal sponge into the plate.

 They started to asked me the science behind it.  

 Explain a little bit on how the capsules dilute in the water.  

 When the capsule diluted, the animal sponge will absorb the water and turn them into shape.

 Ducks and roaster 

 It's a goat!

 We love guessing what animals the sponge would be.

 They sort the sponge into the same colors.

 Trust me, with only RM5, you can have so much fun!

 They match it with the animals flashcards.

 Iesha found a rabbit.

 Match up the sponge with the flashcards is the last step for this kawaii activity.

Note: Dayang, mesti hari-hari you jelajah Daiso kan?

Why please people?

Taming Tantrum

Growing kids have growing needs. And when we parents don't get what they need, they start throw out what parents most scared of (well, at least for me)- the mega tantrum. Honestly, I am a mother who cannot stand tantrum, I mean I don't know how to deal with it.  I am not a calm person.  Yes, I never slap or do any physical punishment to my girls.  But instead, I like to say things that is not harmony like "I don't like it!", "Mummy paling tak suka you girls buat macam ni."  Sometimes, I simply give them silent treatment, which is of course not good either. 

There are lots of books and websites on how to deal with children's emotions.  I can summarize up that all we need is to 'Keep Calm'. Obviously I need to exercise more on that.  Here I'd like to share Aisyah's reading, which she got from this book. I've tried a few times when I was calm.  Trust me, it worked!  Once when Iris missed her cat at Nek Ma's house she cried so bad:

Iris: Mummy, Iris rindu sangat kat cat Iris.  Boleh tak kita balik rumah Nek Ma sekarang jugak?

Me: Iris rindu sangat ke? Iris rasa macam nak peluk cat Iris ke? (I was thinking of saying 'Rumah Nek Ma jauh-lah Iris, susah kita nak balik.)

Iris: Ye, Iris rasa macam nak peluk. 

Me: Iris peluk bantal ni dulu. Mesti cat Iris dapat rasa Iris peluk dia. 

Iris: Dia dapat rasa ke Mummy?

Me: Dapat. Sebab kita rindu sangat. Kalau kita rindu sangat-sangat kat cat, cat pun akan rindu sangat-sangat kat kita.

And then she hugged the pillow and stopped crying. Then I thought, all we need to do is think like a children and get into their story.  They have clean and pure thoughts, they think that all things can happen, it's like magic.  So, we parents have that magic wands. Make it believable.  O Allah, give me and Firdaus and all parents out there the calmness and magic!

Don't

Do

Read aloud: The Big Storm

This week's theme is counting week and we read few books on it.  Nancy Tafuri writes a good counting book.  It is about ten little woodland animals hurry to get into the hill hollow once the rain starts to pour.  It counts with Bird, Mouse, Squirrel, Rabbit, Chipmunk, Woodchuck, Raccoon, Possum, Red Fox and then Skunk all squeeze in the hill hollow that makes it ten! We giggled every time we looked at how they huddled together warmly in the hollow, as the lightning flashes outside. Then the rain stop pouring and that's when they hear a rumble grumble noise near them.  They search for the noise and much to their surprise, they find out the noise is from the two bears!  They run out the hollow and the counting starts from 10 to 1. Surprisingly, the storm is over and there is a beautiful sunny day outside!

We love the illustration.  Every fur of the animals looks so real.  What's more, we can learn about new animals. This book is good for early childhood maths, especially for Iesha's age. I definitely need to teach them numbers.  It's kind of pity when they have limited numbers in minds.  Like what Iris said, "I love you Mummy so much! I love you one hundred!".  While Iesha (with a limited counting ability), "I love you Mummy, ten!" Well, in any either way, they are my reasons to smile!

Smile is modern

Happy Friday everyone! 

Unlike Iris and Iesha, Iyra hates camera.