Fun Fair At Home

Haze haze go away, come again another day, little children want to play, haze haze go away. Yes, the haze issue here in our country has affected our daily activities. Not only outdoor activities are being discouraged, the Ministry of Education also announced (on certain days due to high PSI readings) the closure of schools. 

To keep JS away from too much screen time, I suggested that we play fun fair at home. JS had not been to a fun fair so he was curious about this idea. I told him that it has game booths like those found at Legoland and indoor theme parks and also lots of stalls selling food, especially junk foods. He was thrilled. 

We list down several types of games and foods that we would like to have at our fun fair. Our game list include fishing, bowling and shooting at targets while our food stalls include french fries, marshmallow, hotdogs, chicken wings, pasta, popcorn, chocolates and chips. 

We started off by setting up the game booths. We decided to have three booths, fishing, bowling and shooting a ball into a hole. 

JS cutting a hole in a box for one of the games. 

JS making the signages.

The reward card and reward stickers. 

By the time we finished setting up the game booths, it was almost lunch time so we quickly prepared the food and started the play by buying food at the stalls. We only had pasta, chicken wings and hotdogs. 

JS preparing the food. 

JE: Can we eat now? I am so hungry!

To make this fun fair game more real, JS had to pay for the food and games. 

JS paying for his food.

JS paying for his food.

Next of course, was game time! 

JS started with the bowling. He had to pay one buck for five throws.

Next, the played the 'Shoot and Win'. This time, he had to pay two bucks for five throws. 

We ended with the fishing game which both of them enjoyed the most. JS had to pay one buck to play for one minute. He gets a sticker for every five Lego bricks he fished. 

JS counting the number of Lego bricks he was able to fish. 

JS counting the reward stickers to claim his prizes. 

It was a day full of play (and learning too!)

Racing Against Time

JS has been very active ever since he was a baby. He wouldn't stop moving his limbs even when he was lying in the incubator. He was prematurely born at 30 weeks. He was also very talkative. The only time when he would not be moving his body or talking, is when he is sleeping. Thus, it is a challenge for me, who is not quiet active in sports, to come up with lots of physical activities for him. 

I have always wanted to create a "sort of" relay match for him so one day, I just came up with this simple race. Since he had no one to race against, I made him race against the time, which is to finish all tasks and reach the finish line within a minute. 

He had to run from the main entrance of the house to the living hall where the sofa is and stack up a specific number of pillows according to my instructions which was only given when he reach the sofa, which was "Station 1". The pillows in the living hall comes in two different sizes so I would say something like "3 big and 2 small" which meant, 3 big pillows and 2 small pillows. 

Once done, he need to run to the first "tunnel" (formed using two chairs) and pick a specific number of Lego Duple also, according to the instructions given only when he reached the location, which is "Station 2". 

Next, he would have to go through the second "tunnel" and drop the Lego Duplos in a container just in front of the "tunnel". This is "Station 3". 

At "Station 4", he would have to pick a flashcard based on instruction given. 

And once he got the right card, he is supposed to go under the table which is the finish line of the race. 

Through this activity, he learnt to take instructions and carry them out accordingly within a short period of time. On top of that, he gets to run and crawl around the house, something which he loves doing all day long. 

And while JS was busy running and crawling and carrying out the tasks given to finish his races, JE was happily stacking up the Lego Duplos.  

More Sensory and Motor Skill Play

Here are some of the sensory and motor skills play that JE enjoyed recently. 

These can  be short session activities but if she really enjoys it, she could play for quiet a long time. Sometimes, if we carry out these activities in the afternoon, JS would join in too. 

Most of the things we used are common items found at home and you can substitute them with other similar objects. 

For example, we can use rings or rubber bands for this activity. 

This "fishing" activity helps JE to practice her spooning skill.

For this activity (pushing and pulling objects through a hole) many other types of objects could be used. Here we used french beans.

Meal time is a good time to put their motor skills into practice. 

JE doesn't really like to eat eggs but this activity was a success. I made her peel her own egg and she happily ate it! 

Colour Play

Markers have been my top choice of art supply for a toddler's first experiments with colours. I like their vibrant colours that will definitely attract young explorers, not to mention that they are less messy compared to other choices. 

As pictures speak louder than words, I love to use them to depict the learning process of my children. 

Here are some of the pictures of JE exploring her new set of "toy".

She tries different ways to grip the markers.

She learns to open and close the cover of the marker. 

And when she got tired of scribbling with them, we played a little game with the colourful sticks. 

JE looking at the markers and decides which one she wants to  knock  down and...

it's the yellow one!

Sticker Play

Sticker is an essential item when it comes to doing projects with my children. They come in all kinds of sizes, texture, colours and design, easy to handle and most importantly, they are almost mess free. The kids love them and as for me, it is the perfect solution for a quick-an-easy project for them to work on when I do not have much time to prepare for more complicated activities. It is also one of the activities that I can do with both of them at the same time without having to worry about a messy workstation to clean up. 

While JS worked on his sticker picture, JE started by exploring  the collection of stickers we have. 

   

Then she joined her brother at the table and worked on her own little project. 

JE working on her little project.

JS started with a fruit tree and added fruits and animals to it. Then, he added numbers one to ten in a particular sequence among the animals and tree. 

The next day, we did another round of sticker play. This time, instead of sticking them on paper, they had to stick the labels on their bodies. I wrote the names of a few body parts based on a body chart. JS used the body chart as a reference to learn new words and then stick the labels on the correct body parts. 

JE also joined in the fun as JS and I stuck the stickers on her.

Mommy, What Is Liquid?

JS was doing his English homework yesterday and since he was absent from school for the particular assignment, he needed some guidance with the work. He has the habit of asking the meaning of the words that he has to write and there was one particular word that sparked his interest. The word liquid. To give him a clearer understanding of liquid, we went online to search for meaning of the word and looked at pictures of things that are in the form of liquid. 

JS studying the pictures to get a clearer idea of what liquid is.

Then we had a little game of liquid hunting around the house. 

Here are some of the items he found.