Category: play

Playing is important for growth

  • Cozy Weekend With Gar

    My helper has left for home after her contract is up. This is the first weekend without any help in nearly two years. We stayed home most of the time since the boys were not well enough to go out for food.

    The first thing I did was to cook breakfast for Gar. El was with his grandparents as we had to separate the two from further cross infection.

    photo 1

    I steamed some fish and meat for Gar. I am not a good cook.

    fish and meat

    It was time to keep Gar’s clothes.

    folding clothes

    Gar was hiding behind the clothes hangers. What a cheeky boy.

    clothes hangersWe pasted stickers onto a sticker book. He tried counting them but only counted to 5 and then he mixed it up.

    fish stickers

    After that, he played with his Lego toys.

    building bricks

    Then, he wanted to play Ninja Turtles with his father.

    playing with toys

    We had fun with this boy over the weekend, but that meant that we had not much time left to do our own work. Should I relook into the hours I spend at work?

  • 10 Free Activities To Do In The Holidays

    10 Free Activities To Do In The Holidays

    This is the holiday season and it is time for gifts, or is it? My children get plenty of gifts round the year from us and grandparents, so there is no real reason to get them more presents. What they really need from me is time. The gift of time is something that a busy working parent like me would really want to give them. They grow up too quickly!

    Throughout the year, I am busy with work. As a teacher, I start work by 7 plus in the morning, and I typically leave the school 11 hours later. By the time I reach home, I have only two hours left with my children. I spend it on dinner, and I do not get to interact with them much as I am usually too tired.

    During weekends, the situation is only marginally better. I spend my time taking them to enrichment lessons and visiting grandparents, and that is about it. Going to musicals, zoo, parks and playgrounds do not happen as much as I would like. Whenever my children ask me to do certain activities with them, I keep giving them excuses why I could not carry them out. I feel like a rotten part time mother.

    The good news is, the school holidays are finally here. My goal is to make every day of December count.

    Here are ten free activities I will take my children to do during this holiday season.

    1. My five-year-old, El, likes to bake. Unfortunately I had only done that once with him on New Year’s Day. I will bake at least once with him this holiday.
    el baking cake

    2. El has an encyclopaedic knowledge of animals, so he wants to go to the zoo and the bird park. I have booked free corporate passes to the Jurong bird park, so we will be going as a family. We have also booked free zoo tickets, so we are going to the zoo too!
    singapore zoo

    3. We plan to catch free performances of cartoon characters at shopping malls. He asked to watch Dora the explorer, and we had just caught it a few days ago. There are other characters, such as Fireman Sam, which we will be watching.
    dora the explorer

    4. He wants to build sand castles, so we will go to the beach. East Coast Park is a place that many families like to go to. A few other parks with sand pits and playgrounds would be good too.
    playground

    5. It is free for children to take public transport, but I do need to sign up for their free passes. Gar loves spotting trains and buses. I think it is time to go on rides.

    6. El had been asking to go overseas, but my husband is overwhelmed by that idea. One way is to go to the parks in the north where we can see Malaysia. There are playgrounds there where they could play, and Sembawang Park is full of historical significance. A naval base was built there by the British to protect Singapore, but it was not very effective during WWII.
    beaulieu house

    sembawang park

    7. Some museums are also free for locals. The National History Museum is undergoing renovations for some of the exhibits, so I think I will take them to the Singapore Art Museum instead. El loves to draw, so it would be a good opportunity to see works by local and other Asian artists.

    8. Living in the concrete jungle can make one stressed. There are a few farms in Kranji and I think Bollywood Veggies is free for children. El prides himself as a nature explorer, so it would be a good chance for him to see plants.

    9. There are free music performances at the Esplanade. It would be good to expose the children to music.

    10. Christmas is a time where the shopping malls decorate the buildings with special lighting. Orchard Road will be a great place to drive through.
    Christmas lighting

    With many free activities lined up, I hope to enjoy the holidays with my children without all the buy-buy-buy! It is really a nightmare buying Christmas presents for any parties we might be invited to!

    This post is part of a blog hop from Hoagies’ Gifted.
    holiday gifts

  • Flea Market And Mid Autumn Festival

    Flea Market And Mid Autumn Festival

    The best time to go to an annual flea market is to go after it is supposed to be closing, because that is when you get fire sale prices!

    After dinner, we rushed home for a Mid Autumn Festival Celebration held by my estate’s management committee. The flea market was supposed to be over, but they were still selling items.

    After last year’s great book deals, I could not believe it when a stall owner wanted to sell 10 children’s magazines to me for $2. They looked great in content and condition to me so I took the whole lot and more.

    discovery box magazine

    They actually featured Henri Matisse’s works! He used to be a painter until his health kept him in a wheelchair. He turned to paper cuttings. I love these works.

    story box elephants

    story box little witches

    story box magazines

    There were other books, such as jigsaw puzzles and jigsaw books. She gave some free to me plus I got stickers which I could use for El’s sticker book for piano practice. Total? $8.

    After that, I went to another stall and spotted Eat, Pray, Love, a book that sparked many people’s wanderlust and puns. I never had a chance to read it.

    There were other children’s books, which the owner said had high frequency words. I think they were at 6 books for $2.
    early readers

    early readers 2

    sunshine books

    Gar spotted a book on elephants and he took off with it. I was so embarrassed as I told the stall holder. Anyway, I got the books and paid up.

    elephant walk

    The good thing about my neighbours is they care very much about education, so they spent a lot of money on books and other educational materials. Their children are older now, so they want to sell them to make way for even more books.

    While I do not mind setting up a class library with my books, (some students treat my books badly though), I still cannot bear the thought of selling my books. Perhaps next time.

    I really had a lot of great quality books.

    books from flea market

    My helper managed to get sone books for her son, perhaps also 6 for $2, and then a brand new pair of shoes for $2!!!

    I got an Indian snack for El, but he didn’t eat much.

    Gar went home for his dinner while I joined in the lantern walkabout for the third time with El without a lantern.

    lantern walk

    After that, we caught a magic show/ circus act. I think he had performed at my workplace before!

    He had a floating crystal ball.

    magician

    Then he spun plastic plates.

    He had volunteers come up to try. El put his hand up but he did not get selected.

    The magician balanced an umbrella, a knife and a trolley on his chin.

    El was very visibly scared. I saw him covering his ears earlier and at that moment before the knife act, he covered his eyes.

    The next act was an escape act. He could easily get his hands out from two padlocks on chains.

    After that, El shouted for me, and said the show was boring and he wanted to leave.

    My right leg was totally numb from the way I was sitting earlier. El told me to stay where I was and call his father to take me home. I told him I just had to wait a while.

    I cannot wait for next year’s flea market.

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