Whether your kids are on school break or it’s the weekend, you might be trying to find things for them to do that don’t involve electronics. They’re used to playing video games or watching video apps, but you want them to do something that strengthens their mind and builds their creativity. Here are some ways you can keep them happy and maybe help them learn some new skills in the meantime.
Cook a Meal
Most kids love to help out in the kitchen. They get excited to learn how different kitchen tools and machines are used and never tire of helping mix a bowl of cookie dough. Instead of having them help you with the usual cookie mix or cake recipe, have them help you with something more involved.
When you’re preparing things for the meal, make sure you plan for extra prep time. Because the kids are learning what to do, they’re going to be slower than you are. If you’re worried about them hurting themselves with knives, you can buy special wooden safety knives that will allow them to cut many things but won’t cut their skin.
Paper Mache
Some of the best recreation projects Murray UT are those that take multiple days to complete. They keep the kids entertained long-term and give them something to look forward to. Before starting, have the kids decide what design they want to do. When doing your project, make sure you do it on a warm day in a well-covered area. The glue can make a mess, and you won’t want it everywhere.
Paint Rocks
When you’re getting ready to paint rocks, part of the fun is going on a walk to find them. If you live near a lake or river, you’ll find plenty of good options near there. Make sure your kids know to never take rocks out of someone’s yard.
To make painting the rocks extra fun, you could write funny phrases on them and then leave them around the neighborhood. Then, when other people are out for their walks, they can enjoy the rocks, too.
Online games often get the bad rap as it involves sitting in front of a screen. However, online games have their advantages for young and old people. Unlike watching television which is more passive, games require a level of interaction, brain power and skill from the player. Games can be a concern for parents and teachers, but playing games can also have beneficial impacts for children and young people. In fact, older people may even benefit from playing online games like Solitaire, Mahjong and Sudoku. Research has shown that playing games like Mahjong improves short-term memory, attention and logical thinking in both middle-aged and elderly people.
If parents manage their children’s gaming time, these children can reap some benefits through online games such as:
1. Computer and simulation fluency.
2. Helps with fast strategic thinking and problem-solving.
3. Improves a child’s online social skills.
4. Helps your child with attention to details.
5. Creates problem-solving and planning skills.
6. Helps build resilience.
7. Games like Minecraft help kids to practice their visual-spatial skills, leading to a better understanding of distance and space.
8. Beneficial for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Alycia used to play PUBG Mobile with her high school classmates whenever they needed a break from online classes and in between revising for exams. She still plays this online game with her ertswhile classmates whenever the time is right for everyone to play together. There are many advantages of playing this game such as improves problem solving skills, enhances memory, improves social skills and improves brain speed.
Sometimes when I have too much on my mind, I escape from the harsh realities of life by jumping into the world of online games. My favourite online games are Super Tetris and Crossword Puzzle. Super Tetris is a brain exercise game. According to a study, brain imaging shows playing Tetris leads to a thicker cortex and may also increase brain efficiency.
Do you want to know where you can play online games like Super Tetris, Pacman, Crazy Eights, Tennis and many more for FREE? Check out Solitaire.org, a website where everyone can play fun online games for free and the best part is all the games can be quickly played from the browser on desktop computers, iPads, laptops, Kindle Fire and mobile devices.
Some of the online games that I find very engaging at Solitaire.org are crossword puzzle, Sudoku and Letter Scramble. Our 13-year old youngest daughter who plays Sudoku occasionally managed to complete a Sukodu game within 7 minutes and 55 seconds. She’s quite good at this game though she doesn’t play it regularly and I’m now getting tutorials from her! When I improve my Sudoku solving skill, I’m going to have a challenge with her! Sudoku improves one’s brain power, problem-solving and thinking skills.
Not bad for a beginner, eh?
Cass did well in Letter Scramble too. Letter Scramble is a great game to improve one’s vocab and spelling ability. She gets to learn many new words each time she plays Letter Scramble. This game also helps to develop one’s intellectual ability.
Cass learned a new word today – annihilate.
Another game that I’ve tried at Solitaire.org and like is Hidden Object Games. This game is good at keeping me awake whenever I feel sleepy. Although it’s a game more suited for kids, I find that it helps me to destress while boosting my grey matter and awareness to details. This game has 10 levels which are timed. You may think that this is a kiddo’s game but it is not easy to locate some of the hidden things even at Level 1. Cass and I spent quite a bit of time finding the last hidden object, which is a piece of Chinese paper cutting and after a closer look and more thorough scan at the picture, she finally found the item hidden on top of a red Chinese lantern. This is one game that’s great for parent-child bonding.
Solitaire.org has over 100 browser-based games which you can easily find from their user-friendly website. There is a catalog which is located at the bottom of the website where all the games are listed, such as Solitaire, Mahjong, Card Games, Hidden Object Games and much more. And there’s no annoying advertisements on this gaming website. Another plus point!
If you’re a fan of online games and are looking for some free fun games to play, Solitaire.org is the place to go to. But play with caution as the games can be quite addictive 😉
In case you’re still living in a fidget spinner or slime world, squishies are brightly colored foam toys that come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from a tiny panda face on a key chain to some fake-but-looks-real sushi. The shapes and varieties are endless. Some are scented with bakery-appropriate flavors like strawberry or peaches and cream. As the name suggests, their most important quality is their immensely satisfying texture. Squeezing a squishy is like crushing a loaf of Wonder Bread between your fingers, only to watch it magically re-inflate back to its original form. I have to admit that I am inside the squishy bubble now, joining Cass and Drama Queen!
Squishies are on their way to becoming the next big toy craze in the US, according to toy-store owners interviewed by New York Magazine and the New York Times. So far they’re being marketed, much like fidget spinners, as a way to relieve stress and anxiety.
When we were back in Ipoh during the recent school holidays, I brought Cass to Kinta City shopping mall to claim her reward. Apart from some novels and a few rounds of claw machine games, I also bought her a squishy as her reward. The squishy stall is on the first floor concourse of the shopping mall, outside Aeon. It’s been there for at least 2 years. Drama Queen shopped for her primary school bazaar’s lucky draw prizes from this stall 1.5 years ago. The range of colorful and oh so squeezable squishes is pretty wide and not only can a child go crazy at the stall, adults too.
Cass’ pick was this little pink paw, which is extra squishy, soft, squeezable and highly re-inflatable. No wonder Cass loves squeezing it, I love it too! After paying for the paw squishy, we both had a tug of war over who gets to squeeze the paw 😆
Super satisfying! Good stress and anxiety buster too.
A friend of the girls’ aunt in Hong Kong gave this to the MIL. And now the MIL has delegated the girls to construct this mega project 😀
Today is the 4th day the girls are hard at work. They take turns constructing the shop houses.
This is the girls’ first project and after 2 days, they completed the first floor.
Chief contractor with the sidekick at work…
This morning, Sherilyn constructed a part of the second floor of the first shop house before she left for the enrichment center. Cass is now taking over. There are 3 floors for each shop house! This is by far the mega-est Lego project for the girls!
I am amazed with the patience that my kick-ass girls have to patiently sit for hours looking at the legend and finding the pieces. I know I have absolutely zilch patience for something like this ha! I see stars looking at the thousands of Lego pieces, especially those button-sized ones! And I feel woozy just looking at the thick booklet of legend. No way can I sit for hours on end hurting my fingers doing this!
Lego is a toy that requires absolute patience, endurance (for harder ones) and some brains to do! I fail in the patience department, miserably!!
I wonder if the girls can complete the entire mega project before they leave for New Zealand in 7 days…
As promised, here are the pictures of Alycia, Sherilyn and Cass tackling the Urban Playz climbing walls at Mid Valley Megamall last Sunday.
Cass started the wall climb first, followed by Alycia. When Cass and Alycia did the wall climb, I was shopping with Sherilyn. Sherilyn later joined them.
My monkey girl finally got the chance to prove her climbing and hanging prowess, ha ha ha! After her 3 climbs, I asked her if she was scared but my daredevil was as confident as ever and said “not at all!”
Urban Playz consists of three climbing walls: Tetris Wood, Speed Track and Nine Cross. Each wall is structured differently and is fun to climb! Looking at my girls climb the walls at a height of 20 feet did scare the living day lights out of me. It also brought back lots of fond memories of my camping and rock-climbing days in Lumut and Pangkor Island during my teenage days. Rock-climbing and wall-climbing are an entirely different sports. Rock-climbing requires much, much more endurance, perseverance and a brave heart.
Currently there are three walls available for your climbing pleasure: Nine Cross provides many possibilities to get to the top, one has to spend some time thinking them through. Tetris, as the name suggests, is a wall based on the popular arcade game Tetris. Speed Track gives those speed demons and junkies out there a run for their money, giving them an opportunity to see how fast they can get to the top.
Sherilyn atop the Tetris and strategizing how and where to place her legs..
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There were no pictures of Alycia climbing the walls taken as hubs and I videoed her climbs instead.
All in all, I think the 3 walls were pretty simple for my 3 daredevils to conquer. To them, it’s a piece of cake! Perhaps hubs should bring them to do the real McCoy – outdoor rock-climbing! I’ll know who the real daredevil is from there!
My baby girl woke up even earlier than I did this morning. She knocked on my door at 6:30am and when I saw her, she had already gotten herself ready — teeth brushed, clothes changed and hair nicely tied up. She must have woken up at 6:15am or even earlier.
So why did she wake up so early this morning? Babe, it’s a Saturday and mummy wants to catch up on her beauty sleep!! I felt pissed off a wee bit that she woke me up from my dream… albeit I cannot really remember what I was dreaming about haha!
So this is the motivating factor…
To hook her loom bands for her teachers… she said that she wants to give her teachers and besties each a loom band before she leaves kindy for good in 3 months’ time!
Rainbow Loom has such a phenomenal influence worldwide. Kids and adults alike love them and wear them. Even the plumber who came to our house to fix our kitchen tap two days ago, who claimed that he is illiterate was seen wearing a loom bracelet.
In case you do not already know, the creator of Rainbow Loom is Ng Cheong Choon, a 45-year-old Chinese Malaysian, who until recently worked as a crash test dummy safety engineer in Michigan. At home, he noticed his daughters making rubber band bracelets on their fingers. Eventually, vague trappings of an idea began to form in the recesses of his head: a plastic loom toy that would help weave the rubber bands into bracelets. Unlike most people, who think of innovative ideas but never act upon them, Ng got to work on it, visualizing the toy that would become the Rainbow Loom!
Ng Cheong Choon and his family.
When will the Rainbow Loom bubble burst I wonder? Every Tom, Dick and Harry on the street and mall is seen wearing a loom bracelet. What am I going to do with all these colorful rubber bands when the Rainbow Loom bubble bursts and my girls no longer want to have anything to do with them? I think I should keep them in a box and keep them like how my mum has been keeping all my most-loved-collectibles since I was a little girl. When my girls re-discover them again many, many moons down the road, I hope that these will give them the warm fuzzies of their happy childhood days. Till today, I still love my 3-decade old Sanrio collectibles. I love them to the moon and back and will never give them away 🙂
Many strangers who see Alycia and Sherilyn for the first time always commend how well-behaved, demure and ladylike they are. Oh pul-leeeasse…. I always tell them wait till you see them when they are at home. From demure, angelic cute little things, they immediately transform into brats and monsters the moment they step foot into the house and can effortlessly turn the house upside down within minutes.
Talking about disciplining my gals, they tend to turn deaf temporarily when mummy speaks in a nice, motherly, cultured tone. It’s only when I transform into a monster mummy that my gals do finally hear me. So can you imagine what my neighbours think of me, the petite charming lady from that house with 2 sweet little gals? You know, that house where you hear yellings, threats and bribes the whole day long?
How do you control 2 brats who are ever active, rumbustious, destructive, rebellious, temperamental, wilful and samseng (tom-boyish)?
This was what happened a few days ago when I was busy writing a paid post and had neglected my 2 brats for an hour or so.
This ‘train’ is actually the case of a 3-tier toyogo drawer set, pushed down.
Alycia the ring-leader got stuck in the case and cried out for help but evil mummy said “serves you right” … and then pulled her out and gave her a good lecture.
My gals love to blow bubbles and their ever pampering daddy and ku ku (sil #4) always buy them bubbles to blow. When these bubbles run out, the gals will plead for their kakak to blow them bubbles using bath shampoo during bathtime. Alycia has even discovered by chance her skill of making a huge bubble out of bath shampoo on the rim of the toilet seat. All she has to do is to sit on the toilet seat after I’ve smothered her body with bath shampoo and then move her bum forward and backward the toilet seat and voila… a huge bubble covers the entire toilet seat and both the gals find it so amusing.
This is the new toy that DH secretly bought his 2 angels from Mid Valley Megamall yesterday… a school bus tent. Well, I shall see how long this new toy can sustain the gals’ interest before being chucked into the storeroom if it is lucky enough to remain intact or being ripped apart into pieces.
Hello mummy… I love this yellow school bus…. “the wheels on the bus goes round and round, round and round, round and round…”
Taking turns to play bus driver and school children. This bus even comes with an inflatable steering wheel that’s attachable to the tent. The driver on the bus goes honk honk honk, all through the hall.
Today, DH took a day off from work to bring the gals to Mid Valley Megamall as he wanted to bring them for a ride on Thomas Tank & Friends, which made its debut appearance in Malaysia. We had thought the rides were free as advertised in the papers, but I think DH missed the small * sign which says ‘conditions apply’… hiyah…. rides are free only with minimum purchase of RM80 on Thomas & Friends merchandise.
The best shot I managed to snap of Thomas Tank before being told to back off for the reporters and the Sunbeam pre-schoolers.
Thomas & Friends merchandise on display.
Now I really like this Thomas & Friends bed.
The crowd was crazy and there were reporters everywhere. A group of Sunbeam pre-schoolers were the very first few lucky guests to have their rides on Thomas Tank and they were teated like VIPs as the reporters were busy snapping their pix away. I was even told to give way when I tried to snap pix of my 2 gals, wtf.
Anyway, the Thomas & Friends train was not as impressive as I’d expected, as can be seen from the pix. Similar and longer rides can be taken at 1 Utama Shopping Centre and they only cost RM3 per ride. I would say Metro Jaya has succeeded in its marketing strategy to draw a huge crowd, mostly doting parents and grandparents as well as Thomas & Friends fans who are willing to part with RM80 or more to buy Thomas & Friends merchandise, then spend half an hour queuing up to pay for the merchandise and then waste another half an hour queuing up for the train ride that only lasted less than 5 minutes. The toys were not even cheap and I saw people grabbing them as though they were on cheap sale without batting an eyelid and hurriedly ran to the cashier to pay in order to get tickets for the train rides. DH was almost one of the ‘vicims’, if not for my wise and quick intervention…. ahem.
After joining in the craze with Thomas & Friends fans, we all went to have dim sum at Spring Valley Chinese Restaurant. After that, we got Alycia a pair of Disney’s Winnie The Pooh shoes as her old shoes were wearing out and her feet are outgrowing them, and btw her shoes cost way more than mine.
While I went for my monthly retail theraphy, DH brought the gals to the indoor theme park at Jaya Jusco before we headed to Little Penang Cafe to satisfy sil #2’s craving for local delights before she flies back to HK next week. After satisfying sil #2’s crave, DH brought wife boss to Papa Beard to get her 5 deliciously sinful cream puffs.
Whilst I was away on my retail spree, DH quietly bought the gals yet another toy. DH sure knows when to buy… when wife boss is not around to stop him from pampering his 2 angels :roll eyes: Shall take pix of the new toy and post them in my blog soon.
More fun with daddy at the indoor theme park at Jaya Jusco whilst mummy goes for her monthly retail theraphy.
Batteries conked out after 5 hours of continuous fun, eating and shopping. Look at Alycia’s cranky face… well settling down the gals back home is yet another story/battle.
I am sure those who bought the Star newspapers today got an insert of a huge, attractive and colourful flyer from Toys R Us. Whenever Alycia and Sherilyn see these flyers, they will go oooohh & aaahhh and the 2 of them will spend a good half an hour studying each and every toy advertised in the flyer, discussing amongst themselves what to ask daddy to buy. Now, that’s another free and good breather opportunity for me.
Let’s ask daddy tonight to buy us this, this and this toys, k.
Good taste you two have darlings…. that rabbit slide set costs RM449.95 Alycia girl…. and Sherilyn sweetie that playhouse cost RM1,299 wei… u think your daddy is a millionaire?
Sisters play turn ugly… Alycia snatched the flyer away from Sherilyn. Now, that’s a very good excuse for mummy not to buy anyone any toys.
We spent our Sunday lepaking at PJ Hilton again yesterday. In case some of you are wondering why my DH always brings us to hotels for buffet meals, well that’s because he has already pre-paid for them. He has paid RM400+ on membership fee (for each hotel) at the Hilton Hotel, Shangri-La Hotel and Sheraton group of hotels. That’s more than RM1,200+ for a 1-year subscription to 3 groups of hotels. So when the two of us dine at these hotels, we get 50% off the total bill. If there are more than 2 diners, we enjoy a 30% discount on the total bill (F&B only). On top of that, for each hotel, we are entitled to 2 nights free hotel stay. Last year, we stayed at the Hilton Sentral Hotel together with my parents and my brothers/SIL where we celebrated my mum’s 60th birthday there. Later, we stayed at the Westin Hotel (member of the Hilton Group) during X’mas. This year, we have yet to utilize the free hotel stays. Gotta start planning now for a short holiday. I love!
These pix were taken yesterday at PJ Hilton.
The gals enjoying their meals. Sherilyn just wouldn’t let go of her heart-shape violet color helium-filled balloon.
Both Alycia and Sherilyn are crazy over balloons. On most Sundays, DH would bring us to a hotel for lunch and what excites the gals most is not food but the balloons from the clown.
Alycia inflating a balloon with a hand-pump.
Artist at work… Sherilyn’s drawing of some square balloons.
Mummy…. I drew one, two, three, four, five, six…. seven balloons on my Doodle.
I always wished there were more than 24 hours to a day so that I can do more for my gals, more for myself & DH and lastly get more SLEEP. I hate to see precious time being wasted, I don’t like me or my gals sitting around not doing anything purposeful. This perhaps, may be contributed by the fact that I once worked at 3 large organizations where time was of the essence and I was constantly put in a pressure-cooker, always rushing to meet deadlines for my bosses and always had to do multiple tasks at any one time. I rarely had the luxury to go out for long lunches with my colleagues and most of the time, I had my lunches behind my PC, one hand typing / checking e-mails and one hand biting a quick and easy-to-eat lunch.
I like to read to my gals when they are having their meals, drinking their milk or sitting on their potty doing their little poopy business. This is what I normally do with my gals to maximise our time :
Flashing cards on shapes to Alycia & Sherilyn before their afternoon nap.
Sherilyn fixing an educational board puzzle whilst doing her little poopy biz on her potty, with Alycia lending a helping hand.
I used to bring Alycia and Sherilyn to the playground to jog and play everyday so that they can get their daily doses of free Vitamin D from the sun, sweat it out to remove toxins from their little body and to breathe in fresh air to their lungs and brains. A good physical program is in fact the foundation to a good mental and physical health of a child. Of late, I’ve neglected my gals quite a bit :guilty:, also the weather is crazy… mornings will be scorching hot and evenings will be wet. The weather this morning was lovely… it was a tad cloudy and windy, just my perfect kind of weather for an outdoor activitiy and I jumped at the opportunity to bring the gals out to let out their long-stored overcharged energy. Boy, they went crazy at the playground like a just released puppy that has been caged for a long time.
Alycia and Sherilyn reading on my bed. Note : Sherilyn busy counting away with her fingers.
Sherilyn reading her favourite book.
Alycia learning to read from her Leap Frog.
On most nights before bed, I will either read to Alycia and Sherilyn or sometimes the gals prefer to ‘read’ on their own and Alycia will tell me to go to my room to do my own things and not to kacau them. You see, so young and they already want their own space and want me to get lost :shake head:
The gals can sometimes ‘read’ independently an entire book, especially if it’s their favourite books. I think it’s more of them memorizing the pages. Anyway, I am glad that my gals have acquired the love for books and hope that this will be their lifelong love as there is no better and cheaper way to broaden one’s horizons than to keep reading, always.
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