Learning to Recycle!

I learnt the importance of recycling during my stay in US a few years ago, when my hubby was sent there for work. Recycling not only reduces wastage and garbage, but also helps to save energy, water and resources such as trees used to manufacture products. This in turn protects our environment, and more importantly, our planet Earth, our home.

When I visited Japan last year, I was even more impressed with the way they encourage recycling. Walking around in their streets, you will notice they have many recycling bins, but very very few rubbish bins. This truly is remarkable, and really helps to discourage wastage. I've even watched videos about how they cut open their milk cartons, wash and dry them before placing them into the recycle bin! The trip to Japan was inspiring, and upon returning home, I've decided to convey the importance of recycling to C.

Recycle
We have used an old printer box that was large enough and had labelled it "RECYCLE". We place all our items that can be recycled in here, instead of just tossing them in the trash bin. C had also been taught to look out for the recycle logo. And meanwhile, I love how this Sesame Street Sticker book has a section that teaches kids about recycling. C learnt about how recyclable items can be further sorted into PAPER, GLASS and PLASTICS.

Reduce, Re-use and Recycle.

Paper, Plastic or Glass?

Every little effort counts, and we have to recognize that each action taken contributes towards making the world a better place for our children in future! 

Re-use

Here's a little game we made yesterday, re-using old toilet paper rolls. We call it Stack the Rolls! This game helps kids with counting, recognizing colours as well as hone their balancing skills.

Painting the paper rolls with various colours.

Placing a Red roll according to the Colour Chart.

Objective is to stack rolls without toppling!

You can even use the rolls as bowling pins!
C is seen here testing her bowling skills!

You will need:

-18 toilet paper rolls (painted red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple, 3 each)

-1 die

-2 players

How to play:

Each player takes turn to roll the die. Stack the rolls according to the number you rolled on the die. Refer to colour chart. If you roll a number that has run out, you get to skip your turn. The objective is to stack the rolls without toppling, and the player who gets to place the last roll without toppling is the winner! 

You can download the Stack the Rolls Colour Chart here: Stack the Rolls!

Hope you have fun with the game! 

And don't forget to Reduce, Re-use and Recycle!

Happy Lantern Festival! 元宵节快乐!

Today is the last day of the Lunar New Year celebrations, and it is also known as 元宵节 (Yuan Xiao Jie). It is also the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, which marks the first full moon of the lunisolar year. On this day, we celebrate by eating a traditional dessert called 汤圆(Tang Yuan). 圆yuan = round, and 汤tang = soup. So Tang Yuan basically refers to a dessert made of  round rice balls cooked in sugary soup. It is believed that the round shape of the balls as well as the bowls they are served in, symbolize family togetherness. Eating these rice balls are also supposed to bring the family happiness and good luck in the new year.

C and I thought it will be a wonderful occasion to get together as a family and make the dessert with each other. We headed over to my Mum's with the ingredients and started preparing the dish after lunch. It's really simple to make, and the main ingredients for the rice balls are glutinous rice flour and water. As for the soup, we used brown sugar, pandan leaves and a small knob of ginger. You can also add food colouring to the dough to make the rice balls more colourful. C and her cousins used red, green and blue.

Green dough by J.

Pink dough by C.

After rolling the dough into tiny balls, the girls decided to add their own touches to the dish. They thought adding faces would be cute! Haha.

The girls made faces for the rice dumplings!

Kids can really be creative, and they are pretty good at coming up with their own creations! My sister-in-law and I were glad to go with the flow.

Do you spot some animals in there?

Girls having fun making Tang Yuan!

The rice balls are boiled and then added into the
sugar syrup.

Ta-da! A bowl of  汤圆 made by the girls!

Besides eating Tang Yuan, Lantern Festival traditionally is also a time for children to head out at night with various shapes of lanterns and solving riddles on lanterns (猜灯谜).

Overall, I think it is important that our children learn and experience the various traditions in our Chinese culture, and  元宵节 (Yuan Xiao Jie) definitely is a wonderful occasion to get together with family!

Life Skills

When we were in Bangkok last week, the hotel served pancakes for breakfast and C LOVED it! So we thought to make our very own pancakes for breakfast this morning. C helped with mixing the eggs, milk and flour.

C busy whisking the eggs.

Gently stirring in the flour after adding milk,
vanilla essence and molasses.

Topping off the pancakes with Maple Syrup!
Yummy!

C even helped me with my coffee!

Helping herself to the pancakes.

Delicious! Two thumbs up!

C does get a great sense of satisfaction when she helps out in various tasks. A while ago, I had come across a quotation by Ann Landers, quoted below.

I really do agree with it very much, and equipping our children with life skills even at an early age is important. Here's a list of simple life skills that even our children can learn at a young age.

• Dressing themselves
• Helping with the laundry
• Cleaning the house
• Preparing their own meals

Dressing themselves:

Learning to put on and take off their own clothes is part of our children gaining independence. I started C off with simple pullovers and pants, before proceeding to different types of buttons and zippers.

Stud buttons that easily snap on or off.

Zippers.

Regular buttons that require fine motor skills.

Putting on her socks before wearing her own shoes is also one of the tasks she can handle easily now. Whenever we return home, she also understands to take them off and place them nicely in her laundry basket.

C is also into lacing activities that will prep her for wearing shoes with laces in future.

I laminated the printouts to make them durable.

To reinforce the holes punched out, I used seal
stickers as shown in the picture below.

Tools needed to make the lacing activities.
Just add on an old pair of shoelaces and you
are all set!

C having a go at this lacing activity.
The spider web was her idea!

You can download the lacing activities here: Lacing Fun!

Helping with the laundry:

C is extremely happy to help with sorting out clothes from the dryer. Younger kids can be assigned to sort out socks into matching pairs.

Sorting out socks into pairs.

Placing folded clothes into her own wardrobe.

Cleaning the house:

Tidying up after play is something that C had been taught since she was much younger. As with most kids, she needs reminding once in a while. But it is a simple duty that young kids can do to help keep the house clean and tidy. Toys can be stored in boxes that are labelled for easy keeping.

Another chore that C loves to help out with is wiping down low shelves with a tiny cloth. She has even tried mopping and vacuuming the floor! Children can really be a good help if they are allowed the chance!

Preparing their own meals:

Kids are really enthusiastic about being able to help in the kitchen as well, and when they prepare their own meals, they definitely feel proud and tend to be more keen in eating the food they prepared! 

Young children can help to spread butter or cream cheese on slices of bread, or help in the simple mixing of ingredients like eggs and flour. Any mess can be cleaned up, but the experiences our children learn for themselves are definitely worth it!

Meanwhile, this list is still growing as C discovers she can do a lot more things on her own in future!

Playtime in Bangkok!

We're back from a wonderful holiday in Bangkok! It was a lovely cool 16 degrees when we first touched down at Suvarnabhumi airport, so it was a delightful surprise. C loves cool weather so she was excited to feel the cool breeze on her skin!

C enjoying a welcome drink at the hotel!

We stayed at Grande Centrepoint Hotel and I highly recommend this hotel to anyone who is travelling with family. The location is fabulous as it is situated directly next to the BTS and MRT stations, plus it is linked directly to an awesome shopping mall called Terminal 21. There are lots of unique stores to do your shopping, and many restaurants located in the upper levels of the mall. There's even a foodcourt called Pier 21, where you get to choose from a wide variety of choices at affordable prices. We were intrigued with the concept of the mall, where each level is designed and themed according to different cities of the world.

London Subway.

San Francisco - Golden Gate Bridge.
They even placed mini cars on the bridge!

Istanbul City. 

Sumo Wrestlers from Japan!

The hotel room also comes equipped with a full fledged kitchenette, with cutlery, plates and even a washer/dryer which is extremely handy for unexpected laundry that needs to be done. We were lucky to get a spacious room on the 32nd storey, so the view was pretty spectacular.

Complete kitchenette with stove, kettle and utensils.
Even comes with a washer and dryer!

Spacious bathroom with bathtub and separate shower area.

Our comfy King sized bed.

View from the 32nd storey.

C totally enjoyed the hotel room as it was spacious enough for her to run around in! That aside, she also enjoyed two indoor playgrounds we brought her to.

Kidzania Bangkok

C was super excited!

Kidzania Bangkok. Entrance was designed as airport counters
where you check-in before entering.

We totally love the concept of Kidzania! This is a city built for kids, where they get to role-play in different jobs and learn to perform tasks on their own. I think it's a great idea to allow kids to be absolutely independent as parents are requested to stay outside while the kids are on duty. The first stop was for C to visit the bank and collect some Kidzos (the currency that they use in Kidzania).

Happy to visit the bank all by herself!

When children perform certain tasks, they are paid in Kidzos, which they can then use to make purchases at the departmental store if they earn enough. This really motivates the children and allows them to feel a sense of achievement.

Independent and queuing up on her own.
C's first choice - to work in a hospital.

Kids get to work in a photo studio.

A sushi restaurant where kids learn to make sushi.

Kids get to train as a pilot!

A sports stadium for kids.

Kids learn to harvest tomatoes. They even get to
deliver tomatoes to a ketchup factory!

Aspiring vets-to-be can work in a veterinary clinic.

C's next stop. To learn to be a chef in the culinary school!

Kids can also try their hand at being a journalist.
This is only for older kids 6 years and above.

Police department.

Petrol Kiosk.

Children can attend safety driving lessons.

Kid Firefighters putting out a fire in a building!

C was the youngest kid in the culinary class.

C sitting in class.

Proud of her finished product! 

Oishi Green Tea Factory where C learned how green tea is made.

Picking out real green tea leaves.

C learning to be a dentist!

Dentistry on a fake patient.

C's earnings for the day!

Overall, it was a very good experience for C. She really enjoyed herself thoroughly and we are excited that Kidzania is opening in Singapore come April! Will definitely visit again when we have the chance. If you happen to be planning a holiday in Bangkok with your kids, it may be worthwhile to check Kidzania out.

Kidzania Bangkok

Address: Siam Paragon, 5th Floor

BTS: Siam

Telephone: +66 (0) 26831888

Imaginia Playland

Another playground we brought C to is Imaginia Playland located in Emporium shopping complex. It's a great place for kids to expend their energy. The Time Tube Slider and the Dream Jungle were C's favourites.  Other highlights include the Sound Cloud where kids get to play different sounds of animals or musical instruments selected via an interactive touch screen. Here are some pictures to share.

A play area where kids get to climb and slide.

Interactive shadow play area.

Playing Hide-and-Seek!

Inflatable Mountain where children can test their
climbing skills.

The Time Tube Slider.

C had so much fun with this she kept going back
for more!

The Dream Jungle. Kids get to climb a web like structure
and slide down at the end.

Building blocks to ignite your child's creativity
and imagination.

A virtual colouring station called Wonder Car.

Colours are projected onto a screen.

At the end, you have an option to email your artwork to
yourself if you are happy with it.

C spent two hours here and she thoroughly enjoyed the experience! If you are in Bangkok and looking for a place to let your kids expend their energy, Imaginia Playland is a pretty good playground to consider.

Imaginia Playland

Address: 3rd Floor of Emporium Shopping Mall

BTS: Phrom Phong

Tel: +66(0)2 664 8337