In my world: The safest lions’ den in the world

I found the lightweight mattress folded into a sofa-like shape in the space in between the kids’ beds the other day.

This, according to DD is the lions’ den. It only has friendly lions. So bunny, is perfectly safe. 🙂

Sometimes in the middle of cleaning the rooms, I discover little gems left behind by the children. This Friday series was started with the intention of celebrating the imagination and creativity in a young child’s world…and hoping that it’ll bring a little ray of inspiration and joy to your day, as it does mine.

Preschooler Art: Q-tip painting

A generally low mess painting activity…

…up until the son decides it might be more fun to dot his feet…
…and the surrounding floor instead of the artblock sheet…

Alphabet Wall: Making…A for Aeroplane

This craft is purposely intended to be simple and not too detailed, as you may need to, or want to, make multiples of it to withstand the kind of play it’ll probably undergo. Ours already started getting blunt noses, way before their first test flights. 😉

There’s something rather therapeutic in making many paper aeroplanes together and sailing them back and forth through the air, not to mention it’s great for expending excess pre-schooler energy after a structured craft time. 🙂

You will need the following materials: White A4 sheet of paper, coloured paper, scissors, double sided tape.

1. With your scissors, cut out a slim uppercase letter A from the coloured paper. Attach some double sided tape on the back.

2. Fold a paper aeroplane with the white sheet of paper.

3. Paste on the letter A and we’re done!

4. Whizz on away!

Ours is a really basic paper model, but here is a link  I found, to some really fun sounding experiments in paper aeroplane design and aerodynamics, for kids of all ages(yeah, you and me included!).

Mommy Musings: The pursuit of success

As parents, very naturally (myself included), we tend to measure the success of our ability to pave a foundation towards a bright future for our children, by a few key performance indicators. 

Typically these include, their general behavioural development, the rate at which they achieve their physical milestones in the early years, and their academic achievements in the schooling years.

To be socially adept, in good physical health and possessing the necessary knowledge or skill sets to secure a good livelihood; are qualities viewed in societal norms as logical basic building blocks to an individual’s personal success and ability to stand on their own two feet.

However I was reminded yesterday in Proverbs 1:7-33, that the Bible measures success in a different way. 

To attain the goal of leading enriching lives and achieve enduring happiness, we are called to pursue – wisdom.  What kind of wisdom? And how does one take hold of it?  Breaking down the passage into four chunks…

1. Wisdom starts in the heart – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…”
2. Wisdom is encouraged in an environment of trust and obedience, in the family unit – “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.”
3. Wisdom will be tested on the street, let it be proven to be true and strong – “My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them. For their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood. These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves. Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it.”
4. Wisdom preserves the lives of those who seek it – “…whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

As a mother, I am filled with parental pride when the kids receive praise for good behaviour or promising potential in a particular activity or skill.   And of course, I feel I have accomplished something good when they eat well, and grow well.  🙂

But I am humbly reminded from this passage, that whilst these are noble and necessary yardsticks to aspire to, the overarching yardstick for DH and myself, and for our children to experience successful, i.e. disciplined, prudent and enriching lives, should be the pursuit and attainment of godly wisdom and a reverence for our God and Creator. 

For from this, when they spread their wings and leave the nest eventually, that they will be able to stand, not merely on their own two feet, but on Christ, the solid rock that stands – eternal, unfazed and unchallenged – in the face of all of life’s billows and storms.

In my world: M & M’s

A different interpretation? 😉

Last week, when she arranged these on the carpet, DD said they were many M’s.  This week when I posted the picture on the blog, she said,”Hey, that’s what I arranged”.  And when I asked her what it was again, this was her response…”They are lobstick vegetables! Spinach and canigrass for the horses to eat.” 

Aside from loving the fact that something created today can be defined as anything different in a couple of days (or hours…or minutes!), I also love the words that children make up on the spot, to articulate their ideas. 

What new words does your child come up with to explain their world? 🙂 

Sometimes in the middle of cleaning the rooms, I discover little gems left behind by the children. This is a Friday series I just started, celebrating the imagination and creativity in a young child’s world and hoping that it’ll bring a little ray of inspiration and joy to your day, as it does mine.  🙂

Preschooler Art: Happy!

Kids Say: I can do it!

Last Sunday, our nephew visited and in the evening, both he and DD took their tricycles outdoors to cycle. Not to be left behind, the youngest one, DS, asked to be allowed to bring his “car” out to join them. The “car” essentially looks like this.

So picture this manually driven machine pitted against a tricycle’s potential kinetic power…

As the older kids cycled merrily (and relatively, effortlessly) around the driveway, DS pushed his car forward, paddling furiously with his little legs to keep up. Talk about legwork!

He paused midway to catch a breath, and cheered them on as they cycled around the pillar in the driveway. I was sitting on the doorstep watching, and decided to clap along with and for him, to give him some encouragement as well. But he responded, “No Mummy, you don’t clap for me. I’m clapping for Jie Jie and Ko Ko. You clap when I go round [the pillar].”

And then, mustering up a new burst of energy, he swung his car towards the pillar, and setting a determined face to it, began paddling with all his might. He completed that circuit with a big grin of accomplishment. 🙂

I clapped.
I clapped, with a lump in my throat and tears pricking behind my eyes at the purity of the lesson I’d just gained from my innocent two-year old who had no idea why his mother was smiling and blinking at the same time.
I clapped with a deep pride for his positive outlook, and his never-give-up attitude.

I want to be this big-hearted.

I want to be this positive.

… 

Thank you, son.

Alphabet Wall: Making…V for Vase

I was trying to think of a 3D way to stick some flowers into the vase.

After experimenting with various different ways to cut the paper, I finally decided this met the requirements to be simple enough for young fingers to execute and sturdy enough to hold the flowers. But if you have any other ideas, I’d be really glad to hear from you! 🙂

You will need the following materials: Coloured paper, scissors, double sided tape, glue, silk flowers, marker (optional).

1. With your scissors, cut out a block letter V from one of the sheets of coloured paper. Set aside.

2. Cut out a circle from another sheet of coloured paper. Make a cut from the outside in towards the centre. Paste on double sided tape.

Fold into a cone.

3. Paste the cone onto a third sheet of coloured paper.

4. Paste the letter V onto the cone.

5. Place the silk flowers into the vase.

Mommy Musings: The Emergent Writer

Some time ago, I posted this on the blog.
What I didn’t know at the time, which I have just now learnt, is that DD is beginning to be an Emergent Writer, which is the first stage in writing development. (The subsequent stages are Developing Writers and Fluent Writers).

The following are characteristics of an emergent writer:-

• Draws a picture to tell a story
• Understands that writing is communication in the written form
• Uses scribble writing and symbol writing
• Using left to right progression
• Using initial consonant words
• Using spaces between words
• Selecting writing topics
• Telling a story or “reading” writing to other

Emergent writers, I am told, also sometimes may still confuse the orientation of their letters, e.g. writing a letter in its reverse mirror image.

A page from DD's notebook

About a couple of years ago, a colleague of mine with a 3.5 year old son, told me that she got so incrementally frustrated with her son – who was writing the number 7 in reverse mirror image, despite being told the right way to write it – that after five times of reprimanding, in extreme frustration and misinterpretation that he was doing it on purpose, she lost her temper, shouted at him, and grabbed his offending hand and bit it!

At the time, I was shocked to hear that, but the other day, not knowing about the concept of emergent writing, I too was frustrated with DD when she kept writing the numbers 2, 3 and 4 in reverse mirror image on a counting activity we were working on together. I recalled my colleague’s account, and as I tried to manage my own growing impatience, I now understood her frustration and why she did what she did.

That night, in our usual end of day catch up, I shared about it with DH, and that’s when he told me about emergent writers. Wow, a little understanding of early childhood theory goes a long way!

So now, I’ve gained a deeper appreciation of the little scribbles and stories in DD’s notebook, and the little successes in each progressive work.

It’s a long journey yet, with volumes of literature and theory to burrow through, but I’m going to keep at it, knowing it will help me make sense of the journey (and being reminded it is a journey, not a race!) towards fostering a lifelong love for literacy in our home.

In my world…

…carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaurs always live and move together in harmony as one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sometimes in the middle of cleaning the rooms after their playtime, I discover random little gems – arranged, built and left behind – by the children. So I thought of starting this new series on Fridays, celebrating the boundless imagination and creativity in a young child’s world…and hoping that it’ll bring a little ray of inspiration and joy to your day, as it does mine.  🙂