Mould and Paint - Mermaids

Le Xin was really excited to open up her Christmas present (given by Daddy Scott) since the day she received it. However, it took us quite a while before we finally had the opportunity to work on it...Somehow, I am just too busy with other committments and I am feeling mad guilty about it.

 

Here's it is, the last post for the year 2012.....I will not be blogging new entries for the year 2013 yet because I am backdating Le Xin's baby posts before I continue! Haha for those who haven't see Le Xin as a small baby, you will get to see them on this blog now! Label under as Life As A Baby!

For now, let's check out our adventure as we embarked on our first project to mould and paint.

Le Xin with her Christmas Present!

After snipping the corner of the packet containing the plaster powder, Le Xin helped to pour the powder into the mixing bowl

She carefully used a syringe to draw 10ml of water

Then she pushed the syringe to remove the water...

Next, Le Xin used a chopstick to stir the powder

After exploring for quite a while, we gathered it's better to use a spoon instead, so Le Xin stirred the mixture again with a small blue spoon and transfered the sticky plaster into a mould with 6 assorted mermaid designs

I am quite surprised that Le Xin was actually quite good at this!

I noticed that the plaster was starting to harden so I asked Daddy Scott to give Le Xin a helping hand

Daddy Scott showed Le Xin how to scoop the remaining plaster and Le Xin observed carefully

We left the mould to set for a few hours...and when I try to lift up the mould to put it aside, hey! It started to feel quite hot...Wow! I was amazed and got Le Xin to touch it too and Le Xin said Hot! Daddy Scott said there was somekind of chemical reaction going on that caused the heat to be produced...yeah  I agree and think that's the logic behind it :)

When the plaster has completely hardened, I carefully removed them from the mould and Le Xin was very excited to paint the mermaids hahaha...

Le Xin carefully used her mini brush to paint the first mould....

Choosing the colour she wanted to use to paint her mermaid....

Finally, she used a big brush to paint all over....haha looking at her made me understood the true meaning of creativity because

Just by looking at our work.....you could clearly tell which were the ones that were painted by me....haha am I right? This is the one thing that is truly amazing about children! Somehow I just like how they mix colours....

Each time I obseve Le Xin, I gain new insight on how young children learn and it also helps me to  perceive things in a different way. Sometimes, it's difficult to express such a feeling through words. I often get to witness the wonder of learning when I am interacting with Le Xin, somehow, it just appears so naturally as if it has always been there.

Merry Christmas!

 3rd time spending Christmas together.......I am loving her more and more each day :)

Christmas Craft #4: Making A Christmas Tree

I was really motivated to make lot's of Christmas Crafts with Le Xin in December but it was a pity I fell very sick in the middle of the month and so I could not craft with her as many things as I've planned. The worst thing was I didn't even manage to celebrate my birthday with her at all. Lying on the bed flat with fever and flu. Sobz sobz.....how sad :( 

 

Initially, I planned to make a 3D Christmas tree made from materials collected from our nature walk on Christmas Day. Sadly, even on Christmas Day, I was down with stomachache. Fortunately, I still managed to do a small 2D Christmas tree with her and I've gotten her to collect some materials from our outdoor visit at the Park where the materials were later kept in our mini Atelier :)

 

Here are some of the photos taken.....please note that certain captions do not represent her actual thoughts or the things she said......as usual if she really did say certain things they will be in red font!

 

I printed out a Christmas Tree template for her to paint...so she applied some gluestick on a drawing board to paste her template

 

Waving her brush, she started painting the tree.....

 

She continued painting till her tree was covered with green paint.....When I asked her What colour should we use for the pot below? She pointed at it and replied I want blue.......How boring Mummy was, I thought she was going to choose brown :p We left the painting aside for it to dry...

 

Time for outdoors! I said. Would you like to collect some materials at the park today? I asked and she nodded her head and replied Yes... Then I asked again Would you like to use something to store your materials? She looked up and kept quiet for a moment, so I suggested What about your Christmas Bag? She immediately went to her dramatic corner and picked up the Christmas Bag that I bought for her at Daiso.Then I took a photo of her holding her bag before we left. Aww~ I know I mad about taking photos of her every now and then but I can't help it. She was just too cute in her outfit that day!

 

For some reasons or so, I felt Le Xin looked very tiny in a big park whahaha :)

 

Hmmm......what should I put inside?

 

Hooray, I spotted some twigs!

 

Let's keep the twig first...

 

Le Xin continued to pick up lots of twigs as she went for her stroll when I asked What about dried brown leaves, do you want to pick them up too? She shook her head and replied I dont want leaves I want this as she showed her bag of twigs to me haha so I need to respect her wish and allowed her to continued exploring the park by picking the twigs which she preferred.

 

When she became bored of collecting the twigs, she passed the bag to me and said Mummy carry this... Wow.... now she knows how to bully her mummy right?

 

The next day, it was time for us to continue our Christmas Tree. Firstly, I helped Le Xin to cut out the outline of the tree and she was fully in charge of the decoration.....

 

She helped herself with the glue stick.....

 

Refining her fine motor skills while she was pasting the materials she chose....

 

I recalled how she used to struggle  pasting her glitter stickers but not anymore....her fingers could handle them now haha:) good job my friend!

 

Wondering why this image looks so blur? Le Xin was actually dancing with her Christmas Tree!

 

Somehow Le Xin just felt that there was a need for her to tilt her head when I said Let's take a photo of you and your Christmas Tree!.....Funny girl :p 

 

Le Xin looking at her Christmas Tree and I asked her,....Can you remember what materials did you use?

 

Alright that's all folks....enough of me posing here and there :p

  

A simple 2D Christmas Tree which all toddlers can do, I only guided her where to paste the star which I cut out from a piece of felt material... :) Crafting Projects done by Le Xin and I often reflect my intention of wanting to be part of her learning.....

 

I value my interaction with Le Xin that is why I focus on the way I conduct each and every activity with her.....Everytime we revisit the various learning experiences by reading the blog entries on Ipad I would say something such as That's what we did the other day, can you remember the Chirstmas Tree created by us? Hopefully such words like "we" and "us" will help Le Xin to understand that Mummy is delighted  to be involved in her learning, definitely not doing things for her......but with her :

 

I would like to end off this post by sharing the importance of displaying children's work. Be it in a school setting or at home, everytime when you put up a child's work, it naturally turns the exhibit as a tool for dialogue. The display pannel with children's work gives a strong visibility to learning and teaching. As children and adults look at the display, they revisit, reflect and explore the different ways of creating something. It's like evaluating what else can be done or how can we do it another way. Processes of thoughts such as analysing, observing, interpretating, problem solving, and questioning might just take place and that's sooooooooo important. It's not just about what you ought to do but it's also about how you can learn to make connections, how you can find answers and best of all how you work with the next project after you have gain prior experience in your previous work.

MFS Opening Ceremony for Bedok 3

Here's a short update on what happened to my darling girl during the Opening Ceremony of her preschool - My First Skool at Bedok 3...

She did a short performance that day with her classmates and I am so proud of her.

She sang and played with her instrument :p It's better than what I expected, afterall she is only a toddler and I thought it was good enough that she was not frighten to see a big crowd in front of her...

I was really excited to see her performance and I was really eager to find out what her reaction would be when she saw my mother in law and me... She smiled at us the whole time when we waved to her...how sweet!

Here were some of the photos taken on that day...

She seemed to know that people are taking photos of them.....

Yes and one of them is your Mummy!

MIL was like Yiyun pai pai....pai duo yi dian :p

Was quite mad that my shot turned out quite blur....

Le Xin had lots of fun shaking the bell!

Towards the right.....Le Xin's pretty principal - Ms Pamela :)

Haha Le Xin's reindeer headband was definitely nicer than the one we made at home...

I am very curious to find out what was she thinking about when she was performing....

Not too bad managed to capture her captivating smile.....hmmmm feel like kissing her to no end!

Le Xin tapped her bell.....as the music plays.....so cute! haha everything was cute and nice to me on that day! I was just a very happy mum at that moment :)

I wish my legs are as flexible as hers.....she could sit in such a position for such a long time :)

Ah Ma and Le Xin Zhu Zhu!

Mummy and Baby Le Xin!

Another close up shot with Mummy.....

Ah Ma: You want hotdog?

Eh....isn't Le Xin eyeing on the hot dog all this while? :p

Yeah Ah Ma is the best!

My piglet!

MIL was definitely quite excited to take a photo with Mr Lim Swee Say!

Alright's the end of this post! It's a great experience attending the Opening Ceremony. When I entered the school, I could tell that so much of hard work was put in for this event. The teachers in Bedok 3 really did their best effort to decorate the place.... Well done :) I really appreciate the fact that the parents were invited for this event, at least I get to see my darling girl performing......Ending this post with two short videos of Le Xin...haha Ms Pamela was more excited than the children it seems :p

Outdoor Fun @ East Coast Park again....

Remember my previous post on East Coast Park.....here we are at the Beach once again! This time it's me, Le Xin and Daddy Scott! As usual the fun goes on.......

First up, it was some sandplay where Daddy Scott taught Le Xin how to use a sand mould...

 

As usual Le Xin appeared to enjoy scooping up the water with her watering can :)

 

As she waters the sand, I highlighted to her how the sand changes in colour and texture...

 

And we knew that Le Xin could not "tahan" anymore haha she really wanted to have some fun in the water....as she kept looking at the sea! So we changed her into her swimswim and she really looks freaking cute...so keep reading till the last part of this post okay?

 

Time to bring Le Xin to experience the waves .....it was MAD FUN!

 

After playing for a while I tried to convience her to come up to play with the sand again....as the wind was really strong....I was afraid that she will catch a cold but she kept turning back to look at the sea ohh nooooooo haha :)

 

Alright....I gave up! She kept pulling me back to the sea to play with her......

 

 

Le Xin bent down a few times to touch the water......it was a thrilling experience for her!

We do know that the waves in the sea is very much different from the water in a pool play for the movement of the waves kept her excited :p

 

The best shot that Daddy Scott took!

Reason Number 1: He chopped off my head whahahahha

Reason Number 2: The holding of hands reflect an unexplainable closeness of bonding!

 

Then he continued to take EMO shot again! Quite pro yeah next time whose wedding can look for MR Scott Koh whahaha! I deliberately changed the colour to black and white! My friends always say black and white photo with sepia and warmify effect makes the photo looks dreamy....thus giving an emotional feel to the photo.....actually the two of us were very hot! It's was still quite sunny :p

 

Next was Le Xin trying to balance in the water with some ballet movement and I praised her that she was so good because she could lift up her leg 90 degrees so she kept doing it to impress me funny right? Yahoooooo! That's the joy that you will receive when you spend your time with your child/children!!!!

 

I think Daddy Scott kept snapping photos of us like nobody's business even when we closed our eyes he still took photos of us....haha this photo looks like we are undergoing some kind of water baptism right? :p

 

I couldn't stop laughing at Le Xin who kept lying against me as if I was some kind of pillow LOL!

 

Le Xin must be thinking "Why you keep hiding at one corner to take photos of us instead of joining us in this fun chey! Daddy not sporting 的!"

 

Okay stop! Stop dragging me to the deeper part of the water.....I am scared!

But Mummy was so EVIL :[

 

Mummy: Come on it's not even scary!

Le Xin: Ehhh!!! (Not convienced look)

Mummy:  Too bad :p

 

There is something good about outdoor play indeed. Firstly it allows children to get some fresh air, can you imagine children being constrained in a HDB flat playing the whole day? Outdoor play also helps children to develop an increasing awareness of the natural environment around them. It encourages physical activities, care for the environment and much more......According to research, children who enjoy outdoors have a higher likelihood to enjoy outdoor endeavours when they grow up.

 

When Le Xin went outdoor for a play be it the playground, in the garden or even at the beach....I could see so much joy and laughter in her. I am not an outdoor person. I hate the Sun, but I am thankful that my job as an early childhood educator changes my perception about outdoors.....I still do not take delights in hiking, gardening, jogging, mountain climbing, swimming and etc.... but I do really love and enjoy all the outdoor experiences with children especially catching. I simply love running around with the children in the field and observing butterfly in the garden and many more.......and yes! I love the beach.....It's definitely more exciting and happening than my clubbing experiences at club and pubs during my younger days :p

 

So what's next? I really want to bring my Baby darling to the zoo.......ohh~~~ It's going to be SO FUN!!! Ohhhhh before I forget......I am suppose to end my post with a SUPER DUPER CUTE PHOTO of Le Xin isn't it?

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playing hard to get still......

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Okay I will stop being irritating and childish :p

 

I will throw my clip at you if you say I am not cute!