Funny Turkey!

Le Xin and I crafted a very funny turkey together....Couldn't really remember why we did it, perhaps it was just one of the random things we created!

Here's how we did it....

 Paint, brushes and a small basin of water for washing....

First was the painting of Le Xin's foot...She did it all by herself~ Well done my darling girl :)

Little hands @ Work

Getting ready to print her foot....

I need to step on the paper right? asked Le Xin

Mummy, I can do it let me wash the brush please said Le Xin

Anyone wants a chocolate foot?

Doing the cleaning up of her foot by herself....

Next, she went on with the painting of her hand....

Cleaning her hand after forming her hand print.....

All printed by Le Xin and nicely cut out by MummyT2X

Observing her prints.....

Putting glue to get everything nicely done up....

Then we added googly eyes and a funny mouth.....

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Ta Ta.......Our Funny Turkey :)

Looking nice and good......what big smile you have!

Always choose to spend  your time wisely with your child...

Ending this post with my favourite quote from  Diane Loomans entitled "If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again"

If I had my child to raise all over again,

I’d build self-esteem first, and the house later.

I’d finger-paint more, and point the finger less.

I would do less correcting and more connecting.

I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.

I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.

I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.

I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.

I’d do more hugging and less tugging.

Act Now and Avoid Regrets!

Balloon Printing 2

Remember a year ago I did balloon printing with Le Xin? Ohh yes, I wanted to try it out again after a year  to see how she has progressed. 

This was what happened....

Excited to get started...

Paint and balloon are essentially the only things you need...

I bought my acrylic paint - $2 for 20ml  and postal paint $2 for 50ml

That's a good deal I thought :)

Le Xin dipping the balloon onto the paint...

Forming the print....

Trying out a different colour...

Dipping...

She was blotting and I realised the paint splattered  all over, so I think it was a better idea to have Le Xin to put on her yellow apron instead...

Observing the print...

This is such an easy learning experience to carry with any child. Go try it if you haven't,  most children simply love it. Sorry about the lack of update, I need to get every post up and ready before she turns 4. I have been very busy lately but guess what "LAZY people always think they are the busiest people on earth" so I have decided to stop having a busy (actually lazy) mindset on my head and get things going. I will and must make time to blog for my princess. 

I always have people asking me why I choose to spend so much time with my daughter doing art and craft? Yes you can tell from the number of blog entries I contributed under Aesthetic and Creativity. Sometimes, I find it hard to just say "It's good because it helps her to express her creativity" .

Sounds too cliche to me isn't it? 

Then guess what?

Recently, I read something really inspiring from the latest copy of Guide for Parents with Children in Child Care Centres. It says "We should be concerned about how far our children go, rather than how fast our children start. A fast start without strong foundations will not allowed our child to go far. A gradual start with strong foundations will certainly allow our children to go further" - From Mr Chan Chun Seng from MSF. 

 This kinda helps me to answer that question.... 

More often than not, teachers will ask the children to speed up when engaging in most activities at school . The big idea is to complete and not to learn and enjoy the process. The limitation of time with having so many things to do and a high ratio are all common problems that many early childhood educators faced in Singapore. 

Therefore, when the child is at home. WE PARENTS SHOULD NOT HAVE EXCUSES!

 Art and craft is one the best way to engage your child. I wrote tons of entries to advocate the need to PLAY and be engaged with ART! The reason is a simple one... because I strongly believe I am laying a strong foundation for Le Xin in different aspects. Strong foundation should never be based on only academic performances such as drilling your child with endless worksheets and attending many enrichment classes over a week. Strike a balance!

To wrap things up, always check your beliefs on how young children learn. Go into their world and learn with them and you realised you will relive your second childhood with a very different perspective.

Ending with a video of Le Xin laughing as she blotted!

Celebrating Mid Autumn Festival for the 2nd time!

This was what I did with Le Xin about a year ago. This year, I decided to get her to create her own lantern for Mid Autumn Festival. 

This is what we need ---> a pre-cut empty bottle and a piece of cellophane paper Le Xin chose blue, her favourite colour :)

I can see you Mummy said Le Xin, hence learning the concept of transparency...

Apply some glue on the bottle....

Wrap the bottle with a blue cellophane paper....

Wrap the other side...

 Nice?

Next, use felt paper for the eyes....

I can paste this :)

Pasting the nose :)

 Now the whiskers...

 Hooray.....time for the googly eyes...

One for each side...

 Little Hands @ Work!

Posing with the kitty lantern.....

She was very excited to play with it...

Lifting the lantern up to find out what happen...

Wow, what a nice glow~ 

Next, we brought Le Xin outdoors to play with her lantern....

 

Our cute lantern.....

She enjoyed playing indoor too....

She was fascinated with casting a shadow with her lantern.....

It's great experience crafting this lantern together with Le Xin. I like the idea that we made our own lantern by ourselves to celebrate Mid Autumn Festival. I didn't expect the outcome was so fun and interesting. Working with everyday objects, such as an empty bottle, we could tap on our creativity to learn how to make things work. The process of designing and creating was the most meaningful. Even DaddyScott who just came home from work was interested in our mini project and he contributed by helping us to attach  a bulb for our lantern. 

How do you inspire your child to create?

Leaving you guys with this cute video of Le Xin going for her "lantern walk" :)

Painting with Longan branches

Remember in August I posted this? This is the followup activity where I used the branches of the fruits to get Le Xin to paint.

Let's check out her learning experience.

Ready to start

Firstly, press the acrylic paint into the pallet. 

Mix using one of the branches 

Next, use the branches to paint!

Le Xin observing the branches....

The marks she formed!

Let's try a different colour....

Going back to the first colour

Little finger @ work :)

This time round, Le Xin decided she wanted to press the paint onto a plate instead....

A video of her painting....

Le Xin often gains the feeling of success and competency when she is engaged in something that she likes to do. In this case, a learning experience which involved painting was one of the her favourite.  To me, it is important to build on Le Xin's interest by providing different tools, exposing her to different techniques and offering a variety of media for her to create her artwork. This helps her to explore the different elements of arts where her ideas and thoughts could be reflected in her creation!