Tot School: U for Umbrella/Weather Week

Tiger is 22.5 months old

Developmentally, Tiger is progressing well in terms of his speech.

I am so pleased that he is learning to express his needs verbally.

Life is definitely easier when he does.

My little sunshine boy makes me laugh all the time.

One day, while playing "cooking", he asked me "Where mice?"

Mice as in a mouse??? Shit!

Then he lifted his toy knife and said, "There!"

He pronounces his knife as "mice"

^.^

He is still the gentlest little boy with his friends and cousins.

He would give away his toys and food in a heartbeat.

As an almost 2 year-old, he has his occasional tantrums and moments but these are rare

I am truly blessed!

He loves his Mommy/School Time and we spend every moment together when I get home from work.

Yup, even when I shower, he will join me.

He pretends to brush his teeth when I know he just enjoy playing with water and eating the yummy toothpaste :p 

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Here's my boy with his tot trays:

Fine motor and balance:

Inserting golf pegs into Styrofoam and balancing ping pong balls.

This is pretty tough because the board was too thin to hold the pegs properly.

He enjoyed tossing them all over as well

He was still very into the M&D stacking and nesting blocks

This time, after he stacked,  we went around the tower looking for the different alphabets.

Fun!

Reinforcing my suspicion that he is ready for the potty but just refusing to cooperate!

He was actually pretending to poop in this pic...aaarggh...

Spoiled!!!

Pegged puzzle for weather.

He was so fascinated with 'foggy'

I told him, "It's like cloud in your face, so you can't see"

So, foggy now means covering his eyes with his hands

LOL moment!

More fine motor work.

Pushing cocktail umbrellas into Styrofoam.

This is very delicate work as he needed to be very gentle with the paper umbrella.

I had some key chains with China Olympics figurines, so we did some matching as well.

Magnetic board.

I thought this would be too difficult but he LOVED it.

We played with this everyday of the week.

He would insist to put it on the mat, lay out the cushions and instruct me to sit down.

Then he would hand me a magnetic rod, "Mama" and take one for himself, "Tiger"

As he played, I would name the directions, eg: up, down, right, left

See the puppets in the picture above?

He is head-over-heels in love with these guys.

So much so that they are a part of his reading, Little Reader, Tot trays, and sleep.

Sorting

Finally!!! He is sorting..hee hee

Maybe because he chose the activity himself, he was keen??

Revisiting older themes:

In order to reinforce his memory, we will repeat older themes from time to time.

Farm Theme:

This 3-piece farm animal puzzle is one of his favourite.

I sang Old MacDonald so many times :)

Space:

There was a two year old who was recently made a member of Mensa.

He could recite his alphabets forward and backwards, count to 1000 and name the planets.

I told Daddy, "Tiger's nearly there! I just need to push him a little!"

Grandma retorted," I can only hear Earth, Mars, Neptune clearly"

Daddy reminded me that Tiger could only count 1 to 10.

Party poopers!

It's okay babe, I think you are the best *hugs*

This pic was taken after his Tweedlewink class, still in his uniform.

Asking me, "Where Mars?"

Worksheets:

Dot stamping.

Anyone who knows where to get these in Malaysia please leave me a holla!

Art and Craft:

We love glitter around here :)

I coloured the rainbow for him while making different funny sounds like

zig-zig-zig, buzzzzz, etc..

He giggled non-stop :)

While waiting for the glue to dry, we up cycled the 'abandoned'

pipe cleaner tray.

He seriously inherited my OCD.

Arranges EVERYTHING from books to groceries..

Also cleans ALL the time...

He is for hire...price negotiable :p

 Painting with rainbow colours.

Probably one of the cleanest and neatest kiddo on the planet....no need for apron!

Stickers on 1+1+1 =1 rainbow pack

Right brain

I've found the magic keys to e-flash!!

1. Let him click the mouse

2. Tell him that Monkey wants to learn or "Please teach Monkey to read"

Works like a charm everytime..woohoo!

We are making speedy progress :)

Caught Mommy on the camera!

He he...he was doing Little Reader.

Sensory Play

We had fun with the Rainbow Sensory Bin.

Cleaning up the rice ain't that fun...

 Sand play and dinosaurs

Linking up to Tot School at 1+1+1 =1

Contest: Learning with Building Blocks

Mothercare Malaysia is celebrating 25 years of parenting and they are hosting a blogger's contest. Woohoo!

Of course, being the Mothercare fan that I am, this is a must-join contest. Anyone who knows me would know that I am totally in love with the brand's clothing and Early Learning Centre Toys ^.^ 
Here's my boy modelling some of his shopaholic mom's latest purchases:

Grand Prix Sales:

For Little Tiger

For Little Dragon (who is still in utero)

I am a pro early learning mama. Therefore child-directed play is a very important part of our daily rhythm. To me, a toy is more than an object of entertainment. Good quality toys, (in terms of quality, safety and design) encompass more than just fun, it is a learning process for strenghtening of neural connections. From birth, they stimulate visual pathway development, encourage gross motor development and refine fine motor skills. If you have a variety of good quality toys like those from Melissa and Doug or ELC, you don't need a truck load of other sub-quality ones. More value for money indeed.

One of our favourites is Melissa and Doug. Here's their sweet garage story. It is pretty difficult to get Melissa and Doug products locally, more so at a discounted price.  Fortunately for me, Mothercare carries this line and when they are having sales of 20% plus extra 10% for members, SAPU!!

Since there so many of their products that Tiger enjoys playing with, I've had a hard time deciding which one to blog about.

Finally, I decided on the Deluxe Jumbo Cardboard Blocks that we purchased from Mothercare.

He plays with this DAILY.

If you are wondering why buy cardboard? (My MIL asked the same question)

^.^

Well, my Lil Tiger isn't into his Mega Bloks, Duplo or any other plastic open ended toys.

However, he loves boxes, peekaboo, and destroying towers.

Which boy doesn't?

So, this was a logical choice and I was soooo right!



I absolutely love open-ended toys like building blocks as they promote:

Intellectual skills

• Promote logical thinking by focusing on size, colour, shape, weight, leverage and balance
• Enhance spatial awareness.

Physical abilities

• develop gross and fine motor skills
• hand-eye coordination

Social benefits

• Improve social capability by sharing and with friends and siblings.
• Enhance language as imagination takes over 

When I first folded each of the thick paper board into blocks, the edges were rather pointy.

With some play, they were rounded and safe in no time.

These light weight blocks are among his must-play daily items.

Stacking and working on those fine and gross motor coordination.

 Since my Lil Dragon is still in the oven, Lil Tiger learns to share with Mommy.

We also talk about the primary colours, shapes and different sizes of the blocks.

 Working on the blocks by himself, promoting independence.

Showing off his creativity by making a home for his best friend, Meow.

Despite being made from cardboards, these blocks are really sturdy.

I foresee them lasting for a long time.

Furthermore, they are made from paper, sooo environmental friendly :)

One for the archives!

 

Note:

Lil Tiger is 22.5 months

Lil Dragon is 31 weeks along

Shirt & shorts: Mothercare ^.^

Messy Play: Sand, Dinosaurs and More Shopping

Never promise anything unless you are going to do it for sure.

Let me start from Saturday morning, which was spent with one crazy Aunty Sharon minus kids.

After driving for almost 2 hours as directed by my $#!&&X GPS, we arrived at Jln Loke Yew for some  lawyer business.

Then, it took us another 45 minutes before we finally arrived at KLCC, the true destination!

^.^

We, the crazy mommies went for the Mothercare sales.

I realised that during the last sales, I only got Tiger 2 shirts!

Everything else was Lil Dragon's...he he..

So this time, with Tiger in mind, I came home with these:

1. Nine T-shirts (all 25% off)

2. Leapfrog Fridge Words Magnetic Word Builder (15%)

3. Leapfrog Magnet Zoo Animal Playset (15%)

( btw, this is being sold in Mothercare for RM69 while ToyRus was selling at RM118 @.@)

4. White socks (bcoz I love white socks)

5. Medela membrane and valve. (10%)

6. ELC Flashcards (25%)

7. ELC Wipe clean music sheets (25%)

8. Not in picture is a bag of 10kg sand. (25%)

For dinner, we BBQed at Aunty Sharon's house till 11 pm where Tiger played with Lil J.

Before bed, I promised Tiger painting tomorrow.

Since Tiger slept with Grandma and I was not sleepy, I chilled out with Aunty Sharon till two thirty am.

Not very smart!!

At 9 am, the Tiger was banging on the door, shouting, "Mamamamama, go go go"

Half dead or not, I had to roll out of bed.

When I opened the door, he was holding a bottle of yellow paint...LOL!

Daddy pretended he could not hear @.@

We were going to paint when I noticed that it was a cloudy day.

So, sand play it was.

He approached with care since he is such a little 'kiasi' (scared to die)

I buried the fossil and he buried everything else :)

 My little boy was a little fussy when the sand got on his thighs

o.O

He was happier with a mini stool.

Building a sand castle and showing off to Mommy.

 My Little OCD

Notice how clean he is despite being in a sand pit?

Sand play has deeper meaning than dinosaurs or sand castles.

It is actually a form of therapy.

In sand therapy, patients or clients are given a tray of sand and an array of miniature

objects to symbolise their world or hidden feelings.

Pretty interesting stuff here.

Image from google



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On a lighter note, if you are a blogger cum Mothercare nuts like I am.

Please join their blogger contest.

Sharing is caring ^.^



Tot Trays: Umbrella/Weather Week

Right on cue, my pregnancy is making me lazy and slow again.

Last night, I fell asleep while sitting on a chair during school time

I blame The Solar System song.

Tiger kept telling me, "No! Sit!"

He has a no sleeping in class policy. Teacher's pet material, yup!

He was a little pissed in the end and asked for Grandma.

So, we ended school early and I took a nap.

As the result of napping at 8pm, I couldn't sleep at night...huu huu...

I ended up sprucing up his tot trays and his play area.

Here's the Tot Tray Setup for this week:



Left (top to bottom)

1. Some spot-the-difference books, Logic puzzle (free with Enfagrow), Alphie

2. Mini foam cuisenaire rods with an interactive book.

3. Styrofoam board and some cocktail umbrellas. He'd already completed this tray.

4. Tieramid Circle Set to build rainbow  

Right (top to bottom)

1. Flashcard

2. Weather pegged puzzle and M&D Alphabet Stacker

3. Magnetic tracing set and 3D farm animals



His play area (not playroom).

By the way, I, Tiger's mommy is the only other person on this planet allowed to sit on the Panda Chair

So special, kan?

^.^

When I come home from work, we will have conversations like this:

Mommy: What did you do today?

Tiger: Gibberish

Mommy: Did you use the Hao Xue Bao?

Tiger: No

Mommy: Did you read?

Tiger: No

Mommy: What did you do then?

Tiger: Points to his fav giant ABC puzzle

Mommy:  =.="

Confirmed with Grandma regarding his activities.

Yup, he has been bored with the old setup for sometime now.

Grandma indirectly reminded me that I am not changing his setup often enough

=.="

I think Grandma's jealous she isn't allowed on the Panda...he he..

A closer look at the EXPEDIT unit

 

On the rack (L-R):

1. Giant ABC Floor puzzle(ToyRus)

2. Magnetic Writing Board (from ToyRus warehouse sale)

3. Baskets with DVDs, musical instruments & some sport equipments

Upper racks:

Hao Xue Bao (Chinese Reader Pen)

 I moved the books up so that he can select his titles easily

Placed more puzzle on the lower racks (L-R):

1. Treading blocks from No Theme Week

2. Magnetic Fishing Rod- numbers set

3. M&D - Latch and Lock puzzle

4. M&D Magnetic Alphabet Book and Tools puzzle.





Rainbow Rice Sensory Bin

I love creating sensory bins.

So much fun

^.^

In honour of our Weather Theme, I've created a rainbow in a bin.

I thought it should be very simple so that Tiger can focus on the texture and colours.

Before Tiger:

Ingredients:

• Coloured rice
• Foam alphabets to form RAINBOW
• Silicon cupcake cups
• Small spoons

 I created the bin on Labour Day and Tiger caught me in the act of dyeing.

For instructions: go here

He did a jiggly dance, said "Scoop" repeatedly then pouted when I said "later"

(Had to dry the rice)

I left them on the mini fridge overnight to dry.

Then, last night, I asked him," Do you want to scoop rice?"

Tiger: Laughed and danced again

Mommy: Hmmm, must be a super duper YES!

At the starting of the onslaught:

5 minutes later,

NO MORE RAINBOW!

LOL! I'll admit that I stirred the rice with Tiger :p

Despite the enthusiasm he showed earlier, he was tired of scooping after say, 15 minutes.

 So, I gave him the funnel from the Space bin.

Always a hit!

I must say the best moments are always the least expected ones.

I really enjoy watching my little OCD 'clean up'

Nope, he didn't clean up a single grain ^.^

He swept for at least 20 minutes before finally giving up.



Tot School: No Theme Week @ 22.5 months

No theme means:

Pro:

He is likely to be bored with the trays because Mommy didn't put much thought into them :p

I have to admit that the tot trays were pretty pathetic..ha ha.

So, he wandered off to choose his own activities and I got to see his latest obsessions.

Cons:

I know a lot of parents are advocates of free play but I prefer to have a little structure.

I find that he learns a little more with a theme.

For example, during Space week, he learned the names of the planets.

According to Tiger, they are: Meh-ry, V, Eaff, Much, Ter, A-turn, ____, Neptune.

He is still crazy about the planets :)

Category box.

Out of all the chips I laid out, he was only into shapes, numbers and animals.

Too simple? I am not sure..

Treading

Tiger is finally working independently on this!

He created a block-snake in the end :)

Similar set from Bumbletoys. (RM 25)

Geography

He ONLY wanted to put puffy flag stickers on the map and

wasn't too interested in the flags puzzle.

The globe is still a fav.

World map with flags RM 38

Numbers obsession:

My little number geek.

Stacking

"I am tall enough!"

M&D STACKER FROM MOTHERCARE RM 49

Puzzles:

Brainstorm Puzzle.

These chunky pieces are a little easier to manipulate compared to the tangram type.

Meant for 3 years and above but the simple ones like this fish diagram were pretty easy.

Excellent for fine motor as he had to place the pieces accurately.

He named the pieces according to the alphabets they seemed to represent :)

Brainstorm puzzle. Similiar from kids.net for rm59

More numbers work:

EVA puzzle from Giant

Art and alphabets

We dot painted some alphabets from Making Learning Fun.

He requested for alphabets ONLY

Outdoor

Played with bubbles

We also went to the park to feed the tortoise and took a loooong walk.

Books

Flanimals pop-up book by Ricky Gervais

Pretty scary

Noah's Ark play set by Rod Campbell

From Bookxcess for less than RM 20

Learning about animals more than the story

Noah's Ark from Bookxcess

Others:

Kinderbeat

We attended our first lesson last Saturday and surprisingly, he did not cry!

Major relief for me because he initially asked to "Go, Go"

 Translated: Let's go, I don't want to be here.

I had to coax him gently.

Fortunately, he participated in all the activities and was able to follow along.

He even gave his teacher and classmates hugs.

At home, he requested for Kinder Bear songs repeatedly :)

Tweedlewink

He didn't munch in class this week as I gave him the ultimatum.

 No eating or get out!

No larrrrr, he spilled the cookies, so there wasn't any left.

Which was great despite the wasted food.

He is enjoying vocabulary part, especially phonics :)

and actually stayed focused during Science and Art this week.

Woohoo!

Brillkids

He is more into Little Reader than Little Math at the moment.

He would parrot along with Little Chinese as well.

I still have to bargain by offering Youtube videos in between lessons 

=.="

Flashcards

Speed play is ON!

He is enjoying the large, colourful animal ones.

but still rejecting the Doman ones

Hit songs

Snuggle Puppy

Planet Songs

Solar System

Five Little Monkeys

We are in the midst of Umbrella/Weather Week at the moment.

I didn't get the chance to take pictures of the trays because he went on a rampage of activities :)

Linking up to Tot School at 1+1+1 = 1