Hand Trampoline aka OgoSport Disks

Sponsored post

The kind people from TOY TAG INTERNATIONAL sent this to us for a review.

And it's AWESOME!!!

It's called OgoSport Mini Disk: a hand trampoline.

Way cool, right?

Hubs and I were exhausted after a round.

Great for losing weight!

A close up of the cute Ogosoft ball.

It is now residing in the Kid's Sport Bar.

Okay la, it is just a box with their sport equipments but I gave it a snazzy name.

Besides, who doesn't love a bar?

The other items we own are as labelled:

The golf clubs are dangerous weapons in the hands of kids.

The bowling game has been ignored for god knows how long.

And the racquets...hahaha...waste of money.

The only thing they frequently play with are the OgoSport disks.

It comes in handy as a sunshade as well :p

We usually go to the nearby field so that we can run around like hooligans.

Tiger is so funny because  he is not very coordinated.

(sucks at dancing, typical nerd)

He thinks we are laughing together but I am laughing at him, most of the time.

He gets frustrated after some time but like any skill in life, you need to practise and persevere.

And he is getting better! More coordinated and we can actually have a relay.

Future Dato Lee Chong Wei?

He despise picking up the balls repetitively (like his mama).

Lucky for him, his sister decided to become a professional ball picker-upper. 

 So fun to watch them cooperating and working together, for once. 

On another occasion, we tried using a small rubber ball and it works just fine.

 

 

 

If you are super coordinated, I guess you can use several balls and juggle.

I juggle ONE ball with a disk on each hand and the kids were like,

"WHOA!!!"

*brush dirt off shoulder with a smirk*

We tossed the disks upwards to see whose can go higher.

The rings are very durable, so no worries. 

Tiger then bounced the ball upwards, to try to reach the moon.

I asked him, "Do you know why the disks and balls always fall back onto the ground?"

Instead of answering my questions, he asked:

"Mama, this moon got eyes or not?"

"How far is the moon"

"How come it's not dark but got moon?"

"Where is the sun?"

Princess was on a ball picking mission but she was distracted by a path on the field...

...and a mound of hardened earth.

Before she ran off to chase after a stray dog.

Outdoor activities is a must for us.

It gives the kids a chance to let off some steam.

Keeping your body active is good for the brain and soul.

They sleep better (yay!)

They learn about teamwork.

I insist that children should fall and learn to pick themselves up

BUT

Tiger had a minor fall and insisted I give him a piggy back ride home.

=.="

So, Dragon girl got to ride the balance bike home, which is another wonderful

outdoor equipment.

Sorry about the terkangkang legs but I love this pic!

The OgoSport Mini Disks

• Mini flies the farthest and its small target area increases difficulty.
• Bounce any ball -- for summer fun, try it in the pool with water balloons!
• Winner of Parents Choice Award 2007
• Winner of TD monthly Innovations Award 2007

Each set includes one bright-blue and one orange disk with one OgoSoft ball. 

EVA foam ring. 

Nylon-spandex membrane center.

The reviews on Amazon are excellent!

Watch a video on it here

You can purchase from:

Lazada

Rakuten

Follow Toy Tag International on their Facebook here

 Pssst....Lazada is having a 20% discount now, so go get it!

Montessori: Musical Bells

Montessori bells are off the charts expensive and

honestly, I cannot afford them.

I bought a set of these sometime ago from a kindy teacher and they sounded great.

You can get similar ones here

Instead of matching to another set of bells, I use the keyboard and tuning fork for matching.

What DID we do all day spray painted hers

I have no intention of doing that.

Nah ah. I love the colours.

They also correspond to this:

I was also so tempted to get a set similar to this from ELC

but my conscience said NO!

Btw, my conscience has my husband's voice.

Instead I bought some song cards with colored notations.

They came with corresponding stickers that I put on the keyboard.

In order to play a song, we lay the bells down and used the clapper.

Oh, he also uses it for his 'Ice cream shop'

Lil Dragon loves the bells too and when the two of them 'share',

I end up with migraine.

What else do you do with musical bells?

I bought a ton of this shoe boxes from Daiso.

Perfect for storing toys and such.

Messy Play: Scented Sand Sensory Box

First of all, I am so thrilled that Tiger has finally accepted sand as 'clean'

He is okay with touching it but sitting in a sand pit is still a big no-no.

So, it would be pointless to buy a sand pit with cover.

They are freaking expensive. 

Instead, we used an IKEA Antonius box with lid for our sand play.

It is just the right size too for 500 gm of sand.

A lid is especially important if you don't want the cat to think its a litter box.

We speak from experience.

The initial game plan was to play archaeologist.

Tiger was like, "Arrrr what?"

"No nice"

So, we added dinosaurs and things from the garden.

The strands of pandan leaves gave the sand a lovely scent.

Pandan is an aromatic plant used in Southeast Asia cooking.

We may use this to scent everything else :)

 

We were busy scooping when it started raining halfway.

Tiger had the most urgent need to wash the gardening tools

He also decided that you only live once and playing in the rain is part of his bucket list.

Mommy agrees.

Can you tell we are so enjoying 'classes' outdoors?

Messy Art: Glitter, Glue and Sprinkles

At 28 months, we are moving towards a free play/learning approach.

We used to have a schedule but it has been rendered useless.

If there is one thing I have learned thus far, it would be,

you CANNOT force a child to learn (or use the potty for that matter)

Free play encourages imagination and we all know that Einstein said:

"Imagination is more important than knowledge"

Tiger already knows where I hide the all the good stuff like glitters/glue/beads,

you know, the off-limit stuff.

So, occasionally I will suck it up and attempt something brave like this.

Nowadays, messy activities are my wild nights. Yeah, I am pathetic like that.

So, I braced myself when he took the glitter glue and alphabet sprinkles and asked for 'duo-ing'

Tiger is a neat freak.

Slimy, sticking, 'dirty' sensory activities are a challenge for him.

He usually ask for brushes instead of using his bare hands.

This time, he actually went for it without hesitation.

What a nice surprise.

We just mix the glitter with lots of glue for him to smear.

Then, he 'spwinkle, spwinkle' the ABC. ^.^

Of course, he insisted on washing his hands immediately after that.

He kept saying, "WOW, nice!"

We framed it and it sits proudly in the living room.

Right Brain: Ditoso Trial

I love the weekends! Simply because I get to spend them with my dear boy.

Funny how a simple bubble machine can bring so much joy.
So, thank you my dear sister, Ashleeprettimummy for buying this for us.

The highlight of our weekend was attending the trial class for right brain learning at Ditoso in Kota Kemuning.



I was curious to see Tiger's response to the class. The right brain method class is very different from our home practise sessions as well as Tweedlewink. At home, he gets to dictate his lessons and choose activities of his liking. Usually he would reject flashcards and right brain materials. In his Tweedlewink classes, well, since the material is cyclical, he was becoming a little restless and bored.

We met fellow blogger, Baby Darren who brought her daughter Isabel for the same trial class. Isabel is only three months older than Tiger.

Tiger who is usually slow to warm up and sensitive to new environment liked the place a lot.

There were six children in the trial class. Three girls and three boys. I am not sure about their exact age but they should be within 24-35 months. Tiger's nearly 24 months :)

We started with meditation and relaxation where they dimmed the lights while the teacher told a story of going to the park. A few children started crying, so I hugged Tiger and spoke to him softly. He was actually more relaxed after that and asked to sit on the chair by himself ^.^

The next half an hour was spent rather quickly with memory games. Tiger kept asking for more games. What's wrong with MY games at home? @.@

The flashcard segment was really fast, about three cards a second. Since I was the one who flashed to Tiger usually, this was the first time I was at the receiving end. Surprisingly, you can actually see each card clearly and Tiger was totally captivated and stayed focus the entire time. He was totally soaking it up!

I am not expecting Lil Tiger to develop super human memory or ESP powers with right brain training.

What I personally like about the method is the fact that it centers the childs attention & focus and I think we all understand how important those qualities are in life long learning. Maybe that's why children who attends Shichida classes fare better than their peers. It is their ability to pin point their concentration and maximise their absorption while others are running about and day dreaming during lessons.

I was explaining this to hubby (and MIL indirectly) en route to Midvalley after the trial class so that they can understand why I am paying so much for the lessons. Note the I AM PAYING.

Daddy  :   Wah. The lessons cost so much? Darn that HSBC message service. Hubs basically knows how much I spend each time I use the credit card >.<

Mommy: He really enjoyed the lessons. He was so focused.

Daddy  : New toilet, nice to shit (translated from Hokkien)

Grandma: WAHAHAHA!

Mommy: @.@

I have signed up for one term since Tiger really enjoyed the lesson. In June, we will be attending both Tweedlewink and Ditoso but we may withold Tweedlewink next term as two enrichment classes is gonna burn a hole in my pocket.

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 ^.^

Free play: Bubbly Magic

Like most shopaholic moms, I have been thinking about purchasing a bubble machine for a looong time now. 

Every kid I know love bubbles. There is something uplifting and magically fascinating about these little floaters...

Why a bubble machine? What's wrong with a bubble wand?

Have you tried blowing, erm, bubbles continuously for 5 minutes? Yeah..you become lightheaded and giddy after a while. I've tried delegating the job to my help but the OCD me kept imagining her saliva and droplets on the bubbles. Tiger tries to catch the bubbles with his mouth at times...so, no thank you.

So, I was waiting for a bubble machine to go on sale ever since .

When I found out that ELC was having a 50% discount for their bubble machine, it was a must buy for me. Imagine my horror when they were sold out by the first few days. Darn x 1000! Apparently there are a lot of crazy mamas out there :p

I managed to buy a large bottle of bubble solution at 50% discount,

Here are some DIY bubble recipes to try out.

Personally, I have yet to try any.

 If I DIY, it will take 2 years, just like the Borax sitting in the drawer, or the water beads.

No bubble machine = no fun!

So, I bought a hand held bubble maker (not on discount. *boo*)

Still, no regrets in the end because Tiger could work it!

It came with small container to dip which require some precision.

Then, just press the button and presto, BUBBLES!

This one was a little alien-looking :p

Success!

I am going to start making my own bubble solution because at least half will end up on the floor :)

Other ideas from the blog world:

Experiment with different objects as bubble wands.

Maybe with water dispenser for self service?

Like this uber cute one

Toys: Bouncy, bouncy fun

We had a pool party on Saturday with the usual suspects.

(pictures to be included after I seek permission)

We brought out the pool, a small sand pit, the water table and a NEW bouncy toy.

I made some sandwiches and lemonade.

Auntie Sharon made jelly and apple crumble.

Here's my party pooper / pool cleaner / sand scooper.

He was cranky due to the fact that he didn't get his 2 hours afternoon nap,

all thanks to Prettichubbi's thundering voice :p

Using the pool party as an excuse, I purchased a bouncy toy.

It was on sale, okay?

Also, that means I don't have to buy a trampoline, we have a new reading cum chill-out spot,

Tiger gets more exercise...you get the idea :)

Here's my boy enjoying himself post-party/following morning:

MINE, ALL MINE!

On Sunday, we had steamboat dinner at home &

then I spent the whole evening redoing his playroom.

We dragged the bouncy thing indoor. ('We' would be the help and I)

Tiger had so much fun filling it up with balls and pillows.

We camped inside, reading and chilling out till bedtime.

He was a little upset about the missing slide..actually, he threw a tantrum..he he

Then he asked for the water table (sans legs).

He said, "Boat!!", sat in it with the alphabets and started singing.

I love his imaginary play  ^.^

My hubby 'helping out' in front of the TV, using Tiger's tunnel as blanket

o.O