Evergreen fun

Since June (this year) we’ve visited Pasir Ris Park twice. Before that we hadn’t for about 2 months. So when we re-visited this (one of) our favourite place(s) we were surprised to find a very fun development.

No, it is not a new play structure. On the contrary, it is an old game on one of their existing structures. An old game we never thought of till someone else did during our non-visiting months. And from what we observed seems to be the current fad there.

Sliding down this “hill” (see pic below) on a piece of cardboard is what I’m talking about.

Yup, instead of going down the steel slide the kids were having a ball of a time sliding down a piece of cardboard on the artificial grass beside it. The first time we discovered a group of children doing this, some of them were nice enough to give Hubby-jr and Little Missy pieces of cardboard to join in the fun. The second time we went prepared with our own (picked from 7-11 near our house!)

Here is honestly the best shot I have of the fun.

Hubby and I couldn’t resist joining in too! Albeit for a shorter period. Climbing up the slope repeatedly for that few seconds of thrill was quite tiring. But the kids could go on like forever… if not for the sun going down on us we wouldn’t have been able to leave the park!

So the next time you decide to go to Pasir Ris Park don’t forget to bring some cardboard pieces for everyone.

Jelly Telly

Thanks to Rocks In My Dryer, I discovered Jelly Telly. The website offers online 30 minute daily episodes of Jelly Telly - a kids’ show with Christian and educational content. Absolutely free! 

We checked out Thursday’s episode and found it highly entertaining and educational. On that episode itself, there was a song that taught us all the main characters in the book of Judges, a “documentary” on acorn woodpeckers and a ten commandments boogie! It’s good quality stuff.

Even though we may not watch every episode there is, I’m pret-ty sure we’d be heading there often enough. There is supposed to be a movie of the week this Saturday, yup tomorrow. I’ll probably check that out, with or without my kids!

More Interesting Sites For Kids

Hello, today I’m sharing with you two interesting websites that I came across not too long ago. 

1) PEEP and the Big Wide World.

PEEP is actually an animated show that teaches science to preschoolers with characters that are cute and funny. We’ve never watched any of the shows before but we absolutely love their website.  There is a different show online everyday and quite a number of interesting games. All of which introduces (indirectly) science concepts to little ones between 3-5 years of age.

2) Do2Learn.

This is more of a website with educational resources targeting special needs. There are free areas where you can access games which are useful in language building and other areas such as social and motor skills development.

That’s all for now. I hope your kids enjoy PEEP as much as mine!

The Singapore Zoo

What’s there not to love about the Singapore Zoo? Besides the undesirable smell of just one or two of the animals? Nothing really. The undesirable smell is negligible (hold your breath and move along!)

Yes, you guessed it. We just paid the zoo a visit last Friday. It is one of our must-dos at every long school holiday (i.e June and Nov/Dec). This time I was more eager than usual to go. My friends have been raving about the newly opened Rainforest Kidzworld at the zoo.

And I finally saw why. It is fabulous.

The new Kidzworld has a huge water play area, a dry playground, flying fox, a carousel and pony rides. There’s also a Ben and Jerry’s outlet (one out of the 3 at the zoo) right next to the water-play area! YUM! And yes, KFC’s next to them.

Unfortunately we only had time to let the kids explore the water-play area (after looking at the animals) this visit. Still, they had a blast.

We plan to squeeze in another visit (or two?) to the zoo before the holidays end. For the next visit we’ll skip the animals (sorry) and head directly to Kidzworld!

The Singapore Zoo is truly a paradise for kids (and a lovely place for adults too)!

Favourite animals (elephants, giraffes, monkeys, etc.) - check

Interesting animals (probosis monkey, just to name one) – check

Great animal shows – check

Tram ride – check

Boat ride (newly opened) – check

Fast food (KFC) – check

Ben and Jerry’s – check, check, CHECK!

Big, fantastic kid’s play area  (Kidzworld) – Super Duper CHECK!

Really, what more could we ask for from a zoo???

I mean besides building a glass dome over the zoo to shield us from rain and keeping it at optimal temperature (air con!!)… AND free entrance passes for everyone to boot… hmm (dream, dream, dream, dre-e-e-e-am).

Oh, one more tip before I go, repellent, repellent, repellent! Lots of mosquitoes lurking around.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

More than a year ago I wrote about The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle as one of Hubby-jr’s favourite book. So when we found out that there was going to be a arts adaptation of the book, there was no way we did not go. And go we did. Last night. 

We loved it. All of us. Hubby included.

Performed by the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, the illustrations from three of Eric Carle’s books vividly came to life on stage against the backdrop of black light. The kids had a ball, they laughed, cheered and clapped. Not just mine but all the kids present. (For more info on their show here in Singapore click here.)

I am so glad we managed to get tickets! It was selling like hot cakes.

Still riding on The Very Hungry Caterpillar fever, hubby found this lovely video on Youtube. Though it is not quite the same as the performance last night, the video is still worth checking out.

If you are a fan or Eric Carle (just like us) you may like this Youtube video on The Mixed-Up Chameleon as well.

Henderson Waves

Last Saturday we finally visited the Henderson Waves, the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore. It is also part of the recently opened Southern Ridges. It was quite spectacular.

I never thought I would ever describe any scenic thingy in Singapore as spectacular (hey, don’t blame me, I’ve been to the Canadian Rockies!)… But this truly was is quite spectacular. It did take my breath away. I loved it. Whoever conceptualised this was is brilliant!

 

 Breathtaking isn’t it?

Hubby-jr monkeying around with other kids

We only walked from the Henderson Waves (bridge) to Mount Faber and from there we took a cab to Vivocity (a mall). We had to cut short our plans because we picked a wrong day and a wrong time. It was blazing (and I mean burning, melting, BLAZING) hot and late morning was approaching noon! We just had to get indoors.

Oh well, next time, we’ll head out early morning and start from Hort Park. From there we’ll walk all the way to Mount Faber, if not Vivocity. Yup, that’s the plan. I’ll tell you more about it when (whenever that is) we do fulfill… the plan.

How To Amuse Toddlers

Just as I wrote about engaging my two year old Little Missy, I came across this – How To Amuse Toddlers at Instructables.

This guy has wonderfully compiled a list complete with pictures and some instructions. I’ve done most of the activities with my kids and can vouch that they DO amuse toddlers. Having said that I still found the list very handy. So if you have to entertain little ones, go check it out.

Helping With The Dishes

Since the turn of the year, Little Missy dropped her late morning nap. This means that I have an active toddler for the whole morning! It has its fun side, she’s my little companion (shadow?), accompanying me while I grocery shop, run errands and even go on fun downtown trips (after Hubby-jr goes to school). When we’re not out, we enjoy slow mornings at home.

I’m cherishing these precious bonding moments with her as next year she’ll be attending playgroup sessions for 1½ hours in the mornings. (Sniff, my baby is growing up.)

The flipside is that she can sometimes (more than sometimes?) demand more attention than I can spare. It can be pretty annoying, not to mention a test of my patience especially when I’m trying to get the house chores done. She’ll keep yelling, “Mommy, come. MOMMY! COME! COME!!! MOMMY!!!” Yes, 2-year olds can be very persistent and often suffer temporary memory loss of the terms, No or Wait. “Later” to them means, a second later!

So I was so glad to stumble upon this “trick”. She now “helps” me wash dishes after lunch almost everyday. She’s happy just playing with water, soap water. Occasionally she “washes” a cup or bowl (plastic or melamine ones). Ya, well it is more of over-washing them in soap water…

It is brilliant. She’s happy and I hope she eventually does help me with real washing (one can hope right?). I get the dishes done and best of all, we have our bonding time over the sink!

Yes, this is how I do it. A dining chair, a sponge brush, a plastic bowl and some soap water (I usually give her more, she’s almost done in this picture). And oh yes, she usually needs a change of clothes after this. Next I’m getting her an apron!

Nintendo

Hubby and I love books and we spent quite sometime at Bras Basah that day. How on earth did we manage such a feat with two little kids in tow? Especially since Hubby-jr simply hates any kind of shopping.

He starts his chain of complaints the second I (or hubby) as much as glance at something. That never fails to drive me up the wall. So to avoid this we’ve resorted to:

a) NOT shop (I can’t avoid this ALL the time!)
b) Tell him to be quiet or else…
c) One of us brings him somewhere where he’ll be happy (i.e. toys section)… (but what if there is no “happy” section for him?)
d) Bring one of his toys along… (a toy car works but we’ve lost quite a few.)

THEN during our trip back to Malaysia we discovered a very effective on-the-go babysitter…

A little too effective?!

Yup, it’s the outdated Nintendo gameboy. We borrowed (permanently?) it from our sister-in-law (who has since upgraded to a PSP) as an “emergency weapon”. The emergency being our 5 year old going “out of control” restless on a 5-hour long bus ride back to Malaysia! Well the emergency never occurred (he was so well behaved) but hubby introduced it to him anyway.

Needless to say Hubby-jr took to it like fish to water. He is hooked.

Well it’s not too bad (yet?) as we’ve confined this activity to only weekends. He’s still attracted to other of his favourite activities even with the gameboy in hand. And who am to complain when it keeps him happy while we are happy shopping!

So is the Nintendo a friend or foe? A friend, I say (at least for now).

P/S: Hubby insists it helps with his hand eye coordination and helps him fit in socially… (yeeeah, oooookaay…)

Malaysian National Sport

When in Malaysia, play their national sport. What else? Badminton of course.

Err… I can’t say if they have a natural talent for the game… but I think they can strike a pose or two. What do you think?

P/S: I bought this kids’ badminton set (2 steel rackets and I foam/plastic shuttlecock) at TESCO (a hypermart) for only RM4.90 (that’s what? SGD2.30?) Unbelievably cheap right?