Bus Themed Craft

My boys are very crazy over transportation, cars, buses, train, etc. So, I did a bus themed craft with them. I printed the template from First School.

What You Need:
Construction Paper
Cut out bus template
Glue

It's so simple, I trace the windows on the bus body to guide them a bit with the pasting. Older kids can do without this. We counted the windows as well. We talked about the parts of the bus when we were crafting.

Y, applying glue on the bus body

K, still trying to apply glue though he is done with his craft. 

The boys loved their cousins a lot. They refused to nap and keep asking for their cousin on Sunday. So, we decided to bring them to my mum's place where the cousins gathered. I asked the boys if they would like to give the bus craft to their cousin as a present and they were happy with the idea. I want them to learn the art of giving. They loved this craft they made so much but they were willing to give. Till today, they were still saying, "Gor Gor... bus...". Seems like they were telling me that they gave their bus to their cousin and that's so sweet.

K, in the lift, excited about giving his bus craft to his cousin.

K, passing his present to his cousin. My nephew was so surprised and happy to receive the gift.

Sensory Craft Beads

What You Need:
Craft Beads
A big container to contain the craft beads
Containers of different sizes
Scoops/cups/spoons of different sizes and design
A Funnel
Magnet letters for some letter hunt fun

Preparation:

• Pour the craft beads into a big bowl or bin

•  I put some magnet letters in the bowl and they sink to the bottom. The boys were surprised to find some letters at the bottom of the bowl.

• Have some containers of different sizes and add a funnel for them to pour the beads into. Prepare different types of scoops/cups/spoons for them to start pouring.

Y busy pouring

 Tips:
 Always check how breakable are the containers you offer to your kids. I was careless. I wanted something tall and heavy so the container won't fall easily but I didn't test if the container is safe enough and Y broke it, very easily. We had a hard time trying to get the boys' hands off the glass bits and cleaning up.

Accidents happen, though this could and should have been prevented but the boys still had fun with this sensory pouring activity with some letter surprise.

Club Med Bintan

I can't say it was a great trip but I can't say it's all bad too. It was just very stressful during the nights and the first day was bad because I think we made a mistake of not preparing them well enough for the trip. We should have explained to them before hand what is a vacation and what can they expect from a vacation. But overall, other than very bad nights where they took turns to be in my arms most of the time, I think they enjoyed themselves.

K, playing with his car on the ferry. They are very into Cars, Buses and Train.

K, enjoying his bus ride.

We took a walk around the resort when we reach there and this is Y, enjoying his walk.

The boys enjoyed watching the children rehearsing on the stage. Y's eyes were still fixed on the stage when I grabbed him for a photo.

After a tiring day of no naps. Y was overtired and kept crying. I had to carry him from 8 plus onwards and he only fell asleep at 11 plus at night. K was also crying before that. Then Y woke up at 5 plus in the morning. Then he found that the door was fun when the sun came up. This is his highlight of the trip.

Look at that happy face.

Not long after this, there was a round of struggle as he found that slamming the door is fun.

Y had to take a nap as he woke up so early and we were unable to make K sleep as he woke up much later. I thought it's pointless for him to stay in the room and got his Dad to bring him to the beach. The beach is something Y missed out a lot because it rained in the afternoon and we didn't get to go to the beach and the sand was still wet from the rain the next day.

There was no playground at the resort but there was a playroom. As it was raining, we brought the boys down and they were thrilled to see these cars.

Y in Blue and K in Red

Our 3 days 2 nights Bintan trip ended the next day with a walk down the beach.

Lessons I learnt from this trip:

• Prepare your children for the trip. Show them pictures, talk to them and tell them what they can expect. 
• Never skip a nap.

Playing Catch Up

Had been bugged by a powerful flu bug which left me bedridden for a week after the trip. I'm playing catch up here on my post. Please bear with me and thanks for dropping by!

Playschool @ Home - July Week 4

Letter of the Week: H
Vocabulary: House, Hug
Song: Let's Build a House.

Theme of the Week: Pirate Adventure

The letter of the week was H but they didn't seem very interested in doing letter activities last week. I'm thinking of coming up with more interesting alphabet crafts or other letter recognition activities with them as after so many weeks, they don't seem to be very interested in pasting things on the letter cut out.

We did more playing, as usual...

They helped out with the housework. K wiping the mirrors.

And Y sweeping the floor.

They learnt the word "push" and "pull" and they practice saying it while pushing and pulling the drawers. They can read these 2 words and I'm so thrilled to hear them read. I let them play with these plastic drawer unit but not the wooden ones.

I put out 3 colored plates with a box of poms poms. They were more interested in their other toys then but when I left the room and went back, I was surprised to see K sorting the poms poms all by himself and he FINISHED the whole box! I took the pictures secretly as I didn't want to distract him. 

They were guinea pigs for their grandmother to practice her hair cutting skills. My Mom has a sudden interest in hair styling and she was very eager to try it out on the boys. This is K, he seems to know my Mom is not a pro with a look of apprehension on his face . 

Off to a Holiday

Last week had been a hectic week. I was busy with my work and preparing for a getaway. And I'm falling sick. Not just me, the whole family is falling sick for the trip. Y&K are having runny nose and Y was feeling a little feverish yesterday after we came back from the Istana Open House. My husband is not feeling too good too. The visit was a mistake, we were so ill prepared.

With Y feeling unwell and K catching the virus today, I was contemplating on canceling this much awaited trip. I have not been out of Singapore for almost 3 years! And it's a big deal for me. I was dying to go for a getaway and it took me a lot to pluck up the courage to bring the twins for a trip out of town.

Near to tears and so disappointed that we might not be able to make it, my dearest husband just assured me that everything will be ok and Y did wake up from his nap looking better. So off I went to pack our stuff and we are keeping our fingers crossed for the trip tomorrow. Wish me luck! 

Themed Family Fun: Pirate Adventure

We got a new standing fan and we were thinking of recycling the cardboard to make a ship for the boys to play with. We had 2 friends over for a fun filled Pirate Adventure!

We did some preparation work while the boys were napping. 2 squares were cut out of the cardboard and 2 poles for the sail. We also taped the whole cardboard with masking tape so it's easier to paint on.

The boys started painting after they woke up.

They enjoyed painting. We didn't have to help much.

I used an artwork they had done for the sail. During the week, I also had them color with chalk on Black paper and I cut and pasted the jolly roger with their initials.

My friend made them a treasure chest. We had chocolate gold coins in them and I wrapped some cardboard circles with aluminum foil for silver.

Y, looking smart with the Pirate hat my friend bought them. Just in case you are wondering, yes, the Black striped top is matched for the theme.

A family photo with the boys more interested in their new found ball. I made the pirate hat for the adults and eye patches as well. We even had a treasure map!

Our pirate ship is now a ball pit for them. Our pirate adventure was awesome and we wouldn't be able to pull it off without our 2 very creative friends. Stay tuned for more details about the crafts we made for this Pirate Adventure.