Face-Painting : Creative Expression for Mommy and Kidlets

If you have been over to my other blog, you would know that we have been doing plenty of face-painting lately. I kind of got into it because my friend was having a party for her daughter and I’d sort of promised that I would help out. I did tell her that I’ve never really done face-painting before, but she was kind enough to bring along a kit and we both practiced on her daughter and on Josh and Zoë first.

We started with small flowers and butterflies, balloons and spiders, small details around the eyes.

It was so much fun! For both of us and for the kids. They kept asking us to paint more and before we knew it, we had painted small drawings on their cheeks, all up and down their arms. and we even started working on their legs!

I decided to get my own set and I got braver and decided to try full-face jobs. They’re not as hard as I’d thought they might be. You just need to be VERY patient, though. Especially if your tikesters are any like mine, who can hardly sit still throughout the session. You’ll probably be gritting your teeth and threatening not to complete the job if they won’t sit still. (No? I wish I have your patience.) BUT, the look on their face after you’ve finished and they’ve checked out your work for themselves in the mirror? Is SO worth it. Seriously.

Face-painting has been such a lot of fun. I got to let my creative juices flow. There are tons of face-paint designs online to copy from and the face-paint kit that I got came with a guide. But even without these, it was fun to come up with my own designs. You’d be surprised at how easily inspired you could be! For the kiddies, it was great seeing them get into the character of whatever face paint design they got. There was plenty of pretend play happening after each session and I so enjoyed watching them walking around, proudly showing off their face art, and engaging each other in various pretend scenarios centered around their face-paint characters.

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The face paint kit I use is by Snazaroo. In Hong Kong, you can get it from Bumps to Babes for HK$150. It comes with a brush, a cosmetic sponge, a step-by-step guide with a selection of designs to copy, and 8x 2ml colors (red, blue, white, black, green, pink, yellow, and purple). The paints are hypoallergenic, non-toxic, and water-based. They wash off very easily.

I’ve tried to use face-painting crayons before, but I find the Snazaroo face paints a lot easier to use. For one, these face paints are easier to apply, especially if you have to paint over a big area (with the sponge). I had bought extra face paints in select colors for those colors that I know I will use often. Bumps to Babes carry the 18ml ones (HK$50 each).

And the glitters? I just got some from the local stationery store. Just make sure that you get the glitters that are labeled "good for body, nail, hair," as opposed to glitter that you normally use for arts and crafts.

I got a couple of these glitters from the stationery store at Stanley (where the old Pepperoni's used to be) for HK$15 each and then I found the exact same ones in another stationery store near where we live for only HK$6. (Yes, a whopping difference of HK$9! The Stanley stationery store was 2.5x more expensive! For HK$30 for just two from the Stanley shop, I could have gotten FIVE from the other store!) Glitters add a lot of oomph to the face-paints. Go get some.

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Image credits: Snazaroo product shots from Snazaroo website; glitters from Fan Hung Enterprise Co., Ltd.

Mrs. Goodbee’s Interactive Dollhouse (Caring Corners/Learning Curve)

Zoë got a new dollhouse and I have to tell you, it’s been so great since we set it up. She and Josh have been busy playing with it for hours almost every day. We’d gone days without them asking to watch TV or play on the computer --now isn’t that the greatest?

From the website --

Using helpful hints, playful prompts, silly songs, and sound, Mrs. Goodbee Interactive Dollhouse nurtures and inspires positive behavior every day. With twelve adorable rooms to explore and plenty of interactive surprises, there are endless opportunities to practice caring, sharing, and preparing for important, age-appropriate responsibilities.
Two children can play together, as the house unfolds to six rooms on each side--and then folds back for easy storage! Over 400 activities, songs, words, and sounds! Includes girl, baby and doggy.
Watch this 30-sec clip.

I had held off getting a dollhouse for Zoë for a number of reasons. Primarily because with so many toys, I didn’t want to add to the clutter and dollhouses take up a lot of space. Well, Mrs. Goodbee’s Dollhouse is not small –24 inches (h) x 42 inches (w) when opened up, –but the beauty of it is that it “folds” away for easy storage. Folded up, it can be tucked away nicely against the wall (only 14 inches wide and 7.5 inches thick).
Even though I knew that Zoë would be in seventh heaven having her own dollhouse, I held back from getting her one, because whatever toy I get these days will have to be something that both Josh and Zoë could play together. Let me just say how enlightened I was to find that Josh takes as much interest in the dollhouse as Zoë does. This dollhouse can definitely keep both girls and boys occupied for hours.
We had Zoë's friend, L, over for a play date and it was just perfect. The three of them (including Josh) were all playing nicely, without having to fight over which room of the dollhouse to play with. There are plenty of rooms on each side of the dollhouse and 2-4 kids can play comfortably together, without having to crowd around at all.


You can buy Family Packs to add to your dollhouse. There are 12 accessory packs --

1. Pet Playground
2. Baking Time
3. Table Manners
4. Princess Playdate
5. Strollin’ with Baby
6. Helping with Groceries
7. L’il Miss Poodle
8. Fix-It Fun
9. Pajama Party
10. Family Night
11. Party Time
12. A Book at Bedtime

Each accessory pack includes a ‘secret code’ to open up an interactive game on the the Caring Corners website. The accessory packs sell for HK$79.90, HK$119.90, and HK$179.90 for the Small, Medium, and Large Family Packs, respectively.
I just wish that each accessory pack comes with its own container to keep the pieces when playing is done. Also, should you choose to buy different Family Packs at one time, I would suggest that you open the accessory packs one at a time, otherwise it can be overwhelming. We now keep all the various pieces in a separate box. Josh and Zoë’s favorite “scenes” to play out are taking care of the baby (rocking it in its cradle or taking it out for a walk in its stroller), using the washroom (and flushing the toilet –because the toilet makes a real flushing sound!), getting the pets to swing or slide around in the Pet Playground.
I love it that, with the dollhouse, Josh and Zoë act out their scenes and really get into pretend play. Seeing and hearing them do that never fails to bring a smile to my face. I’m tickled with all the stuff they come up with. Sometimes it’s like hearing myself speak when I listen in on them; other times, I just marvel at what they come up with. I guess you could say that the dollhouse entertains me as well! I’m so glad that we have this Mrs. Goodbee’s Interactive Dollhouse –it’s every little girl’s dream dollhouse and best of all, for me, both Josh and Zoë get hours of imaginative play out of it, and I get some ‘me’ time while they’re at it.
Mrs. Goodbee’s Interactive Dollhouse and all its Family Packs are available in Hong Kong through Stepping Stones.

No-Sew Quilt

I did some early Christmas shopping this year and spotted this:

Alex Knot-a-Quilt Fleece No-Sew Quilt Kit

It said on the bag that it was 6+. There are no 6+ little girls in my life right now, but I got it anyway. Because I thought Josh and Zoë would love the colors… and to be honest, I thought it would be fun to make my own quilt. Heh. Yes, I got myself a present designed for 6-year olds.

It took me weeks to finish the whole thing, but I’m pretty happy with the result. See?

There are 48 pieces of squares in six bold colors and all I had to do was to knot the fringes on the squares together. I did have to undo some knots a few times to redo, because I’d missed a fringe. That? Not so fun. Totally my fault, though, for not paying attention.

It makes for a nice throw or a blanket for a pretend picnic. Josh and Zoë are having fun with it and I’m having fun watching them having fun.

Brain Quest®

When we were going away for the summer, I had meticulously packed a whole Trunki full of activity books, stickers, simple games, snacks, puzzles, coloring pens, crayons… well, basically anything that I thought would make the long-haul trip more fun (for the kids) and bearable (for us!).

Included in the stash was a set of Brain Quest® cards that I had bought. I was actually very pleased with myself for finding that at Dymocks, knowing that this alone would keep both Josh and Zoë occupied for at the very least 30 minutes or more.

Image: Brain Quest®

I never really got to test it on the plane, because we forgot the entire Trunki in our mad rush to the airport.

BUT, I finally opened the Trunki last week and dug out the little treasures stashed in there. It was a lazy afternoon and I decided to give Brain Quest® a try with both Josh and Zoë. See, I had bought the Ages 3-4 one, because I thought the Ages 2-3 one would be a bit too easy for Zoë. I was right, as Zoë was able to answer about 90% of the questions asked in the cards that I’d shown her so far –and she’s not even 2-1/2 yet (just had to mention that)! Josh, of course, zoomed through pretty much all of them. Okay, bragging moment over.

What I really liked about these cards, though, is how much fun we all had while going through them. The cards are colorful, of high quality, AND are all attached together at the bottom with a grommet so that you’ll never have to worry about misplacing any one of them. We had moments of intense concentration (from Zoë), giggles and squeals as they try to beat each other to giving the right answer. While you can just read the questions straight out and move on to the next as soon as it’s answered, you can also ask follow-up questions to the original questions and engage your children in a mini-discussion.

The questions in the Ages 3-4 pack cover a range of topics, from letter recognition to math concepts to general knowledge –all designed in a fun, age-appropriate manner, with colorful illustrations.

I am off to get the next pack –Ages 5-6, –for Josh.

You can get them here in Hong Kong at Dymocks for HK$110.

Mighty Mind® / Super Mind®

Sorry for the long period of silence. I’ve just been busy with other stuff. I’ll try to do a post at least once a month (or more!), starting again in September, as July/August will be busy months for moi. Thanks for visiting!

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I remember having fun with tangrams when I was growing up. Only seven pieces of flat shapes, but endless possibilities. Very challenging, although at times frustrating, but always lots of fun.

When I saw these games at a toy sale, I immediately grabbed them. This was when Josh was only 2 years old. Yes, I’m a hoarder. Guilty as charged.

Anyway, one lazy afternoon, when we were bored with the usual games and I didn’t want him watching TV or playing on the computer, I remembered about the Mighty Mind® game and brought it out.

Here is Josh, working on the first few puzzles:

The pack came with 30 image cards and 32 geometric shapes. Each of the cards are numbered and follow a logical sequence of patterns starting with two half circles that the child manipulates to form a full circle. Each card “guides” the child through different shape combinations and increases in complexity.

It was wonderful seeing Josh’s “Aha!” moments when he realized that X plus X shape makes a Y shape. You could almost see his increasing confidence as he moved on to each card. After sitting down and explaining to him how the game works, I pretty much left him to his own devices and he would just call out to me to go and see each time he completed an image. He kept at it for quite a while –at least an hour, --which was awesome and allowed me a little bit of peace and quiet to do my stuff.

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Once you are done with Mighty Mind® (Ages 3-8), you can move on the Super Mind® (Ages 5-9). Super Mind® follows the same concept, except that the images are more complex and more challenging.

Josh is pretty self-motivating most of the time, but sometimes he’d take a look and would go, “Aw, Mommy! It’s so tough!” Because of this, I was a bit wary about introducing Super Mind® to him now, lest he finds the complexity of the patterns too overwhelming and be turned off and not enjoy the game anymore. But we’d pretty much gone through all the cards in Mighty Mind® and he wanted a “surprise” from me for finishing his Math worksheets yesterday.

To my surprise and delight, he eagerly tackled the new patterns and actually completed the first five (photo of Pattern #36 above) before deciding to “save it for another day.” I think he surprised himself, too, because as he progressed, his excitement at completing each one grew. Look at this, Mommy –all done! I did it!

Great game for the preschoolers. Even Zoë was doing the first few patterns on the Mighty Mind® set. Zoë did it, Mommy!

Upon further research, I found that this game is apparently a winner of the Parent's Choice Toy of the Year award and has been nominated four times by Parenting Magazine to the Toy Hall of Fame, among other accolades and citations.

I got these two sets from Toys ‘R’ Us, but I do believe that these are also available at Apita and possibly Wing On, too. I can’t remember the exact cost, but for sure, each one was under HK$200. If you can’t find them anywhere here in Hong Kong, I’m pretty sure that you can order the games through Amazon.com.

Starfall

I learned about Starfall from two online friends (JC and JRC). They were discussing whether or not Starfall is useful, etc. I got curious and checked it out... and loved it!

It is a very simple, straightforward site that helps children learn to read, using phonics. There are different "early reading" programs out there. I haven't had a chance to research them all, but the main categories that I know of are the ones that use flash cards and the ones that use phonics. Both approaches have their own "fans." My own path to reading started with phonics in kindergarten and it's something that I know works. I remember my own eureka moment with the word carpenter, that if I just sounded out the different letters and mini-words that I could read long words, too. After that, reading was a cinch. And a JOY.

Because of my own experience with phonics and because Josh views clicking on the computer as a fun activity, I decided to try and see how he would take to Starfall. It didn't take him long to familiarize himself and find his own way around the site.

There are four "steps":

1. Starfall ABCs - Teaches letter-sound relationships
2. Learn to Read - Uses systematic, sequential phonics. Has rows that feature a different vowel sound. Each row has a PLAY component, a BOOK part, and a SKILLS section. Under PLAY, the children can listen to and manipulate different letters to form different words. The BOOK part reinforces the vowel sound and uses the same words that the children had "played" with. The SKILLS section either has fun mini-movies, mini-games or videos that further reinforce the lessons. It also teaches digraphs (sh, wh, th, ch), the 'silent E,' Y as a vowel, etc.
   
3. It's Fun to Read - Fun stuff with tongue twisters, games, an art gallery featuring famous painters (Van Gogh, Chagall, Gaugin, et al.), music by famous composers (Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, et al.), simple poetry, riddles, etc.)
4. I'm Reading - Features short, simple stories that the children can read, including fiction/non-fiction, Chinese fables, Greek myths, folk tales, and little plays.

While it is recommended that the child progress sequentially, it is okay for them to go explore and click out of sequence. I pretty much let Josh go where he wants. If he comes across a word that he doesn't know, he can always click on it and it will be sounded out for him.

There is such a wealth of interesting and fun learning activities in Starfall and children learn about a whole host of topics beyond just learning to read. You can even download printable activity sheets to work on.

Oh, another thing I like is that at the end of each activity, the child gets asked his opinion. "Did you like this ___?" He gets to pick from "Yes," "Kind of," or "Not really." Josh mouses over all three options, but I've only ever known Josh to pick "Yes."

While it doesn't exactly say on the site when you can start your child on Starfall, I sometimes let Zoë sit with Josh while he plays around with Starfall. Sometimes I sit her on my lap and we play the "Who Am I" game on the site; that's her favorite. We always have a good laugh over her choices. What's more, it always makes for good give-and-take conversations with Zoë.

There is so much more that I can tell you, but I'm going to stop here, because it would be better for you to go to the site and check it out yourself. Seriously. I urge you. Go do it.

Click here to go to the Starfall website and have fun with your child!

Learn-to-Dress Monkey

We love this Learn-to-Dress Monkey by Alex Toys.

I first saw it at the Komodo showroom, but held back from buying as I had already bought a big stash. When I went back around Christmas, I saw it again and I just had to get it. So I did.

The monkey was our Christmas gift for Zoë.

She and Monkey are best buddies now. Monkey is a 22" plush toy (no batteries to replace, no annoying noises!) that features 11 different dressing activities that your toddler can learn --buttoning, zipping up and down, putting on socks and shoes, tying shoelaces, working with snaps, etc. It's a great toy to help develop fine motor skills.

Zoë would take off all the clothes, socks, and shoes and then try to put them all back on Monkey again. She'd even put the socks on her own feet! What's also great is that Monkey has become her "doll." She plays Doctor with him, she sings a lullaby for Monkey to help him go to sleep... I'm sure she'll discover princesses and Barbies soon enough, but for now, I'm quite happy that Monkey is it.
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The Alex Learn-to-Dress Monkey retails for HK$259.90 and is available at Wing On or Apita.

Fun With Feathers

We got some brightly colored feathers in a craft kit and while Josh was busy gluing some of them to make a collage, one feather drifted off and fell on the floor. A slight breeze blew through and the feather lifted gracefully off the floor and moved a few inches.

Zoë saw this and went, "Wow!" And that gave me an idea.

I went down on all fours and started to blow on the feather. Zoë followed suit, but had more difficulty getting the feather to move because she had more spit coming out than air. I then decided to make it easier and got out a hand fan and gave it to Zoë and asked her to chase the feather around with it. I threw some more feathers to the floor, different colors. Zoë had a blast waving the fan and watching the feathers swirl. Josh eventually abandoned his collage and decided to join in the fun.

It was beautiful watching all the colorful feathers swirling about, but what's an even more wonderful sight was these two tikesters laughing and giggling and just having a most delightful time with this super simple game.
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What you need:
1. Feathers - We got ours from an Alex craft kit, but you can probably get a small bag of colorful feathers from one of the Chinese stationery shops or from Artland in Wanchai.


2. Hand fan - We use these ones that we got from the Philippines. Light, but can create BIG air. Any fan will do, though.


Have fun!

The "Naked-Baby" Class

If we ever have another baby, I would definitely do PEKIP again. I wish I'd known about it when Josh was little, but I only learned about it when we had Zoë.

We started doing PEKIP when Zoë was five months old and we continued until she "graduated" at 12 months. For me, it was one of the more worthwhile mommy-baby classes around.

PEKIP, run by Anne Knecht-Boyer, is an educational child development program that teaches quality games and activities that parents can play with their babies. It is all about sensory integration and stimulating activities that help with motor skills development (fine and gross).

We went to class each time bringing along with us two huge towels --one to use, the other a spare. Yes, I'd been peed on a couple of times, but thankfully no poo. You don't have to worry about the baby catching a cold. The room temperature is set to around 260C.

What I loved about PEKIP are the many activities that one can play with baby and the different baby-safe props that Anne uses. Some of the activities were so slap-the-forehead simple yet so very interesting and quite easy enough to replicate at home. There were also others that I never dreamed that I could do with a baby and never would have dared try with Zoë if I hadn't first learned how to properly do them during the class.

I liked the fact that all the babies in Zoë's class were born in the same month and it was almost like having a weekly playgroup where the mommies could mingle and compare notes.

I also liked the fact that the activities got increasingly more challenging as the babies grew. We started out with simple exercises or activities that we would do with the babies simply lying on the towels --this was before the babies could sit up or crawl. As we progressed, the babies got to belly-crawl on a mirror slathered with baby lotion, etc. Around 10 months or so, they got to go around an "obstacle course" where they had to go up an incline, come down a mini-slide, crawl over/through/under objects. It was amazing to see their mobility improve with each passing week.

Each session would end with a mini massage session. Anne provided all the natural oils and she would walk us through the strokes. It was a nice way to calm the babies down at the end of each session.

To learn more about PEKIP, click here.

Socatots

Josh has been doing Socatots at the YWCA since he was 3 years old. I have to say that it's his favorite after-school activity. At one point, I asked him to rank his after-school activities according to how much he likes each one and without missing a beat, he said that he likes Socatots the best.

What we love about Socatots:

1. It's great that Josh gets to run around and burn off some the unbelievable amount of energy he has.
2. Kids learn to follow instructions.
3. Fun drills for motor skills improvement.
4. Some of the coaches integrate numbers and colors into the drills, making the class more than just physical exercise.
5. I get to be in there with him during the class to delight in his successes and/or be there to support him when he needs help with some of the activities.
   

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It's great that they have Socatots classes in more places now (Stanley Sports Centre, American Club, Football Club, etc.) apart from the YWCA. I had to queue up for four hours --yes, 4 hours! -before I was able to sign up Josh for his latest class. (Not Socatots' fault, though. The Y just has to get their streamline the application procedure to make it less painful to sign up our kids for any of their classes.)

Will I let Josh move on to Brazilian Soccer when he turns 5? We'll see. I can see that the kids in this class (4 year-olds) can be rougher than the ones in his 3yo class. I guess that's inevitable, though, that the testorone levels get higher as they get older...? For the moment, I love it that Josh enjoys his classes and I love seeing his confidence grow as he gets more agile and more coordinated. I love the way he comes running back to me to give me a high ten whenever he saved or scored a goal. I love it when he discovers that he can easily complete a drill that he'd initially thought might be difficult. I just love it when he has fun, especially when it's the kind of fun where I don't have to clean up after him!