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.

Sharing a Shell

(Get it here)

Written by Julia Donaldson / Illustrated by Lydia Monks..

This was our very first Julia Donaldson book. Not The Gruffalo, not The Spiffiest Giant in Town, not Room on the Broom. Not any of her more popular books. In fact, when I bought this book, I had never heard of Julia Donaldson before. Yes, Josh was almost 3 before I’d even heard of Julia Donaldson. Mommy fail.
I’d picked up the book because of how pretty the illustrations are. There are glitters, my friends. Glitters. I read through the book. I love the rhyming narrative. I knew that I would enjoy reading this aloud to Josh. I knew that he’d enjoy the story and that he’d enjoy looking at the colorful and pretty pictures. The message about sharing was a good one. Sold!

Josh enjoyed turning the pages, lingering a bit and touching some of the pictures with glitters on them. We’d read it so many times that Josh had most parts memorized. He still enjoys reading this book to this day.
Now, Zoë has discovered the book as well. Every night this week, she has been picking this book to read at bedtime. As it was with Josh, she would softly touch the glitters, marvelling at the texture, while we read to her. After we’re done reading, she’d then get the book from us and would insist on “reading” to us. Filling in with her own words how the story unfolds.

Sharing a Shell book is definitely a treat for booklovers young and old and would make a very good book to start for those children who might not be so interested in reading books. The colorful and cute illustrations, the glitter, the story, and Donaldson’s trademark rhyming narrative are all wrapped up nicely in this little gem of a book.

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.

Clever Castle: Clue-Solving Game

Yes, another ThinkFun game. You all know that I am a fan.

This one the first single-player ThinkFun game that I’d bought. I thought Josh might be ready for some “solitaire” type game.

Clever Castle is essentially a pattern matching game. It comes with --

• 1 playing board
• 9 tiles (3 of each: Knight, Princess, Dragon in red, yellow, and blue)
• 40 Mind Challenge cards in a spiral notebook format, organized into sections according to difficulty (10 each of Easy, Medium, Hard, and Super Hard)
• 1 Welcome Mat to help with organizing the tiles
• 1 Parent’s Guide
• 1 Storage Bag

How to play --

It’s fairly simple. The whole objective is to follow the “clues” on the Mind Challenge cards and correctly arrange the tiles in the nine windows on the castle (the game board).

First, you select a Challenge Card and then based on the “clues” there, start filling in the windows of the castle with the correct tiles. Once the windows are all filled up, flip the card over to check if the pattern on your board matches the one on the “answer” card.

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The Easy cards are, well, easy. Zoë –who isn’t quite 3 yet, –is able to work her way up to #8 with minimal supervision. Josh quickly whizzed through the cards up to #24 before he decided to stop.

I was expecting that he would probably do maybe 10-15 games, but he was really enjoying himself. I asked him if he likes it. He said, “I don’t like it. I love it! Mommy, it’s even better than playing on the computer or watching TV.” Now that’s saying a LOT.

The clues get trickier and more challenging as one progresses along. Some clues show all the windows and some show only a partial view of the windows, so you’ll have to visualize the other windows on the board to ascertain the right place to put your tiles. Clever Castle helps children learn to problem-solve. Kinda reminds me of the abstract reasoning part of IQ tests.

It says on the box that it’s for ages 5-7, but I daresay you can start at 3. Try to see if your child can follow the clues. When it gets a bit too challenging, you can always get him to simply try copying the pattern seen on the Answer cards.

I love that Clever Castle is simple enough a concept for a child to follow without much supervision from adults. I got at least half and hour of quiet time, allowing me to read my book while Josh worked through the challenge cards. He was so excited each time he completed a pattern and learned that he got it correctly when he checked the Answer page. One other thing I love is that it has a bag for easy storage of the game. No need to keep the box!

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Clever Castle is available in Hong Kong in Sogo for HK$159.90. Elsewhere, you can order it from Amazon.com for about US$14.

S’Match!

No, this was not one of the Christmas presents that Josh and Zoë got. It’s actually from the stash of toys/games that I bought earlier this year. I tend to buy, on-the-spot, toys/games and even clothes that might not be right or age-appropriate at the time I buy them. So, yes, I do have a stash of toys and games for “emergencies” –e.g. for trips, last-minute presents, when they get bored.

Two weeks of no school over the Christmas holidays means more TV time than usual and I am not very keen for them to be glued to the set the whole morning, but neither was I up for cleaning up after them after a “painting” session. So I dug around. And I found S’Match.

I’d always loved memory games as a child. I think one of the best presents I got was a memory game that came with (removable) plastic tiles mounted on the game board. You could easily “flip” the cards over with your finger for matches. I think my parents must have given that game away and I have not come across anything anywhere close to that game since –in terms of set-up. Anyway, when I saw S’Match, I thought it would be something that Josh and Zoë would enjoy. Besides, it’s from the makers of Zingo! (ThinkFun), so how could I go wrong?

Despite the big box, the only contents were --

• 1 S’Match!® Spinner
• 30 Picture Cards - very small, but sturdy ones
• 1 Parent’s Guide

S’Match is very similar to your usual memory game in that you have to make matches, but S’Match is literally a memory game with a spin. Before each turn, the players get to spin the spinner to find out what type of match they’re supposed to make: A match by Color, by Number or by Category.

On the box, it says for Ages 4+. If you have a precocious 2-year old, even she can join in –and win! I think luck had a hand in Zoë’s winning against Josh by one pair in the first game they played. She just seemed to be able to pick all the right cards at the right time. Seriously, though, because the cards had both words and pictures, for as long as your pre-schooler understands color concepts, can count, and understands how certain objects belong to certain categories (musical instruments, things that ‘go’, animals), she can definitely join in and have fun.

The Parent’s Guide that comes with the game has plenty of great tips on how to improve your child’s thinking skills –including some that take you beyond the game itself.

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S’Match is available from Amazon.com for US$19.95. Here in Hong Kong, it retails for HK$179.90 and should be available at any of the following: Seibu, Bumps 2 Babes, Toys ‘R’ Us, Apita or Wing On.