Tag Archives: play

Colored Rice

Looking for something new to do, I stumbled upon some ideas on rice as a tool for sensory play and learning. So off we went to the kitchen and got some rice. Little did I know that my son would love this little project! 

First I prepared 4 ziplock bags and placed about a 1/4 cup of rice each bag. Then we got some food coloring with water and placed one color per bag. We prepared to do 4 colors.  After about soaking them for 15 minutes, we removed the excess water and drained the rice. Later, it was ready to be air dried.

 
But since Joshua and I were getting excited to play with the rice, we opted to use a hair blower and cloth to help us dry it quickly. 
Once it was dry,  the rice can be used to hide alphabets that he could guess. I tried to do one alphabet per letter. However, as we began playing that, it was not easy to keep every rice grain to stick to its proper colored bowl. Later, Josh wanted to mix them all and it was actually cute to have mixed colored rice! 

   
 
As I left Josh to explore with the rice on his table, he was making lots of artwork with his hands. First he was making circles. Later his imagination just left him to play there for almost an hour! 

   

This was a great sensory and learning tool for the day! Even the process of making the rice was such a great bonding experience for us! 

 

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Foam Cut Out Art

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I love National bookstore and Japan Stores because they have a lot of materials for art. It is always good to start buying basic stuff  for activities at home. This would include Crayons, papers and colored paper, scissors, glue and stick glue.  

I like doing activities with Josh that requires him to use his hands and avoid getting entertained by TV and the tablet. I bought some foam cut outs that had animals and shapes. Those were available in Japan Store for P88. Then with colored paper and stick glue we got ready to create our artwork!  

   
As Joshua chooses his cut out, we would imagine that he is pretending to create a jungle with all these animals. When we tell stories, it helps Josh also with his imagination. I love listening to his version of the story telling too! 

   
 
At the end, you can see how accomplished he feels with his work. And I feel the same! 

Its okay to play with sand

February and LOVE goes very well together. Both have the following ingredients to a great short vacation — Great weather, white sand beach, and a wedding. Yes, it so happens that the youngest sister of my husband has decided to have a destination wedding in Boracay Island. Our little boy will play a role as a ring bearer on that special day.

It will be our first time as a family to go to Boracay. The travel was a long one for us. We had to drive to Davao then take a plane from Davao to Cebu. From Cebu we get a connecting flight to Caticlan. Then lastly a boat ride from Caticlan to the main island. Oh well, even with the long travel, we were excited to be with family.

Joshua’s first beach experience was in Gumasa, Glan. He was so young though. He was only 5 months that time. This time, he is much older and I think will appreciate the beach even more!

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Sand challenge
We as parents have been so careful about cleanliness and hygiene. Especially after Joshua got sick with ameobiasis we became even more cautious. So many times we warn Joshua about dirt and not to touch it. So, for the first time, Joshua was allowed to go freely and touch the sand. However, we found him in full restraint and even dislike playing with the sand. He wanted sand to be taken off from his feet and just wanted to be carried. Oh-oh!!!

Steve being the strongest figure in our son’s life was the only person who could break that “scary sand” mindset. So daddy, took time to play and introduce the powdery white sand of Boracay to Josh.

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It was not long, Josh was finally under the sand! Thanks to daddy and his uncles, Joshua was able to conquer his fear.

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Boracay is really a place for babies to learn to love the beach. Its cold, fine sand just appeals to kids of all ages. Its also a good place to help strict parents like us to just chill and take a break. It gave us a chance for our little boy to enjoy just being a baby boy. Thank God for precious moments like this.

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Joshua walking on sand