MOMMade: Magnetic Funny Faces

Made this for Baby O sometime earlier this year but never got a chance to post it up. It is pretty simple. All you need is:

An empty square/rectangular biscuit tin
Paper
Magnetic paper
Markers
Scissors
Magnetic tape

First draw a couple of 'faces' on pieces of paper cut to fit the size of the tin you will be using. Mine is half A4. I cut four pieces of magnetic tape for each corner of the paper so they stay on the tin.

Next, draw different types of features on magnetic paper and colour them in - hair, eyebrows, eyes, ears, noses, lips, mouths, beard, moustaches, etc. You can include some accessories like sunglasses and bows. Whatever you fancy really... Cut them out.

Finally, get creative! Place a piece of paper with an empty face on the tin and add features on! Here are some of ours. The possibilities are endless!

This craft can keep a toddler busy for some time. Not recommended for less than two I suppose due to the small bits which may be a choking hazard. Irregardless, I would still advice supervision. Plus playing together is fun!

Earth Day 2011

Been away and will blog about it later. It's Earth Day today. I may not be an award winning environmentalist but preserving the Earth for our future generations and teaching our kids to love the world they live in is important to me so I'm stealing some time to write just a little about it.

 

Last year I pledged to:

1. Potty train Baby O. Failed big time. Well, at least we tried. Numerous times. Unfortunately I think she is now traumatised by the whole experience and may take her even longer to be trained! Yikes!

2. Switch off all electrical items when not in use and not leave on standby. Quite a success except for the Astro decoder which they want us to leave on standby mode for updates. Hmm... 

3. Use a tiffin carrier or own containers for taking away food. Done whenever we know that we are going to take away. Other times still rely on the containers provided by the food seller. I must comment though that a lot of them have actually switched to recyclable paper boxes or plastic wares which we can reuse and not polystyrene anymore. Bravo to them!

Other things that we have been doing:

recycle and make our own books and toys.

recycle our milk cartons, egg trays, glass bottles, cereal boxes, etc.

compost though we have unfortunately stopped doing so due to space constrain.

planted own veg though not every plant was successful as everytime we are away even for just the weekend, our poor plants succumb to the heat and lack of water :( We still have sweet potato, ginger, chilli and pandan to harvest from now.

use only one car and public transportation while we still can and don't need a second car.

use our own bags during shopping. I've in fact sometimes swapped a recyclable shopping for my handbag! One size fits all!

This year I pledge to:

1. Continue to try to potty train Baby O.

2. Make my own organic cleaning agent of some sort which does not contain as many harmful chemicals for us and the environment. Am keen to try a soap or shampoo but will have to source the ingredients. 

3. Refashion! Dug out some old t-shirts and hoping to have a chance to make them into something else that can be worn by someone to extend the life of the materials! Very excited about this but just don't know if I'll get a chance to do so. But will pledge to anyway! 

Do you have an Act of Green that you want to share with us? Remember it doesn't have to be something big! Just one small action makes a big difference! Here are some suggestions to get you going:

• Extend the life cycle of a product - re-use bags/ wrapping papers/ use both sides of the paper etc.
• Grow your own fruits and vegetables
• Reduce food waste - buy only what you need/ clear refrigerator before buying more food/ ask for less (rice/ noodles etc.) when ordering if you know you can't finish it
• Reduce use of air-conditioner by drawing the curtains to keep hot air out
• Recycle old cell phones and electronics
• Collect rain water to wash the car, water plants, etc.
• Car pool instead of driving alone
• Pay bills online
• Ask more people to join in the pledge!

MOMMade: Homemade Guess Who Lift-The-Flap Book

Can't think of anything easier to do than this with Baby O. A personalised lift-the-flap book! Got the idea from the Playhouse Disney channel where at the end of one of the programmes, the viewer was asked to identify which cartoon character it is by revealing only a partial body part. Immediately went scrap hunting after that. 

This is what we used: 

Old magazines with relevant pictures - we used AstroView for Baby O's favourite cartoon characters. Other option would be pictures of animals or vegetables and fruits.

Used envelopes

A booklet - one made of relatively stiff paper would be ideal. Otherwise I suppose old exercise books/ diaries would work too!

Scissors

Glue

Pen

This is what we did:

1. Look for and cut cartoon pictures out in old magazines. Trim to fit booklet.

2. Cut used envelopes big enough to cover the cartoon pictures with about one centimetre extra as the flap.

3. Mark and cut holes to reveal only certain parts of the picture as a clue for the child to guess who (or what) is behind the flap.

4. Glue the flaps down adjusting the hole(s) ensuring only the selected parts are covered or exposed.

5. Decorate if desired.

Honestly no rocket science involved. You don't even have to be able to cut a straight line! Here are pictures of some of the pages:

Lift the handy flaps for clues!

The many ways to use see-through envelopes!

Incorporating some numbers

And some shapes!

Baby O was really good with this little game of 'Guess Who?'. She could identify most of them easily. The best part is, even though she already know the answers to some of them, she will still go back to the booklet and lift the flaps again and again! 

You know, we can buy less and be more green if we really want to!

Home Craft Projects

We have been embarking on a number of projects simultaneously these few weeks. Firstly, I was ecstatic to find printable magnetic paper. I had something in mind and looked high and low for this special inkjet magnetic paper which we can actually print on. Initially found a shop around Jalan Perak selling them. One piece was priced at RM16.50! Was at the verge of giving up when to my surprise, I found Jusco at Queensbay Mall selling them at half the price! So I grabbed them. Can't wait to use them!

Second project has to do with these...

I have cleaned and dried these milk cartons since months ago so it's about time to do something with them. First phase completed. Not sure when is the next phase...

Project no. 3: While trying to get Baby O to use up her energy one of those days at the mall, I stumbled upon this little family. They were only RM2.50 each and I couldn't resist bringing them home. Now I am wondering if I should give them a little make over and build them a house... 

Finally, this baby... Bought it eons ago. Amount of time used: zero. Brought it up to Penang not too long ago and have a little refashion project that I would really love to embark on. Saw so many of these sites making pretty dresses for their little girls out of old t-shirts and thinking I might just be able to do that too! The big question is, when????

Children Toys in Malaysia

No wonder they say raising kids are expensive! Look at the price of children toys and clothes here in Malaysia and you will know why. For a good quality toy here, you will easily need to fork out hundreds (maybe even thousands! I'm not kidding and we are not even talking about the iPads and Wii!). Comparing dollar to dollar, you can easily get three toys for £20 in the UK and £50 can go a loooooong way! Second hand items still in very good condition sell at merely just a few pounds!

One example is the Leapfrog activity table. In the UK, a new one is selling for £35.75 while in Malaysia, it is selling for RM238.00! Dollar for dollar, can you imagine paying only RM35.75 for this item?? Even after converting, it is still shockingly more expensive in Malaysia!

Comparing second hand ones, one was recently sold for RM69 in Malaysia while it is common to see one sold for less than £5 on eBay! Some were even sold at their original list price of only £0.99!

Some solution to this:
1. Extend life of toys by buying second hand or hand over toys to younger children or donate to a charity. Only problem is second hand toy shops are a rare sight in Malaysia and we don't have many relatives to hand us down items while most friends are still keeping theirs for their third, fourth and fifth child  :(  Those willing to sell me second hand items, I'm willing to have a look! Those wanting to have more space at home, send your unused children toys and clothes this way please!

2.  Home made. Sure bought toys come with lots of sounds and lights but when a toy is crafted together at home, there is a sense of pride and achievement not to mention the special bonding session while sparks of creativity fly all over the place! Besides, it is fun, easy, doesn't hurt the pocket as much and green! Check out lots of ideas online or some of our little projects: play dough, five little freckled frogs, marble run and others which I will continue to post here.

3. Exchange. If you can find people who are willing to exchange toys with you for a few weeks or so, this is a great way to save and try 'new' toys on both sides. Just need to place your trust in each other to keep the toys clean and return them in one piece but don't have high expectations when dealing with curious toddlers. Though it is not easy to break the mental barrier of parents here regarding hygiene etc. it may be worth a try! Start with some small inexpensive ones first and if it doesn't work out, you can always scrap the idea.

4. Review. If you really need to purchase toys, spend some time reading reviews online before your next purchase to know what toys are suitable at what age to get the best mileage and have your money well spent. Hopefully I can help by putting some review posts up if I get a chance.

Any other suggestions out there??

MOMMade: 'Marble' Run [Homemade Children Craft]

Saw this marble run toy on a friend's Facebook photos and thought we can do something similar to this at home! Spent a few minutes brainstorming for a homemade version and then off to scavenge for the parts in the recycling bin!!

This is what I used:
1 empty cereal box
3 toilet rolls
Marker pen
Super glue/ glue gun
Craft knife
Scissors



This is what I did:

1. Draw an outline on the cereal box with the marker and cut it out with the craft knife.

2. Cut a hole on the top of the cereal box using the craft knife to insert marble through.

3. Cut the toilet rolls in half. Place and mark where to place the toilet rolls on the cereal box.

4. Make a crease on one side of the toilet rolls using the side of the table so they hold better.

5. Put glue on the creased side and paste them on the markings. Use as it is or decorate with paints or stickers etc.

After testing it a few rounds, I extended the last roll so it goes right to the end.

 I also cut a little opening at the exit so it is easier to remove the 'marbles'.

 I tried looking for some marbles in the supermarket to use this new toy but couldn't find any. The crystal beads I have were kind of hazardous as they are small. Our plastic bottle cap collection worked but doesn't provide the same feel as a round item. So I made some using aluminium foil! Just tear some pieces up and squash them into a ball! Doesn't have to be perfectly round. The aluminium 'marbles' can be of different sizes and you can make as many or as little as you want whenever you want them!






This is what I encountered:
I placed the rolls too near initially and the 'marbles' just jumped right off the first roll so I had to remove and place the rolls further apart.

This is what I will do next time:
1. Use either blue tack or not-so-sticky tape to put the toilet rolls in place and do a trial run first before actually pasting them on permanently with glue.

The best part about this toy is:
Promotes creativity and helps develop child's motor skills!
It took us only half an hour to construct!!
The parts are easily replaceable!!!
Cost is extremely low!!!!
It is green!!!!!



Caution:
We were so excited with our new toy that we played with it past Baby O's nap time window which was a disaster as she completely did not want to nap after that resulting in an overactive and cranky little toddler!!

Now this simple and easy one is done, time to brainstorm a more complicated one like this:

MOMMade: Five Little Freckled Frogs

We have designated Tuesdays our craft day. This Tuesday, we worked on an idea that has been stored in the back of my mind for some time now. So off to gather some scraps and have some fun with Baby O:

Materials
empty card board boxes
kitchen towel roll
colour markers/ crayons/ pencils
scissors
craft knife
pencil





1. Sketch five little frogs (about 3 inches high) on a piece of card board. Don’t forget to add little freckles and a little tab at the bottom of your frogs to insert onto the speckled log later. Colour them in and cut them out. Alternatively, if you don't mind my frogs, you can print them out, paste them on a card board and cut them out.

2. Cut open the kitchen towel roll from top to bottom. Fold back about an inch of the roll from the opening to allow the log to stand on its own. Colour the top of the roll in as the speckled log. Colour the folded part of the log as water.

3. Mark on the speckled log where you want your freckled frogs to be and make a slit the size of your tabs with a craft knife.

4. Insert tabs of freckled frogs into slits on speckled log. Ta daa!

5. Remove freckled frogs one by one while singing:



 
Five Little Freckled Frogs
Sat on a speckled log
Eating the most delicious bugs. Yum! Yum!
One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Then there were Four green freckled frogs. Glug! Glug!

Four Little Freckled Frogs
Sat on a speckled log
Eating the most delicious bugs. Yum! Yum!
One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Then there were Three green freckled frogs. Glug! Glug!

Three Little Freckled Frogs
Sat on a speckled log
Eating the most delicious bugs. Yum! Yum!
One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Then there were Two green freckled frogs. Glug! Glug!

Two Little Freckled Frogs
Sat on a speckled log
Eating the most delicious bugs. Yum! Yum!
One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Then there were One green freckled frog. Glug! Glug!

One Little Freckled Frogs
Sat on a speckled log
Eating the most delicious bugs. Yum! Yum!
He jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Then there were no green freckled frogs. Glug! Glug!

Note: There are many versions of the lyrics but they all sound the same like this:


Caution: Don't forget to supervise the curious little ones and use all sharp tools from a safe distance.

MOMMade: Homemade Play Dough

Lots to do but can't help taking a break and put a post up!! ;-)

This is so easy to make and made of 100% edible ingredient though I wouldn't eat it due to the high sodium content! I can only imagine how it tastes like!

What you need:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
Food colouring

Method:
Mix flour, salt and oil in a bowl. Slowly add in water. The play dough will look sludgy at this point.  Cook over medium heat, stirring until dough becomes stiff. Turn off heat and leave the play dough to cool. When cooled, knead the play dough with your hands until they come together and form play dough! You can use it as it is. I have divided the play dough into four separate balls and added food colouring into each ball. You can also use vegetable juices like dragon fruit, spinach and carrot to make pink, green, and orange coloured play dough. Put the coloured play dough in separate containers to avoid the colours mixing - let the toddlers do that bit for you! I have been keeping the play dough in the refrigerator when not in use. The play dough are exactly two weeks old now and they still feel soft and look like how they were two weeks ago even though they have been messed with. Let's see how long it will last!

On hind sight, I should have used cooled, boiled water instead of tap water. Reason being the play dough will probably last longer. Second reason being should Baby O decide to put any play dough into her mouth, it is a tad safer and hopefully won't cause her any tummy ache(??). I doubt this makes any sense as the other contents of the play dough will probably be the culprit and not just the water alone. Regardless, please supervise your child(ren) at all times during this activity.

Another tip would be not to cook the play dough in a non-stick pot. I did that and the undissolved salt scratched the surface of my pot. :(

Happy play-ing dough!