Saturday Outing with Maya

All ready to go out and bored of waiting. Maya has learnt to say,"Daddy, faster!"

Eating one of her favorite food : macaroni and cheese, at a nyonya food outlet.

Like most kids her age, she loves going to all parks. This is one of the indoor park that she frequents as she is most comfortable here. I personally likes it for the warm ambience and cleanliness.

To complete her day, all shopping outings have to end with the toy shop. Even if it's for a short while, maya will be contented. It is not a necessity to purchase anything though.

Maya and mummy, or as how Maya puts it,"Maymie!"

 

Banana Walnut Bread

There were a bunch of bananas sitting in the kitchen today. Not looking their freshest, with a few dark spots forming on their skin already, I decided to turn them into a banana walnut bread. I got the recipe from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/janets-rich-banana-bread/detail.aspx . After reading all the comments posted, I decided to add another teaspoon of vanilla essence and a teaspoon of banana essence. As for the bananas, I put them in a resealable plastic bag in the fridge for 12 hours and let it sweat before taking them out. Do let the bananas warm up to room temperature before mashing them with a fork. This is seriously one of the best banana bread recipe I have ever stumbled upon. :)

Vegetables Painting and Cooking

I think most of us did this when we were young; painting with vegetables. This is a very straightforward activity. Cut up some vegetables and use them to paint. You can also cut them into different shapes to create different strokes. And after your child is done painting, wash the paint off the vegetables, cut them into other shapes, and there you have it : another activity to keep your child entertained, cooking!

Easter Bunny for Maya

Maya has not been in the best of mood lately, thus the lack of pictures featuring her. Been rather cranky due to the medicine that she has been taking. In order to cheer her up, I made this bunny for her. She was in a much better mood after that, but I dare not point the camera at her. Thought of making a few more of these to give away. Hmmm....

Bundt Cake

My first ever bundt cake!

Shape Recognition with Stencils

Maya and I are down with the cold today. To cheer her up, I decided to let her do some painting. Though tired, she squealed with joy when she saw what was laid out for her.

Items: Stencils, art cards, masking tape, paint brush, non-toxic paint, disposable plate and scissors.

Method: Tape the stencils to the art cards with masking tape and start painting. I personally prefer to lay a piece of white paper underneath all painting projects. To prevent stencils + art cards from moving around when painting is in progress, I stick them on the big piece of white paper with masking tape.

Gallop Gallop Neigh

Today, I decided to make a horse socks puppet for Maya while the husband spent some quality time babysitting her. She was most delighted when she saw it. She called it, 'Neigh,' and sat on top of it like a horse. Right before she went off to bed, she put Neigh the horse and 1/2striped the dog into her doll stroller. : )

Air Dry Clay

Recently, I have seen a lot of beautifully irresistible silicone moulds in the market. As usual, the shopaholic in me could not resist buying a few. After mulling about a few ideas on what to do with them, I finally decided to let Maya play with it. Went out to get some air dry clay and she made herself a clay triceratop. And with the help of some cookie cutters and a rolling pin, we made a few ornaments which we will make into streamers once they are fully dried. Do remember to use a smooth plastic placemat or lay the bottom of the table with plastic sheet before you begin to prevent the clay from sticking to the surface of the table.

Baking with Mummy

Baking with Maya was definitely very fun, but I have to admit, it was a little more messy than usual as well. She loved it, and when the cookies came out from the oven, she pointed to herself and said," Make!"

Plaster of Paris Figurines

This is one of those craft that needs to be made at least one day in advance.

Items: Plaster of paris, silicone mould, a plastic measuring cup, plastic fork, bamboo skewer.

Method: Mix a ratio of 2 parts plaster and 1 part water in the measuring cup.

Mix throughly with the fork. Stir, don't beat. Mix in small batches as it hardens very fast.

Pour into the mould. Stream the mixture on one spot only when pouring it in. This is to reduce air bubbles from being trapped.

Shake the mould from side to side and use the skewer to scrap the sides to release trapped air bubbles. This has to be done immediately after the plaster has been poured in.

After about an hour, or when the mixture has harden, pop out the figurines and put it in a well ventilated place to dry throughly. I like to put it on a wire rack underneath the fan as it helps with the drying process.

There are many mediums and methods used to paint these figurines. But for Maya, I usually either give her Crayolla paint or tempera paint, with normal paint brushes and disposable plate as her palette. I hope the figurines are fully dried by tomorrow so Maya can paint on them!

Saturday No Plastic Grocery Bag

 

 

Cosplay and Playdough

Maya decided that being Fairy Maya is more fun today. And as usual I let her choose her own apparel. I don't believe in constraining her creativity and imagination just to conform to the norm of society. But I am a firm believer in disciplining a child from young. My policy; as long as it's not dangerous or hazardous, it's all right.

 

 

My Little Sailor Chef

As usual, I was making fruit salad and cooking for Maya when I decided to put aside some of the ingredients for her to play cooking with. She was of course more than delighted when she saw what was for play today. She played for a long time before she moved on to her painting session. With all her energy used up, Maya is now fast asleep. Sweet dreams little one.

Charts Fun

Charts on the wall are great, but charts on the floor can be FUN! To prevent tearing, run cellophane tape behind the folds.

 

Maya's Space

To give Maya a sense of belonging and me, a sense of sanity, I create her own little corners in the house. One bigger area on top and a smaller area at the bottom. And when I need more time to fold the laundry, I hand her a strip of stickers and let her be creative. It's also a fun way to learn about the different parts of your body. For instance, you can stick a bear sticker on her nose and tell her the bear is on her nose. Then you let the sticker "jumps" to her ears and etc.

 

Korean Baby

 

Fairy Seat Pad

This was supposed to be a miniature flower garden which turned into a fairy seat pad because that is how Maya sees it. :)

Items: Cake board, fake flower petals, UHU glue and colorful buttons.

Method: Apply the UHU glue generously on the cake board.

You can actually arrange the flower nicely on the board, but if you want to do it Maya's style, then just throw all the petals on top of the board and press. Remove the loose petals.

Put glue on the buttons and stick on wherever you like. There you have it. Easy to do, fairy seat pad.