Playgroup resume soon...YAY!!

It has been months, oh months since I update myself on this blog. Horrible me! And time flies and my boys will be 2 very soon. I hope I'll have more free time once they are older and easier to manage. Oh yes, did I tell you that our playgroup will resume again as soon as the boys reaches 2. I hope to update about our playgroup again here, once we get it started in September 2010.

Playgroup temporary stopped

Notice I hardly update anything about my playgroup?

Due to the recent holiday and festive seasons, most of the parents could not make it since there are so much preparation to make for the festive season. Most are either busy shopping or doing spring cleaning at home. Therefore we postponed our playgroup for the time being until March.

Will update more about the child's play soon.

Before the CNY ends (14th Lunar 2008)

After sending my girl to school this morning, me and a few mothers from our playgroup gathered the whole morning today. Besides catching up with each other, we also manage to take this opportunity to visit each other before the CNY ends. Let me take a rest first and will update later.

What a Saturday relief

It is Saturday again and today my girl do not need to attend school. What a relief to both of us!!!

Last night she was smart to tell me she wasn't keen to go to school and this morning, as usual she wakes up crying, thinking that I'll drag her to school again. I quickly told her it is Saturday and we will be soon going to the Playgroup!!

What a relief for her, hahaha!!!

More Craft Ideas

Recently I have been not searching for craft ideas online for this blog. Since QQ has started school now, it wouldn't be necessary for me to prepare so much craft for her since she will be doing them in school.

However I still need some fresh craft ideas for my playgroup. If you have any great craft ideas, or any links to the pre-school craft site, do let me know yeah....

Free play

It is a quiet day today as many didn't turn up for our playgroup today. Most of them are either busy with the prayer for the Winter Solstice today or went back to hometown. So there were only 3 mums with 5 kids.

Instead of following a routine playgroup session, we just let the children run free and play with whatever they wanted to. we had a great time to sit down and chat with each other too, about pregnancy, child care and even exchanged our Dhamma knowledge.

Funny bubble blowers

Do you know besides cutting shapes out of dough, you can also use these gadgets to make shape bubbles?

Materials: soapy solution, plate, shape cutter

Method: Place the shape cutter into the solution. Take them up and blow/swing them into the air. See bubbles of funny shapes on the air.

Learning Frames

These are the main reason for going all the way to the shop in Kajang. Initially I wanted to get some of the Montessori learning materials for the playgroup, but my friend suggested getting only those simple ones as it is not so appropriate for some apparatus to be used in our not so Montessori-friendly conducted session. Hence we only got some of them such as the Large buttoning fram, Velcro Frame and Buckle frame. They cost about RM30 each which is quite pricey. Also from the same supplier as mentioned in my earlier post.

Mini Growing Up Puzzle

I hardly seen anything like this. Named as also the growing up puzzle, there are a few sets of puzzles (each set has 3). It is easy to identify the sets as each has different color. One box only cost about RM13, got them from the same supplier I got for some other educational toys.

How to play:
1. Identify one set.
2. Arrange them on the template from baby or egg till adult animals.

Note:
Although it may seems easy, it is not easy to fix the puzzles into the template if the orientation is not accurate. Quite challenging for little ones.

Fun wooden Domino

I have seen Domino cards but not something like that. It is the wooden strips card. I can't resist getting one of this when I was shopping for some educational kids toys for my playgroup. Also from the same supplier I mentioned in my previous post.

How to play:
For easy playing, just let the kids do matching the picture to create a link. In fact there are many ways to play Domino. It can even played by a few adults in a contest. You can google or read here to learn more.

12-Pieces Puzzle

It is difficult to get nice puzzle like this, and in shopping malls, they can be very expensive too. Maybe better quality and non-toxic color materials used, reminds me of the recall from Fisher Price. A twelve pieces wooden puzzle like that cost only less than RM10 per board, isn't that reasonably cheap? I got them also from this supplier.

Tactile board

I love this tool. It is called a tactile board or also known as sensory board. With just a glance, a normal kid would be able to identify and match the texture or colors correctly. Therefore, the game should be enhanced by covering up their eyes, and let them match by touching the board. I got this for my playgroup at RM46. It is also from the same supplier as mentioned in my previous post.

Lacing Animals

Just got this new lacing boards for my playgroup. It comes either 3 in a pack (RM23), 6 in a pack or more if you need more from your kindergarten. Priced quite reasonable and made from very good plastic. If not mistaken it is imported from Australia.

Do read good learning instruction from Leah.

Shop: USL Educational Supplies (m) S/B
Contact: 603-8737 7323

Playgroup (31/03/07)

This is our 3rd session of playgroup.
9 Mums who came are : Siaw Wei, Cheng Sim, Clarice, Audrey, Kelly, Vignes, Joanne, Kristin and Chin Nee. And coincidently we have 3 dads who tagged along (whom were either driver or mum's assistant). And of course not forgetting the 15 childens from the 9 families...

As the group is unexpectedly bigger than our previous, kids are getting a little bit out of control but we were all having lots more fun. As most of the mums are quite new to the group, all were happily chatting away, getting to know each other. After the kids' snack time, we did a very nice straw craft, the paper Apple Mobile, which was prepared by mummy Siaw Wei (refer to the photo above). After each kid had their master piece, children helped to clear off the mess and we sat in a circle for our story telling time. Kristin did a wonderful expressive story telling of the "3 Little Piglet & The Big Bad Wolf). We then sang some songs and dance along. Finally at 12noon, the group ended by the Barney song "I Love You" and children gave each other a goodbye hug.

Playgroup in Sg.Long

I have always tempted to send my little gal, who is now 3 to a proper (or should i say suitable) playgroup. In shopping malls, we can find many profitable playgroup, such as those with indoor playground, with a guided teacher, and even computers for little ones. However I find that kids nowadays are very clever (many say it is due to the "DHA" that they have been drinking from their formula today). And obviously we don't need them to be "clever" to make them a better person.

Few months back, I came across a mum who has the experience of sending her kids to "pre-dharma" school. Dharma school is obviously for kids (school aged) for those who are buddhist, it is just similar to the Christian's sunday school. I am very eager to enrol my gal into such program, sincerely believe that good values and virtues should be taught from young, and it is impossible to rely on our "pendidikan moral" in our Malaysia education system.

With effort of all parties, especially the Sg.Long Buddhist society, we managed to start up playgroup in our area. Our playgroup runs on every Saturday morning, and in that 2 hours, our activities contains of free play, break time, crafts session and circle time (story telling or singing).