Fun and Learn Activities for Kids: Land & Water, Twister

Jul 14, 2021 Mom and Ideas Leave a comment

This Saturday, I planned a FUN AND LEARN ACTIVITY with my 2 1/2 year old! We really enjoyed it and it was so easy to set up.

Two Activities/Games, Same Preparation:
1. LAND AND WATER
2. TWISTER

FOR LAND AND WATER ACTIVITY:

1. Use the alphabet foam sheets to make land and water patches. (You can use any other alphabet toys that can be stepped upon or simply draw on the floor / paper.)
2. Join them with extra foam tiles to make bridges if your toddler is very small.
3. Explain the concept of land, water and importance of bridges.
4. Tell them to go to land or water alternately.
5. Bonus learning – Sizes: Make land patches of different sizes and tell them to jump (walk if kids are still to learn jumping) to small, big, bigger and biggest land.
6. Over a period of time, increase the distance and encourage jumping without stepping on water.

FOR TWISTER FAMILY ACTIVITY:

Reference Twister Game. Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Say aloud different letters and numbers and ask them to step on certain letters and place hands on others for a fun family activity. Just follow the concept of twister game (Google it if you are not aware of this).

homeschooling

Toddler Activity: Drawing and Colouring Shape Friends

Jul 5, 2021 Mom and Ideas Leave a comment

Our toddler activity of the day was SHAPE FRIENDS. It is fun and useful for identifying and colouring shapes.

This was an impromptu activity as I sat to teach her the concept of “after” in numbers but she got bored after a while. So the shapes here are mostly doodles.

This was a revision of the shapes she knows, but this time she actually filled in / scribbled colours inside the shapes thus paying more attention to the number of edges, corners and angles of each shape.

Shape Friends – Toddler Activity for Homeschool / Preschool

I then went ahead with shading and then making some shape friends that she loved.

How to go about it:

1. Draw shapes with different crayons while explaining it all to the toddler. If your kid is big enough to draw shapes, then let the kid draw in colours and sizes of his/her choice.

2. Let them pick the same colour of the shape and fill the colours.

3. Then take the colours and show them how they can fill in the gaps.

4. Draw some caps and faces, and make #shape friends. Have lots of fun making stories with shape friends!

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Let us know how you liked this activity. What are the creative ways you use to teach drawing shapes to your kids?

Reviews

Book Review: Eighteen Moons | An inspiring book about surrogacy struggles

Jul 2, 2021 Mom and Ideas Leave a comment

Eighteen Moons (by Andi Webb) is a truly inspiring and interesting book. I am so glad I picked it for my first read after a three-year gap from reading. Surprisingly, I finished it in three days (even though I am a very slow reader) reading late nights as I just couldn’t put it down!

The book (available here) is the true story of a gay couple, Andi and John from the UK, determined to have a family complete with kids. The book takes you through their extraordinary journey of becoming parents to five wonderful kids through surrogacy. How they go through an unbelievable amount of struggle but stay strong and determined in the face of adversity is commendable and inspiring. Whatever problems you are facing today, not just related to surrogacy, the perseverance that the couple shows will make you want to never give up, come what may!

Read this amazing book that will take you on a surrogacy journey to three countries – India, Nepal and Thailand. With every trip, there’s a lot of doubt whether or not the couple would be able to bring their surrogate newborns home. Andi stays in foreign countries for several months, away from his beloved and very supportive partner John, manages newborns, and struggles to find the right nannies and places to stay. Meanwhile, John struggles in his own country to be able to meet and bring home his newborns. Seeing them being the victims of bureaucracy amid changing laws related to surrogacy makes you feel the helplessness the couple goes through. At times you wonder if they would give up, but wow they are so patient and determined!

Such is the excellent writing of the author, that you wish if only you could have known them then and done something to help. The couple stays apart for a long time as one of them doesn’t get the right Visa with the system being, as we all know, far from perfect. And as if the changing laws, cheats and a blackmailing surrogate mother are not enough, there’s an earthquake and a possible jail time. There are tears and fears, smiles and hopes, and both the good and the bad sides of humanity playing their parts.

The pace of the book is awesome and the uncertainty involved keeps you hooked from the beginning to the last page hoping that maybe things will work out on the next page. And the kids are so cute, you can picture them as the author describes them with so much love. Read the book Eighteen Moons by Andi Webb to find out how they navigate through all the struggles. I absolutely recommend this book.

The book is available on Amazon UK here. For all other locations, just search Andi Webb on your Amazon browser.

Recipes

Beetroot Cutlets / Healthy Burger Patty Recipe for Kids

Jul 1, 2021 Mom and Ideas Leave a comment

I made these yummy beetroot cutlets / burger patties just now! I didn’t expect that I’ll be able to do it but I managed to completely eliminate the raw flavour of beetroot. Yay! Experimented with a unique combination of spices and achieved the best flavour ever.

Here’s the Beetroot Cutlet / Patty Recipe ❤️ Save for future reference! Do share if you like it.

Ingredients:
2 large grated and boiled beetroots
2 large boiled potatoes
2 bread slices broken into fine pieces / coarsely powdered based on the texture you like
Salt to taste
1 pinch turmeric powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves (I forgot adding)
1/2 tsp chat masala
1/2 tsp oregano (that’s the twist, but you can skip)
1/2 tsp chilli powder / sliced green chillies (I don’t use as Mishika doesn’t eat spicy food

Method:
1. Remove excess water from boiled beetroots. Save it to add in anything else later or for food colouring / to colour any homemade play dough for kids.
2. Mix and mash beetroots and potatoes.
3. Mix well all the other ingredients.
4. Taste at this stage and adjust the flavours as per your liking.
5. Shape the cutlets / patties.
6. Coat them with semolina or bread crumbs.
7. Shallow fry on medium flame till the surface becomes a little brownish and crisp.
8. Remove on absorbent paper / kitchen roll to remove excess oil.
9. Alternatively, bake it!

PS Use any combination of spices available at your location but the bread and oregano does the trick!

Enjoy with ketchup / chutney / dips of your choice!