FINALLY... Sophie was able to snip off some Playdoh with a pair of safety scissors. I did not let her try cutting paper because I find it too hard for her to manage both the scissors and the paper at the same time. We take it for granted but it is actually quite difficult to hold the paper in place for cutting. For her, it is already tough to manipulate the scissors... so I did not want to make it too challenging for her. I let her practice on Playdoh instead. So funny that she actually made a crocodile with the Playdoh.
Tired of making the letters (one a week) with jumping clay, I decided to make them all today. I also made Sophie her name...
Sure, we eat pumpkins... not quite so often though. And I do not feel like buying a pumpkin home just to do art (waste of food) and ... I guess I am just not into Halloween. So, I cut out paper pumpkins and let Sophie do printing with her roller sponge instead. Same, right?
Anyway, I was glad my Kirigami skills are still intact after so many years. I put double-sided tape on each 0f "pumpkin face" and let Sophie paste them on a piece of paper. I had meant to peel off the tape for her, but she beat me to it and did a great job. She even pushed my hands away and said, "bye-bye" to me so that she could do it herself! I was also happy to hear her attempt to count.
The roller sponge was a bit of a challenge because I knew she would do everything else except rolling it. Fortunately, she was quite cooperative and she understood most of my instructions.
I thought orange and black look really good together so I let Sophie add black to the picture. However, I was a bit worried because black paint is much harder to wash off. Thus, I tried to hold her hand and guide her through. Even when I finally let her do it on her own, I had to hold her left her so that she could not squeeze the sponge... All was good until she started hammering...
I did not want to waste the "pumpkin faces" so we pasted them on a separate piece of paper. It turned out alright as well... Cannot say the same about my glue stick though...
Sophie is a fan of "Harold and the Purple Crayon", not the book by Crockett Johnson or the original animation (1969 version)... She loves the HBO version with lots of catchy music and colourful animations... and of course, Sharon Stone's narration. Frankly, I also enjoy watching the series with her. I think her favourite colour is purple. I made her a purple "crayon" with jumping clay so that she can pretend to draw like Harold. It was so funny that she kept pretending to fall asleep like Harold and drop the purple crayon on the floor.
I cannot find the HBO version on YouTube so here is the original version.
Sophie was in the mood for beans again so I gladly indulged her. I thought I should let her do it since I was feeling well and good today (cleaning up would not be so painful). To my surprise, she used a ladle to scoop the beans up and transfer them into the measuring cup instead of the usual way (pouring). After a couple of attempts, I started wondering when she would start pouring and scattering the beans on the floor.
Well, I know my daughter so well… She began pouring the beans when she felt that scooping was not quite as efficient as she would like. I must say that her skills and control has improved since the last time she did this. However, the moment she dropped one or two beans….
Sigh… the beans were everywhere on the kitchen floor. I had to sit there and coax her into picking them up. Sophie was so cheeky, she tried to “escape” from her responsibility so many times. And when she was “caught”, she pretended to pick a few beans up before trying again.
I try not to restrict Sophie to “feminine” toys, so I got her some cars. However, the way she played with them was still sooooooo “girly”. In the end, she was more fascinated by the “little red man” than anything else.
Who could resist a rainbow? Sophie sure could not. One look at the cardboard clouds and rainbow strips, was all it took for her to stay engaged throughout the entire activity... more or less.
I tried getting Sophie to colour the strips with crayons but she was not keen, she preferred to play with them instead. I deliberately cut the strips out so that she could colour them individually. Then I cut two pieces of cardboard cloud (one reflective and one normal) for each end of the rainbow. I would later attach some fluffy cotton wool to make a 3-D cloud on one of them.
Getting Sophie to use the dot paint "properly" is always a challenge. I know she could do it but she just prefers not to. Anyway, we added some glitter glue after she was done and it looked nice and glittery...
I had forgotten about the glue, so I left Sophie alone to fetch it from our art cupboard. When I returned, one of the cloud was missing. I was not surprised because I heard her "cheeky" laughter from the room. Apparently, she was playing with it and the wind blew it across the dining table and onto the floor. She knew what happened but she played along with me when I asked her where she had hidden it... In the end, she pointed to me where it had landed, after misleading me a couple of times.
Sophie helped me place the parts together after we retrieved the missing cloud. It was quite fun to play with her sometimes... especially when she is so spontaneous and cheeky.
I avoided making a rabbit for "R" because I had wanted Sophie to learn new words and animals. She has seen an illustration of a raccoon in a storybook before, but it was quite abstract. Although I do not think my version is any much better, it triggers her interest about raccoons.
I let Sophie paint the "raccoon" first. She was not particularly thrilled to paint with grey paint even after she fiddled with the parts beforehand, so I had to "play" with her a little to motivate her.
Sophie was more keen to do a collage on the letter "R". I think the glue stick was still a novelty to her. I love it when she says "thank you, Mama..." and then "welcome...".
The collage was supposed to represent some sort of forestry where the raccoon lives. I thought about making a trash can (like Oscar's) but I decided to keep it innocent and let the poor animal live in its natural habitat.
Gosh... it was tough to be sick when you have an active toddler who refuses to leave you alone for more than 5 seconds. My headache was so bad that I could not even think or walk straight. Fortunately, Papa was around to look after Sophie while I stole a wink or two.
I think Sophie’s bugs have finally migrated to my body. I feel really lousy but at least Sophie is getting better so I cannot complain. Anyway, I seriously could not think of anything interesting or creative to do with her for this week’s open-ended art. As a result, we kind of did EVERYTHING… hehe…
I searched our art cupboard for anything black and white last night and found some sandpaper, fabrics (Sophie’s bib), styrofoam wraps (fruit) and strings… among other things like Sophie’s rubber penguins. So I let her make footprints with them with white paint on black paper.
Then I showed her how to make net-like prints with a piece of styrofoam wrap. However, she insisted on using a brush to apply the white paint onto the styrofoam wrap to make the prints. I like the effect and we pasted the piece of wrap onto the paper as part of the art work. I was grinning silly when Sophie apologised for dropping the wrap by accident.
Whenever I am clueless about what I am doing, I tend to overdo to compensate for the lacking (if that makes any sense at all…) so the string was next. Sophie was not really keen to paint with a string, she much rather play with it and as usual, it ended up on the floor. Then she surprised me with “thank you, Mama” when I picked it up for her. Lovely…
End Product (I)
Okay, that should be enough I thought… but we did not stop there. Feeling encouraged, I gave some squares (sandpaper, fabric and shiny cardboard) to do a collage. She was quite cooperative and eager.
I was quite happy to know that Sophie could understand that she was making a flower with the white tissue paper. I was always worried that she could not make sense of whatever we have done for art. So when she tried to tell me what she was making, I felt quite excited. Too bad, she could not resist playing with the glue…
After that, we added a net at the bottom and some pipe cleaner at the side before squeezing a generous amount of glitter glue all over. Sophie was getting bored by then, so I thought it was a good time to call it a day, especially when my camera battery went flat!
End Product (II)
We suspected that Sophie's runny nose and cough was triggered by chalk dust because she started sneezing two days after we introduced chalk to her. And she recovered relatively well soon after we removed all the chalk. Although the chalk was "dust-free", her nose is far too sensitive to cope with so much dust. However, I was curious to her find out her tolerance level so I gave her some chalk to draw on a piece of black paper again. To my surprise, her nose started reacting immediately by producing mucus (some crust around her nostrils) and she kept scratching her nose (irritation). Well... bye bye chalk!
We lost "Playdough Time" the moment Sophie realised she could take her Playdough container from the Art Corner anytime she liked. She fiddles with her Playdough and tools so often that I decided not to take any clips of her... or maybe when she does something really interesting...
It was a close fight between "quill" and "quilt", but eventually I chose the easy one to make. All we needed was a feather. It was necessary to make the little "tail" for "q" so that Sophie would not confuse that with "p" or "d". However, I got confused myself and called it "p" several times.
I feel that Sophie is getting more and more communicative lately. I am not complaining but I wish I knew what she has been trying to say to us. Sometimes, I would stop her halfway and tell her I had absolutely no idea what she was saying. And she would ignore me and carry on.
To make the painting more interesting, I let Sophie paint with a feather. It was not too great because the feather got stuck together and she ended up "whipping" with paint onto the letter. Anyhow, it still went on rather smoothly.
I let Sophie apply glitter glue and painted the "ink bottle". I thought it would look more realistic if I added it in. And of course, some ink on the tip of the quill...
I was not really keen to make a quail because Sophie probably could not get it at all. She would think it was a brown bird. Anyway, she was hardly well enough to work with me this morning, especially not after the diarrhoea that woke her up at 5.30 am. Cause? I can only speculate that the mucus from her nose has flowed into her stomach, causing her to have loose stools.
Anyway, Sophie was quite apathetic about making a quail for the letter "Q" today. I intended for her to do a collage using tissue paper for the body and add some white spots after that. She was half-hearted about pasting tissue paper on the construction paper although she did enjoy applying stick glue all over. Needless to say, I ended up finishing it for her.
Then I let Sophie use her watercolours palette in hope that she would quickly finish it and I could get rid of it. I figured that everything would look kind of brownish if she used it the way she did the last time. Unfortunately, she was not quite keen as well so I had to do it with her.
I was quite tickled when she suddenly began "rowing" with the paintbrushes. She insisted that I do it with her, but it was so cute. When I let her add some white paint to the letter "Q", she started fiddling with her brush. I was not sure what she was doing but I guess she must be experimenting with it.
After that, it was downhill all the way. Sophie was splattering paint all over, tearing up the letter and jabbing her brush everywhere. So I had to call for a timeout and let her sit on the mattress to regain her composure. Meanwhile, I quickly made the quail's head and the rest of its body.
When Sophie seemed better, I asked her if she would like to apply glitter glue for me. She nodded enthusiastically and climbed onto the chair at the dining table. She was quite alright after that and she was able to tell me the letter is "Q".
The end product looked quite presentable although I wish Sophie could contribute more to it. Alas, that is the way she is.
Papa was on leave the whole day. In the morning, he sent Naenae to the hospital for her chemotherapy, then he rushed home with lunch. After that, we left Sophie with Ah Gong and Ah Mah and rushed to Cherrybrook Kindergarten for an interview with the Principal.
We have already attended the presentation during their open house in August and we are quite happy with the school then. But it is their practice to meet up with parents who wish to enrol their children in their school again before making the final decision. During the interview, we discussed with the principal Sophie's personality, behaviour at home and health; we also talked about our parenting style, expectations and concerns. It took us 2 hours and $50 but we were quite relieved that everything went smoothly. Once we have made up our mind, we will meet them again to finish up the paperwork and make payment.
Though it may sound tedious, we are glad that the school invest so much time on the enrolment process. It sends the message that we are valued and they want to do their job properly. The Principal also emphasized that parental involvement is very important and we are expected to be proactive and hardworking in Sophie's education and character development. She added that parents who do not agree with the school's approach, would eventually pull out their children from the school.
During our discussion, I was forced to articulate my parenting philosophy, thoughts and views for the first time to someone other than Papa. At first I was worried that she might think I am too idealistic, paranoid or demanding, but I rattled on anyway. I talked about Sophie's routine and how she gets crazy if she lacks sleep. I also voiced my concern about her lack of focus and playful nature. I put a lot of empahaisis on health, safety and routine care when I talked about my expectations. To my surprise, the Principal was able to address all the issues I raised.
Essentially, I want Sophie to be happy, healthy and safe. I hope she would be morally upright, kind and compassionate. And it would be great if she could be determined, resourceful and resilient as well. Next year, I would be attending Cherrytots with her twice a week. Hopefully, things would work out for us... Fingers crossed.
I have always love Frank Sinatra... and "I did it my way!" kept ringing in my ears as I watched Sophie today. She was supposed to stack the wooden cubes up according to their sizes from the biggest to the smallest, aligning the shape "holes" and letters (A to F), and sorting the shapes by putting them into the cubes. BUT she played with the cubes her way. She showed she could sort the shapes, she could stack, she could express her sense of accomplishment and she could answer my question. She is so adorable sometimes... just sometimes.
The theme for Open-ended Art this week is “Orange and Black” at Mummies Wise Little Bookworms. Frankly, I have no idea what to do with Sophie. She is on “hurricane” mode due to her runny nose and cough. Although I keep telling myself to go easy on her, it gets to me after some time. I wish she could just lie on the bed and rest, like how adults do it to recover.
Thus, I thought we ought to do something simple and enjoyable for art. Lately, Sophie has been scribbling with chalk on our blackboard and she seems to like it a lot. So, I gave Sophie a piece of black construction paper and some orange and yellow chalk. I wanted to show her what she could do with chalk on a piece of damp paper. The chalk marks would look bolder and more brilliant than the usual powdery and soft effect. The oil pastels would also give a nice strong feel to the drawing. Alas, Sophie ended up “cleaning” the damp paper with a duster and rubbed off its surface. Okay, so that apparently would not work.
Therefore I tossed the “damaged” piece of paper and gave Sophie the second one, but not before removing the water and duster. My funny little girl decided to draw using her “train engineer”. I think she might be looking for his feet to trace… Anyway, she seemed to like the bits that broke off her chalk as she hit it against the paper and table. She started blowing at it with her saliva splattering all over. Sigh, I had to stop her.
I was crazy to give another go at the “chalk on damp paper” effect. Sophie is very interactive when it comes to art. She always wants me to join in and draw with her. I took the opportunity to show her how to create the smoky effect by rubbing.
Sophie was obviously not the wee bit impressed by the oil pastels. She was yawning and doodling on my hand and fingers instead. How disappointing! And I was hoping she might like oil pastels…
Sophie was fine for a week or so after spending more than 2 weeks recovering from a bad cold. I cannot believe that she has caught ANOTHER cold. She started sneezing a couple of times on Monday and coughing on Tuesday. Yesterday, her mucus was green so I took her to Eu Yang San again to see Dr Wong. At the clinic, she was all bubbly and sweet to everyone. She even said, "xie xie" (thank you) spontaneously to the doctor before we left the consultation room. That really tickled her!
I do not know exactly what we have done but we must have done something right. Sophie says "sorry" when she understands that she has done something undesirable (although sometimes she does not know why they are undesirable) or when I get angry. She also says "thanks" or "thank you" when she gets something desirable (a favour or a toy) from us. Now, she is beginning to say "please" when she asks for help or a favour. BUT so far, she is always saying "Please don't!" when I try to shower her (she wants to play instead!).
Everyone knows I am super worried about Sophie's development because she is "hurricane" that refuses to pause for a moment long enough to learn anything. In fact, I have never succeeded in reading to her, with her on my lap or nicely cuddled in bed. I used to "trap" her in her cot bed to read to her. She would stand (with her arms hanging outside the bars) to listen to the stories. I seriously do not know when (if) she is going to stablise and learn to stay focused.
Nowadays, she would sit next to me for a few seconds and then take a short walk and finally come back for the ending. If she is very interested in the book, she would sit through it. However, she does seem to like books because she would take a couple of her favourite books and ask me to read to her when she wakes up in the middle of the night. If I do not, she would sit on the bed and pretend her "Momo" (Elmo plush) or Mimi (Mickey plush) is "reading" to her. Last resort, she would "read" them herself...
Whenever Sophie is sick, I would be reminded how much more important her well-being and happiness is to me than anything else. So what if she does not know her numbers, colours and shapes now? So what if she does not talk much (that I can understand)? So what if she does not show interest in nursery rhymes or sensory tubs? She would eventually learn all that and more. Ask around, who would tell you they are truly happy and they have no regrets in their life?
Early in the morning, before Sophie's breakfast with Papa...
Papa recorded this in response to Auntie Annie's request for a Beatles song from Sophie. Sorry, usually she can sing at least "Help... Somebody... " but this morning, she was only willing to sing "Help!" In fact, she was clearly bored after xeveral takes... She was so cheeky.
I knew (quite inevitably) we had to make a xylophone for “x” but it was a challenge for me to make it interesting enough for Sophie. I attached a pom pom at the end of a drinking straw and turned it into a drumstick. I made two of them to be placed on the letter (crossed). Then, I cut strips of construction paper (assorted colours) for the body of the xylophone. I intended to make the xylophone part of the background.
And off Sophie went with her painting… I had wanted her to use a “X” sponge to stamp on the letter, but she was not very keen. She liked splattering paint all over with her brush. I liked the fact that she tried to tell me she had got some white paint onto her own face and the table. I was horrified by her appetite for paint though.
Next, I used stick glue to guide Sophie where to paste the strips of paper. It was tedious because I had to readjust the strips for her if they were way off their position. Still, she was quite happy to follow my lead.
Once the xylophone was completed, I let her pretend to play with her drumsticks. She was good at pretending. I was glad she knew what we were making.
When she volunteered to draw on the "almost dried" letter, I knew she was up to some mischief. Actually, she just wanted to draw on the table. If only she was half as zealous in her craftwork. And I was quite forgiving only because it was washable...
Last but not least, Sophie applied her glitter glue all over the letter. It turned out quite elegant, I must add.
I think “X” is really a tough letter. There are so few words that begin with the letter so I had to pick “x-ray fish” for today’s craft. The two fish were made beforehand using tissue paper and cardboard (bones). I was not very concerned with accuracy, I just wanted Sophie to “see” the effect of x-ray without getting too technical about it.
I woke up late today so I left Sophie alone with the markers to wolf down my breakfast. She was drawing tiny crosses (I suspect she was trying to draw “x”s… hahaha) until I urged her to fill up more spaces.
I thought the “X” was not really outstanding enough so I gave Sophie some dot paint. She was not too keen though. I had to pretend we were playing drums to get her to “dot” the “X” and that did not work anymore, I had to teach her to “stamp” with her palms. In the end, she liked “drinking” the paint best.
I was totally impressed that she was still with me on this. I thought she would have started whining and crying by now. As we were going to stick tissue paper (seaweeds) on the construction paper (background), I let her apply her stick glue all over it for me. I thought stick glue works better with tissue paper than white glue (learnt the hard way) but I forgot to use non-washable stick glue (another lesson learnt) so the paper would be perpetually sticky (like Post-it).
I had thought Sophie would rip the tissue paper apart and stick the shreds all over her fingers, but she did not. She was rather dainty as she took the strips from me. The only problem was she wanted to apply the glue all over the paper.
Sophie probably enjoyed the "squeeze" more than anything. Sometimes, I am amazed by how the simpliest thing in our daily life can interest her so much.
In anycase, the end product looks a little too glittery for my liking. BUT who cares? Sophie likes it.
I never approve of any fishing or hunting activities because I find it cruel, selfish and totally unnecessary. In fact, I never knew Ah Gong also felt the same way until we talked the other day about fishing as a hobby for retirees. Anyway, I thought we should do something fun for Sophie on a Friday so I took out a piece of shower curtain from Ikea, put her bathtub on it and let her do fishing.
But before we started, I had to make her oar and magnetic fishing rod. I recycled one of the wooden spoons from her Traffic Signs and she was a little upset about it. Fortunately, she forgot about it once she started colouring the cardboard for her oar. She already have some "Number" Fish with paper clips attached to their mouths from our previous craft long ago. Of course I would use the opportunity to teach her some numbers.
We were a little awkward during our first few attempts to "fish" from her "boat". Somehow, she knew she had to stay in the bathtub without much coaching from me.
Sophie nowadays loves to sing Beatles Songs (thanks to Papa!) so I thought if we sing nursery rhymes and children songs to her, maybe she will eventually pick up as well. Thus, I sang and and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". I do not like singing but I will do it!
It was quite amazing how easily Sophie learn IF she thinks it is FUN. I have been teaching and teaching her to count for ages yet she always start counting from 2 and she refused to say "one". After a few "catches", she actually said, "(I) caught ONE!" and showed me the "fish" proudly.
Sophie can be very obsessed at times. Today, she was obsessed with "Fish Number 5". She tried a couple of times but she just could not aim properly so she got out of the tub and headed for the "fish". Even then, she still wanted to "catch" the "fish" with the "fishing rod". Cute!
When Ah Gong and Ah Mah came over, Sophie was excited to show them what she was doing in the morning. I love the way she screamed for her attention.
I found Sophie “cutting” her play pretend fruit yesterday and she did it with ease, contrary to how she first did it. Today, I let her try cutting Playdoh. She could do it as well but unfortunately, her interest could not be sustained. She was off to do something else with the Playdoh as soon as she succeeded cutting ONCE. Although she was also keen to use the scissors, she could not move her thumb to manipulate the scissors yet. And I prefer not to let her play with scissors until she is ready. After all, scissors can be dangerous even if she has the motor skills to use it. I know because I grew up with knives, scissors and fire… and I have scars to prove it.
To be honest, I have almost zero knowledge about “Fall” because in Singapore, it is either a “Dry Summer” or a “Wet Summer” throughout the year. Although I have travelled to many places before, I have NEVER actually seen “Fall”. So it was hard for me to design an art session based on a season which I have not personally experienced before. In any case, the Open-ended Art theme this week is “Fall Colours - Red, Yellow, Orange and Brown” at Growing And Learning By Leaps And Bounds.
First of all, I imagined “Fall” to be romantic and yet melancholic… with all the leaves changing colours and eventually falling onto the ground. Nothing seems to create that feeling better than watercolours. And the effect will be even more outstanding if the watercolours are applied over drawings in wax crayons. Of course, we need glitter glue to give it a finishing touch.
Great planning, but it would never be so straightforward with Sophie. When she was drawing with crayons, she tends to use very light and gentle strokes. That was all fine and good, except the lines would not show under watercolours. So, I had to coach Sophie to use more strength when she drew.
Sophie has never used watercolours (cake palette) before so she started out very polite. She gently dipped her brush into the water before dabbing it onto the watercolours. But soon, she was jabbing her brush into colours after colours, “destroying” the palette. Actually I never liked watercolours in a palette because they smudge (tough for children to gauge how much water to use) and end up tearing the paper. But I cannot find any non-toxic and washable kind in tubes or bottles so I bought this.
I forgot all about the colours during the session. There was no way I could have restricted her use of all the colours in the palette. In the end, it looked nothing like "Fall"
I let Sophie try again in hope for a more "Fall" looking picture. But it turned out like a volcano erupting with green lava.
I think the first one looked more appropriate so I got Sophie to add some glitter glue to make the painting look magical (not really...) and it hardened the paper a little.
So here is the end product. Despite the colours (not Fall colours), it looked rather nice.
Unfortunately, my watercolours palette was a mess! I had to wash and air it dry after the session.
Sophie loves to play with her kitchen set and accessories. I think she probably can do it the whole day without getting bored. But her favourite items are the pink teapot, cups and spoons. Occasionally, she would also "cook" with her pots and pans. Today, I found her struggling for space to play at the table so I converted the chairs into a countertop cum hob for her.
In my last conversation with Papa about Sophie's learning, he advised me to make learning more fun for her. She is a child who cannot learn under pressure or direct teaching. She needs to play and learning will come naturally. Thus, I am constantly thinking of "fun" things to do with her. Honestly, it is very tiring for me. I wish I could be more energetic and creative in my teaching...
In any case, she loves teapots and cups so I thought she might like today's craft. I was right. She kept playing with the cardboard teapot and cup as if they were real. In fact, it took a bit of coaxing for her to let go of them to start painting.
Sophie was quite cooperative when she was painting the teapot and cup. Perhaps she could identify what she was painting and that kept her motivated.
We have never used "bubble sheet" to print before so I thought it would be fun to try it out. Sophie was suddenly cranky and I did not know why. Although she still continued with the printing, I was a little reluctant to push her. I did the darker blue for her instead.
I was quite happy to leave the letter, teapot and cup like that, but Sophie wanted to draw on the teapot and cup using her blue colour pencil. Of course I let her do it! I was more than happy that she expressed interest in making them look "better".
Then, I added plastic eyes and drew the outline. Before I could stick them all onto a piece of construction paper, Sophie wanted to play with the teapot and cup one last time. I thought she was so adorable...
Finally, lots of litter glue was applied to create some tea flowing from the spout of the teapot.
I wanted to see if Sophie could put the features onto a face since she was able to point out all the features correctly. Apparently not! Anyhow, we had a good laugh at her "creations".
I admit I was too lazy to create a “tiger” for today’s letter “T”. Also, it might end up looking like a cat or a lioness with stripes. I wanted something simple like a “turtle” but Sophie already knows what a turtle is so we ended up with a “tortoise”.
I gave Sophie the whole bottle of green paint because there was too little left to scoop out on a palette. Besides, I thought she would be more willing to work if she found it “fun” and less restrictive.
We tried using Sophie's old milk bottle brush to paint the letter, however, it did not work as well as I had hoped. Perhaps I should have showed her how to use it before giving it to her. Well, the end product still looked decent enough.
As usual, the fun part came towards the end. Sophie managed to create some markings on the table using the brush. To my surprise, she started singing "Rain, Rain, Go Away" (not the whole song). I have always loved her imagination... She never fails to amaze me with how she assocate cvertain abstract form with reality. Too bad she became all coy when I wanted to take a video clip of her.
Overall, I am quite happy with the end product. And Sophie was able to remember it as a "tortoise" so there is good.
Sophie loves to “show off” her dancing moves to Ah Gong and Ah Mah; probably because they absolutely adore her and cannot resist cheering for her whenever she does it.
It tickled me to see how she would run out of her playroom to ask her Ah Mah to watch her dance. But I laughed when I saw MY MOTHER (70 years old) dancing along with her!!!
And I love the way she picked up her maracas and bells to play along with the music. When the audience was right, she took the “stage” and boogied away…
Papa told me that some of his colleagues and friends read and follow our blog. I would like to show my appreciation for all the encouraging comments given. Thank you. I am currently a little behind with my posting but I would try to catch up by this weekend. I intend to start another blog soon to concentrate on Sophie's learning at home. I have not decided if I should continue with Sophie's World. As Sophie grows older, it may not be good to post too much personal information about her online. Also, I hope the new blog would be more organised than the present one.
Sophie was waving the paper roll around like the “Monkey God” (Sun Wukong) so I stuck a few pieces of tape over and drew some black dots on it. Then I tried to teach her how to play with it like a flute. However, she kept running around and swinging the “flute” like a weapon. I was hoping I could teach Sophie an alternative way of playing with the paper roll so that she would not act violent and hit with it. I almost gave up after several attempts, she just would not do what I did!
So finally, I put her on the highchair for her snack while Ah Mah watched her. My little cheeky “monkey” decided to “perform” for Ah Mah behind my back! When I came back with her snack, Ah Mah told her to show me how she had played the “flute” earlier. And she did! I wonder what else she knows and not showing me she does...
Yesterday, we kneaded with Playdoh (beans), made dark brown Playdough by mixing brown and black, and cracked an egg. Today, Sophie started the day with a ziploc bag of egg shells. I set aside some egg shells and left the remaining bits in a small ziploc bag for her to crush.
Sophie was examining the egg shells so intensely yet her Mama kept disturbing and asking her to crush them with her hands and feet. I was too "obsessed" to notice what she was doing at that moment.
Anyway, I thought it would be cool to try putting the pieces of broken egg shells onto a Playdough "egg". It would be like "Humpty Dumpty". Personally, I do not really like using egg shells because of the slime and smell. And they break easily when I try to wash them. However, it is a new and interesting material to work with for Sophie.
Sophie was very cooperative initially, but it was not long before she realised it was more fun to just crush the egg shells. I tried to recite "Humpty Dumpty" and get her to "help" putting him back together again. It worked for a short while then she was off again playing with the egg shells. We ended up rolling the Playdough "egg" on the egg shells. Not bad, we picked up a lot more egg shells this way.
Of course, I had to make "cleaning up" part of the activity...Oh well, depends on how "cleaning up" is defined.
Well, looks like "Humpty Dumpty" really cannot be put together ever again! For more interesting Open-ended Art ideas, check out Growing And Learning By Leaps And Bounds.
