Home Cooking #4 Mango Chia

We have been eating a lot of sweets lately, feeling a little bit guilty, so I'm trying a healthier alternative.

Chia seeds are one of the healthiest food with very little calories. Try to mix with every possible drink or dessert you can.

Book: The Sexy Chef Cookbook

Ingredients:

It is the mango topping that made us rave for this. We boast of the Philippine mango, the best I've tasted so far.

Can't let go of her favorite fruit mango

 Not really cooking, just mixing it all up. I have to credit it from the book above, it is easy and tastes good.

My daughter happily helped me prepare this one.

great way to finish off a meal

Best time to start a healthy eating habit is now.

Sensory Bins

I have first read about sensory bins, I thought it is hard to do.

We were all set for the beach and had a sudden change of schedule and went to a swimming pool instead.

We were already talking about sand and sea creatures. To continue with what we started, we made our sandbox.

1. Materials Needed

All you need are the ff:

  -A box (with cover preferably)

  -Sand (or rice, beans, macaroni)

  -10 different toys (select a theme)

  -Shovel and rake (optional)

2. Count

Find the toys and let the child know there are 10 items to find

Let the child find, count and put in a row.

3. Learn about the animals

  -Look for pictures

  -Make an index of the animals or a three part card

photo taken from devianart

  -Read about the specie, one per day is ideal.

  -Watch a video, select one in the wild, not at the zoo

Once you finish 10 animals, in case you have more toys of the same topic, explore other species.

Always make sets of ten so he or she shows what to expext.

4. Read, Find a book to match

Go ahead and make one!

Sort, Recycle, Reuse & Reduce

When I saw my friend's aerial shots of landfill all over the Philippines, I was taken aback, it was worse than what I see in news.
Though there is a world wide campaign for recycling, I seldom see it implemented at every household.

Let us change the way we think starting at our own home. 

1.SORT

It is only recently that the local ordinance mandates every household to segregate biodegradable (nabubulok) and non-biodegradable (di-nabubulok) trash. 

we introduced sorting when she was 2 yrs old

Label your trash.

Anotherway is to put pictures or symbols, make sure it is understood by all in the household.

daughter sticking labels

Teach and Make it a sorting Game 

I urge each parent to start teaching their kids. It will become second nature to them.

Color code helps for immediate recognition and non-readers

photo taken from Houzz

2. RECYCLE or REUSE

Donate or sell boxes, papers and PET bottles
Salvage re-usable items or use it creatively

3. REDUCE

Use ecobags, let's bring back the bayong fashion in the market :)

going to the market with a bayong is common in the 80s

Happy sorting everyone! Think green.

Lacing Activity

Lacing activities are good in developing fine motor skills, hand and eye coordination, concentration and  keeping them happily busy.

Some things you may want to try doing at home.

1. Do a LACING CARD

print or draw, 

cut along the outline carefully, 

laminate or stick to a sturdy board for durability 

and punch holes

Use a yarn in a big needle, or anything similar

Use simple shapes to complicated designs depending on skills and interest of the child

2. STRING THOSE TOYS

This book turned toy lacing activity has become a challenge to my daughter since she was 2+. She started with putting in in a few holes but not the whole book in a string. She has the do 'not disturb I'm concentrating' look evertime she does this.  

When your child is busy on her task, do not disturb, talk, praise or break her concentration, you loose that moment of developing her problem solving skill.

3. Match it with a BOOK: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

4. STRING THOSE SHOELACES!

Sometimes the simplest activities can do a lot of wonders for a child.

Home Sweet Home

City or  province, concrete or wood, whatever it is  I agree that home is where the family is.

This topic was very timely because there is an ongoing construction on our house

1. Book: A House is a House for Me

Book from Kindermusik

2.Now let's take a peek at animal homes.

Photos from Kindermusik Video

3.Talk and show different dwelling place.
Talk about Condominium, Townhouse, Single Detached and a Nipa Hut.

We are using some of our projects as sample for the dwelling types

4. Hammer, Carpenters and building

5. Making the Toolbelt

We got a re-usable bag as base material

plus my unskilled sewing skills

Viola the worker's toolbelt

6. Vocabulary : kind of tools

Cardboard tools- we did saw and hammer and put a brush too

Happy constructing everyone!