indoor play

Board Games, for Your 3 Year Old (and You)

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Growing up, my favorite pastime with my family was playing board games. I remember my mom coming home from yard sales with boxes of board games like Chutes and Ladders, Mastermind, and Guess Who. I happened to marry a man who also loves playing board game (in fact, I met him for the first time during a game of Settlers of Catan heheheh…), and that’s why we have a tall bookshelf full of board games. 🙂 

Once I became a mom, one of the first things I look for when going to consignment sales are board games. We started playing board games with Alia when she was around 2.5 years old. The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game was her first board game. It’s a game with simple rules and involves color matching. Now that Alia is 3 years old, we have played several games that we have come to love. I thought I’d share some of them with you here: 

Board games for preschoolers

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The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum – Oh THE Place Your Kids Want To Go!

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In case you haven’t heard, about a month ago, the Springfield Museums in Massachusetts (about 2 hours west of Boston) added a new museum, The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss, the first and only museum dedicated to Dr. Seuss. Alia and I had a blast there, and we’re here to share the highlights of our visit.

Oh a quick FYI, I haven’t read many Dr. Seuss books to Alia so she has very little clue of the characters or the stories. After yesterday’s visit, she only remembers the Cat in the Hat :p. But that didn’t not stop her from having SO MUCH FUN! 

The museum is part of the Springfield Museums, so the admission fee of $25 for adults and $13 for kids age 3-17 will allow you access to all of their 5 museums (George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, Michele & Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield Science Museum, Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History, and the Dr. Seuss Museum and Sculpture Garden). What an awesome deal?! They give you a bracelet after you purchase the admission tickets and you are free to roam around to all museums as your please. The museum parking is free, and on street parking is fairly easy to find. 

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I’d recommend this museum to families with kids age 2-6 based on the kinds of activities that they have. There were a good number of teenage children too. I think because the museum is very colorful and filled with memorable quotes from Dr. Seuss books, there’s much to do and most importantly it makes everyone happy, no matter the age.  

It is recommended that you purchase the admission tickets in advance (with no additional fee) as the Dr. Seuss Museum gets crowded. You’re expected to enter the museum at the stated time, and you can stay for as long as you like. Our tickets were for 2 P.M. so we visited the science museum and the sculpture garden first.

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Surviving snow days with a toddler

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Thursday, February 9, 2017 – Snowmageddon in the New England area! 

Update: Things got in the way (namely my toddler and a terrible cold) so it’s now Sunday, February 12. Believe me or not, it’s still snowing outside and more to come tomorrow! Welcome to New England! 

Living in the New England area means having an unpredictable winter season. It’s only the beginning of February and we have had 8 snow days with today bringing the heaviest snow so far. Before having kids, snow days means a day of sleeping in and Netflix marathon. But since we are a minimum-screen-time family, I have to be extra creative to get through a (super windy and cold) snow day. Below are some of our favorite activities on a snowy day: 

Painting the snow: 

 

The set up is super easy: grab a bin, covered it with some snow, prepare a few cups of water + food coloring (or liquid watercolor for a more vibrant result) and brushes, and let your child make her/his design on the snow. I started doing this when Alia was 18 months old and it never gets old. 

Sensory bin: 

 

I wish I had taken more pictures of our snow sensory bins. But I basically fill up a bin with snow, add animal figurines that live in a cold environment and blocks for her to play with (left picture). You could also simple add some tools such as a spoon, measuring cups, molding tools for your child to create things using snow. 

Make a snowman inside:

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Traveling halfway around the world with a toddler

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It’s been a week since we landed in the States, and I can say that we’ve recovered from jet lag. No more mommy daycare at 3 am and no more serving meals at 5 am. :p In late June, my family went back to Indonesia. Many people asked how our flight was considering that it was Alia’s first long-haul flight – we’re talking about a 20-something hour flight! So I thought that I’d share some tips on how to survive (and enjoy) a plane ride with a toddler. img-20160912-wa0000

<– Alia and I before we left Jakarta 😀

The three of us flew together to Jakarta, but it was a mother-daughter trip back to the States because Alia’s dad came back early. Being the only adult taking care of a young child is very different than having a partner to help you. But whether you fly with your entire family or just with your baby/toddler, packing lightly and efficiently is key! Okay, I know… Most of us feel that we need to bring the entire house with us heheheh, but I learned that to survive a long-haul flight and all the walking at the airport, you have to pack efficiently. 

What to pack when you travel with a toddler? 

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No more Cling On: Independent Play in a YES space

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Note from yours truly: It’s a special post coz you get to watch clips of Alia play! 🙂 

Do you also have (or had) a Cling On at home? Wait, what’s a Cling On? It’s a term my husband and I came up with to describe Alia when she’s super duper clingy! We went through a phase where she wanted to do nothing but attached herself onto me, literally! I couldn’t leave her side without her crying. Forget about leaving the room to cook or go to the bathroom, she’d cry if we’re a few feet apart. And there were days when she’d play with her toys WHILE holding onto my shirt. I’m not kidding… On Cling On days, I was very exhausted by 11 a.m.! Forget about naptime, I was definitely ready for bedtime hehehe! 

This happened quite often when Alia was around 11-13 months old. I asked around (aka Google “Why is my child very clingy?”), and people said that it’s a phase. Honestly, for awhile I thought that this Cling On thing would never ended… 

Not only it was physically and emotionally draining, but this Cling On phase got me worried that she wouldn’t develop the ability to play independently. Independent play means that a child is able to  explore the objects and space in his environment without an adult assistance. In other words, the ability to entertain him/herself. Let’s be honest, we all need some downtime during the day, and it’s almost impossible to have one when you have a clingy child who decides to strap him/herself onto you all day. Sigh… 

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