While surfing, I chanced upon this website called Granny Look. There are many sites dedicated to children's activities and reviews about products etc with the parents in mind. It's refreshing to come across a site that actually addresses grandparents and I think it's a great idea, looking at how more grandparents these days have now become involved in caring for their grandchildren.
Granny Look's home page starts off with this intro: "Granny Look is the most comprehensive website for grandparents who are looking for attractive sources of fun and entertainment for their grandchildren. We have everything listed here for keeping kids happy with plenty of ideas for INDOOR ACTIVITIES and OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES. Check out our suggestions for TOYS, GIFTS & GAMES and hints of how to prepare for all FESTIVE OCCASIONS such as Birthdays, Christmas and Christenings."
So whether you are a grandparent or parent, check out this site if you need more ideas to have fun with, or without, the kids.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Busy little hands
Sometimes I'm at a loss of what to do with Caitlin during weekends when we don't go out. We tend to catch up on household cleaning chores during the weekend and while one of us attends to the chores, the other will keep Caitlin occupied instead of leaving her glued to the TV.
Today, I decided to keep Caitlin busy by making and kneading dough while my husband changes the sheets and vacuums the floor. Getting children to get their hands 'dirty' is one of the easiest things to do right?! Get them to tidy up their books and toys and you are greeted with a long face. Get them to finger paint, make mud pies, play with sand and knead dough and you are greeted with cheery excitement.
Simple reading and measuring lesson
So Caitlin learnt how use measuring spoons today to measure the ingredients to make Chinese steamed buns with red bean paste filling, or what is called red bean 'pau'. She read the inscriptions on the handle of the spoons to determine which was the teaspoon, tablespoon, dessertspoon. She scooped the ingredients and poured them into the mixing bowl. Then came the fun part of kneading the dough. Knead, knead, knead and some time has passed without her asking for the TV or bugging daddy while he does the housework. Then, she set the timer to 45 minutes to let the dough rise.
When the timer rang, she went to check on the dough and was excited to see how it had risen. She helped divide the dough into balls before I continued the rest of the job of filling the dough with the red bean paste and placing the 'pau' into the steamer.
Here's the recipe I used which I found in this blog.
500 gm flour (super white flour or Pau flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp (6g) instant dry yeast
2 tbsp shorterning or vegetable oil
250 ml (a glass) luke warm water
Method :
- mix all the dry ingredients together (flour,baking powder,salt,sugar,yeast and shortening) in a bowl and then add in the water and mix well until it forms a dough.
- keep kneading the dough until it doesn't stick to your hands.
- divide the dough into two and knead again until the dough texture is smooth.
- leave the dough to rise double the size, covered with a wet cloth. (around 30 mins to 1 hour)
- when the dough has risen, punch the dough to let the air out. Knead the dough into small balls (half size of a baseball) and fill with your choice of fillings (e.g. red bean paste, beef or chicken curry, tuna).
- place a small piece of paper as an underlayer for each bun. (This is to prevent the buns from sticking to the steaming pot)
- leave all the buns to rise again for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile you can prepare the steaming pot.
- Steam the buns for about 10 minutes.
Red Bean paste filling
Ingredients :
250g red beans (soaked overnight)
1 cup of sugar
a pinch of salt
Water (the more the better)
2 tbsp butter
Method :
- put all the ingredients in a pot(except butter). Boil the beans till tender.
- blend the cooked beans in a blender or a food processer to form a red bean paste.
- put the paste back into the pot and cook over low heat with the butter. Stir the paste until it's creamy and thick.
- leave the filling to cool before using it. This red bean filling can be refrigerated for up to a month in a covered container.
note : steamed buns can be stored in a freezer and resteamed whenever needed.
Today, I decided to keep Caitlin busy by making and kneading dough while my husband changes the sheets and vacuums the floor. Getting children to get their hands 'dirty' is one of the easiest things to do right?! Get them to tidy up their books and toys and you are greeted with a long face. Get them to finger paint, make mud pies, play with sand and knead dough and you are greeted with cheery excitement.
Simple reading and measuring lesson
So Caitlin learnt how use measuring spoons today to measure the ingredients to make Chinese steamed buns with red bean paste filling, or what is called red bean 'pau'. She read the inscriptions on the handle of the spoons to determine which was the teaspoon, tablespoon, dessertspoon. She scooped the ingredients and poured them into the mixing bowl. Then came the fun part of kneading the dough. Knead, knead, knead and some time has passed without her asking for the TV or bugging daddy while he does the housework. Then, she set the timer to 45 minutes to let the dough rise.
When the timer rang, she went to check on the dough and was excited to see how it had risen. She helped divide the dough into balls before I continued the rest of the job of filling the dough with the red bean paste and placing the 'pau' into the steamer.
Here's the recipe I used which I found in this blog.
500 gm flour (super white flour or Pau flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp (6g) instant dry yeast
2 tbsp shorterning or vegetable oil
250 ml (a glass) luke warm water
Method :
- mix all the dry ingredients together (flour,baking powder,salt,sugar,yeast and shortening) in a bowl and then add in the water and mix well until it forms a dough.
- keep kneading the dough until it doesn't stick to your hands.
- divide the dough into two and knead again until the dough texture is smooth.
- leave the dough to rise double the size, covered with a wet cloth. (around 30 mins to 1 hour)
- when the dough has risen, punch the dough to let the air out. Knead the dough into small balls (half size of a baseball) and fill with your choice of fillings (e.g. red bean paste, beef or chicken curry, tuna).
- place a small piece of paper as an underlayer for each bun. (This is to prevent the buns from sticking to the steaming pot)
- leave all the buns to rise again for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile you can prepare the steaming pot.
- Steam the buns for about 10 minutes.
Red Bean paste filling
Ingredients :
250g red beans (soaked overnight)
1 cup of sugar
a pinch of salt
Water (the more the better)
2 tbsp butter
Method :
- put all the ingredients in a pot(except butter). Boil the beans till tender.
- blend the cooked beans in a blender or a food processer to form a red bean paste.
- put the paste back into the pot and cook over low heat with the butter. Stir the paste until it's creamy and thick.
- leave the filling to cool before using it. This red bean filling can be refrigerated for up to a month in a covered container.
note : steamed buns can be stored in a freezer and resteamed whenever needed.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Learning to read
Teaching your child to read can be quite a chore at times, especially when your child is the type who can't sit still and gets bored quickly. I always feel privileged and thankful that we are living in a time where technology is so advanced and the Internet renders so much resources. And best of all, so many of them are free!
Instead of using flash cards or books, we can turn to the Internet to sites which provide free phonics and reading activities. As you know, kids love the vibrant colours and animation they see on the computer screen. To them, it's just like watching TV but better still, it's interactive. Well, you could let them watch videos or TV shows that teach reading too but direct interaction is less compared to the computer. With the computer they get to experience cause and effect. They press keys on the keyboard, click the mouse and watch the screen change to yet another interesting page. They click on the picture of the printer and voila, they get a printout!
Check out these few sites to get your child's butt glued to the seat.
Starfall
Free educational resources of Adrian Bruce
Clifford Interactive Storybooks
Papajan
Once he's familiar with navigating around the sites (kids nowadays pick up computer skills early and quickly, don't they?!), you're free to have that cup of coffee or read that magazine that's been collecting some dust....but it's still best to be near him in case he needs help or if you wish to use that activity for parent-child bonding.
Instead of using flash cards or books, we can turn to the Internet to sites which provide free phonics and reading activities. As you know, kids love the vibrant colours and animation they see on the computer screen. To them, it's just like watching TV but better still, it's interactive. Well, you could let them watch videos or TV shows that teach reading too but direct interaction is less compared to the computer. With the computer they get to experience cause and effect. They press keys on the keyboard, click the mouse and watch the screen change to yet another interesting page. They click on the picture of the printer and voila, they get a printout!
Check out these few sites to get your child's butt glued to the seat.
Starfall
Free educational resources of Adrian Bruce
Clifford Interactive Storybooks
Papajan
Once he's familiar with navigating around the sites (kids nowadays pick up computer skills early and quickly, don't they?!), you're free to have that cup of coffee or read that magazine that's been collecting some dust....but it's still best to be near him in case he needs help or if you wish to use that activity for parent-child bonding.
Family of Seven
I recently 'met' Jennifer through SocialSpark and take my hat off to her for being so efficient and capable in managing her family of seven. She has five kids ranging from toddler to teenager and still has time to blog! Here I am with just one child and already complaining about having to juggle as a parent.
Her blog shares stories about her experience as a parent of five beautiful children and also contains tips and resources on how to manage and have fun in a large family. She writes well and in a casual down-to-earth manner, and I find that quite pleasant, as if she's talking to you. What she shares in her blog are stories, thoughts and issues that I can identify with.
Wanna find out how she manages? See here.
Her blog shares stories about her experience as a parent of five beautiful children and also contains tips and resources on how to manage and have fun in a large family. She writes well and in a casual down-to-earth manner, and I find that quite pleasant, as if she's talking to you. What she shares in her blog are stories, thoughts and issues that I can identify with.
Wanna find out how she manages? See here.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
More kids' activities
As I was going through the Parents.com website after missing its monthly magazine for a couple of years now, I came across a page where they have great ideas and tips for kids' activities. Check it out here.
It's amazing how much info and ideas you can actually get from the Internet these days. There are so many parenting website nowadays that I simply don't know which to check out first. Just one like Parents.com is enough to keep me glued to my computer the entire day, if only I actually have an entire day to be 'glued'....!
This is one that I quite like, called TV-free activities. It's been hard this school holiday to pry Caitlin away from the TV so the ideas in there are pretty handy.
It's amazing how much info and ideas you can actually get from the Internet these days. There are so many parenting website nowadays that I simply don't know which to check out first. Just one like Parents.com is enough to keep me glued to my computer the entire day, if only I actually have an entire day to be 'glued'....!
This is one that I quite like, called TV-free activities. It's been hard this school holiday to pry Caitlin away from the TV so the ideas in there are pretty handy.
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