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Invitation to Create with Coloured Rice – Day 9/31 Days of Invitation to Create Challenge

Invitation to Create

10 Dec

Day 9/31 days of #toddlerartinvitations.

This is an accidental invitation to create art with coloured rice on our tuff tray. Sometime last week, I dyed rice in a couple of Christmassy colours, intending to join in with Amy @playfullittlelearners’ #playfullittlechristmas challenge a few days ago. Unfortunately we didn’t make it then. But today when hubs got called in to work at the very last minute, instead of moping around with the kids, I decided to spread some joy and let my toddler mix her own rainbow rice instead (can 3 colours be considered a rainbow?! 😂).

I usually offer rainbow rice that’s already been mixed up but when I saw Lycie @the_paige_diaries allowing her daughter to mix her own rainbow rice some time ago, I knew I wanted to let my toddler have a go at it too.


She was thrilled to say the least and took the mixing job very seriously. To be honest, I was expecting her to haphazardly dump all the rice together in the massive tray so that she could begin playing with the rice.

But she carefully scooped the coloured rice and took great care in placing them exactly where she wanted. I had unintentionally offered up an invitation to create with rice as a loose part 😍👌🏼.

If you look at the end product, you will notice that the coloured rice is actually not evenly mixed. They were placed onto the tray creatively and intentionally, all in their designated place as a work of art. In fact, when she had finished arranging the rice, she asked me to keep the rice as it is instead of playing with them 😳.

Now I personally would not have thought to use rice to make art but I’ve since learnt that if you see with the eyes of a child, anything has the potential to BECOME.

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Hello there!

I’m Jules, a preschool teacher turned SAHM mum to 3 beautiful girls, on our way towards a homeschooling journey and a childhood filled with love and play. So lovely to have you here and thank you for stopping by. Read more…

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Instagram post 2185584355831981562_3576889275 “Screen-time at 9am is non-negotiable at our house”

Yesterday in my IG stories, I put up a photo of my children watching TV with the above caption and I got DMs like the following.
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“Glad to see that it’s not just at our house”
“Thank you for keeping it real that screen time exists even for your kids”
“So it’s normal then!”
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Friends, screens is not a DIRTY WORD.

Letting your children watch TV is not something to feel guilt or shame about as a parent.

And here’s why

1. There are some amazing programs out there that do in fact ADD to children’s play and creativity and if you’re INTENTIONAL and SELECTIVE about what they watch, TV can definitely be considered a tool for learning. Playschool is a great example and it’s the reason why I unashamedly make it a part of our daily routine. I turn on the TV every single day at 9am even without them asking for it.

2. Self-care. And this is with regards to us KEEPING OUR SANITY while having to do/ having done all the things #TheJuggleIsReal

Trying to get dinner ready but your ravenous and overtired cranky kids are hanging off your legs during witching hour? Stayed up all night with a teething baby/toddler only for the preschooler to be up and ready for the day at 5am?! 38 weeks pregnant and have maxed out your energy levels playing with your active toddler on the ground and reading the same book about 2800 times?

Use TV as a TOOL and don’t feel guilty about it!

Now I’m not saying go ahead and use TV freely to entertain your kids with abandon and without a second thought. I mean this IS a play account and I teach parents about the power and value of creative unstructured play in my program and more TV time obviously means less creative play time. Plus there are heaps of simple and easy play ideas out there to entertain your children.

What I’m saying here is when you’re INTENTIONAL about how it’s used in your household - whether for learning or for your sanity, and not simply defaulting to it because it’s EASIER, don’t be guilty about it!

As for the question of how much screen-time is ok or what’s optimal for children and tips to reduce screen-time in your household, please stay tuned to parts 2 & 3 :)
Instagram post 2184784646058246687_3576889275 Stepping into Monday after a rough weekend and a rough morning feeling ALL the emotions and telling myself it’s ok to be feeling all of them.

It’s ok to love motherhood, but not love every minute of it.

It’s ok to love them, but have days where I just don’t want to be in the same space breathing the same air as them.

It’s ok to admit that sometimes time with the dishes feels more enjoyable than time with them.

It’s ok to be so thankful and feel so blessed for the opportunity to stay home with them, and still resent the fact that there are days where it feels like the hubs “get to” go to work and I’m “left” with them.

It’s ok to feel so heart-burstingly full and yet so empty.

The paradoxes of motherhood is an enigma that I’ll never fully understand and that’s ok.

And it’s totally ok that I don’t really have a deeper point to this post other than the fact that I just wanted to hear -

It’s ok.
It IS hard. Soooo hard.
I understand.
Me too.

#storiesofplay_motherhoodtales
Instagram post 2181256147896782711_3576889275 Hands up if you feel like you often have to “force” your children to learn?

Well maybe that’s not true for you. But how about the fact that your children can’t focus for more than 5 minutes on an activity that you’ve set up, even if it totally screams FUN?

This video here is a snapshot of my 3yo engaged in some playful learning about flags all from her own initiative. It went on for more than 20min and this is not something uncommon in our household, with topics ranging from the age-appropriate to the downright crazy, like sewage pipes crazy and “how does our food become poo” crazy #ToiletHumourIsBigHere

The key to authentic, child-led learning is exactly that - AUTHENTIC and CHILD-LED. 
Our role as a parent in encouraging our children to learn is to
1) Be present
2) Listen to their questions
3) Show them where to find answers (not tell them the answers so don’t worry if you don’t know the answers)

We’ve just come back from holidays in Singapore where my 3yo saw the 🇸🇬 everywhere and so she drew that, before deciding she wanted to draw the Perth flag next. Sorry no such thing darling but there’s the 🇦🇺 flag if you want. Except I didn’t know how to draw it and so we looked at a book together. And then she fully took over. And went on to work on Argentina and Algeria. And decided to write the countries initials next to the flags to identify them.

Authentic learning at its best :)
Instagram post 2180623807512102364_3576889275 Got a baby or taby who’s pulling up to stand/ cruising/ learning to walk? SAVE this simple activity to try with your little one!

This was an easy fine-motor/ vertical surface activity I did with all 3 children when they were between 8 months to a year old, when they were either confidently pulling up to stand, cruising or just beginning to walk.

Post-its on any vertical surface you can find in your home, a bedroom door, wall or even the fridge, surely can’t get any easier to set up than that!

I started with the usual big square pieces of post-its then graduated to the smaller tab pieces you see here to present her with more of a challenge and encourage her to work on strengthening her pincer grip. Swipe to see a close up of that in action.

Besides being a quick and easy set up, working on a vertical surface also has so many benefits - it develops good hand-eye coordination, builds core strength, upper body strength and posture while working on developing both fine-motor and gross motor skills. The leg and calf muscles are strengthened, the wrist, elbows and shoulders all get a good workout as the entire arm is extended out, crossing the body midline and working against gravity to reach those post-its.

p.s. This simple baby/taby play idea is brought to you by my newly minted, crazy-cute, makes-my-overies-cry 1yo 😭, so proud of her persistence in reaching for them :)
Instagram post 2177693784371280552_3576889275 My baby turned 1 yesterday 😭 and in the style and tradition of our family, we celebrated with extra doses of connection and quality time.

Instead of a party, we had a 3d2n mini hotel staycation whilst still on holiday in Singapore (we’ve been staying with my parents)

Instead of presents and new toys, we hung out in the hotel’s pool and the kids played with a bath bomb in the hotel’s bathtub.

Instead of cake, we had ... Just kidding, there’s always cake 😆

Another birthday tradition we have, especially for us as a family with multiple kids, is we always have a day where we spend 2 on 1 quality time with the birthday child. So in this particular instance, I’m grateful that we happen to be in Singapore at this time and my parents could bring the two older girls home with them after the first night so we could have an extra day alone with bubs.

It was truly so special to have that 2 on 1 time with her, to give her both our undivided attention, especially because on a daily basis it’s easy for her as the baby to be overshadowed by her louder and more vocal older sisters.

It was a simple low-key birthday celebration but in my humble opinion, it’s the simple things in life done with great love that make the biggest impact.

Have you got a special birthday tradition in place for your family? Share them down below and let’s create a bank of ideas for establishing more connection and prioritising BEING in our families ❤️
Instagram post 2159528067738238552_3576889275 Can I tell you a secret? 🙊

I hardly set up activities for my children these days, and when I say hardly, I mean I probably set up a quick invitation to create (because that’s my jam!) about once a fortnight 😄

No structured activity with specific learning outcomes or goals here.

No printables.

No fancy or elaborate invitation to play that takes me even 10 minutes to set up.

It’s unstructured self-directed play all day everyday.

That said, I don’t just sit back and do nothing.

Heck no!

I sit back and observe them in play. I listen in on their conversations. I become so attuned to their current interests. I ask them open-ended questions to help them to extend on their play and engage deeper in play.

When it comes to my children’s play, one of the roles that I often take on is that of being like a stage manager, in that I set the stage for amazing play processes to unfold through setting up the environment.

What an amazing privilege and opportunity for us as present parents, to know that we have the ability to impact and enhance their play and consequently their learning just by providing the right tools and materials for play and presenting it in an inviting way.

In this photo for instance, I knew from observations that my children had been showing interest in sorting animals according to their habitats. So all I did here was to add a bowl of mini animal figurines to their playdough play and that led to almost 2 hours of engaged play with so much authentic and meaningful learning that accompanied their play.

What’s your take on unstructured play? Love it? Unsure about how to facilitate it? Not convinced about the value of it? 🤷🏻‍♀️👇🏼
Instagram post 2153512808435141875_3576889275 After my previous post went viral, there were so many comments on the original post and in my DMs that I’m unable to respond to each one. But one comment stood out to me in particular so I’m choosing to respond to it here.
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“This is the kind of thinking typical of individualistic cultures. Self interest and the concept of “rights” generally take precedence over the collective interests of the group. In collectivistic cultures, peace and harmony is more important than personal goals, interests and feelings. So while empathy and the value of sharing may be self-determined in individualistic cultures, they must necessarily be enforced in collectivistic cultures.”
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Firstly I understand where this is coming from. Because I’ve been brought up in a so-called collectivistic culture. I get the need for peace and harmony. But my question is why must it be one or the other?

Taking care of the individual doesn’t have to come at the sacrifice of the group. Making sure each of my children feel respected, seen and heard doesn’t have to come at the cost of peace and harmony in the home. If anything, I believe that enforcing sharing for the sake of peace and harmony leads to underlying resentment amongst my children and that’s just not something I’m willing to have for the sake of surface peace and harmony.

It’s hard to find the balance but it’s not impossible. And it is because we KNOW this balance is possible even in our collectivistic culture that @happytotshelf , @ourlittleplaynest and myself are so passionate about sharing our knowledge in a siblings workshop next month. It’s really not about choosing one over the other!

Registrations close tonight! For more info, check out the link in bio. We hope to see you there :) ❤️
Instagram post 2150784908057189616_3576889275 So this might make some people uncomfortable, but it’s the honest truth. I don’t make my kids share 😱

And yes, this holds true even if one child appears to be hoarding a particular toy (or even a lot of it) for an extended period of time.

Here’s an example of a scenario that often plays out in our home. My 3yo might be deeply engaged in her play and building with what seems like ALL of the magnetic tiles for a long time and along comes her sister throwing a tantrum, demanding and perhaps even snatching some of the pieces. I do not tell my 3yo she needs to share with her sister. I do not tell her she’s been using the toys for a very long time and so it’s now her sister’s turn. I especially do not tell her that as the oldest sibling, she needs to share with her younger siblings.

Because what will that tell/teach them? It tells my 3yo that we don’t respect her play. Instead of empowering her to be kind and considerate, I will be disempowering her to make those acts of kindness of her own accord. It tells my 3yo that younger siblings are more important than her creation and her needs. It teaches my 2yo that tantrums are the way to get what she wants and that there is power in being the younger sibling (I actually think that’s how seeds of sibling rivalry gets sown). It tells them that mummy is more interested in keeping the peace of the house than THEM. The individual them.

Of course I want to raise children who are kind, considerate and have empathy for others. But in my opinion, true empathy comes from the heart and isn’t forced or insisted upon.

So I will model kindness. I will talk about kindness. I will choose great books and read to my children stories with characters who display kindness. I will comment on their kind behaviour and the kind behaviour of others including strangers when I see it in action. I do teach them about sharing.

But nope, I don’t and will not ever MAKE my kids share. Do you agree? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

p.s. If you haven’t already heard, I will be running an in-person siblings workshop in SG in Nov with my fellow teacher mama friends @ourlittleplaynest @happytotshelf. Doors are now open for rego! DM for info 😊
Instagram post 2148666061120437362_3576889275 Navigating sibling conflicts during play is a question that I often get. I don’t have all the answers and a magic strategy that stops all fights. I wish I did.

But this is a very common occurrence, so common & developmentally appropriate that it happens every single day without fail in my household.

Children below the age of 5 are very ego-centric (focused on self) and are still learning to relate to others in a social situation ie turn-taking, sharing, patience etc and the best place to learn all the wonderful skills for social interaction is through play.

Toddlers don't have the ability to rationalise. They don't have the language ability to express themselves and communicate their needs & wants and so what happens is they snatch, scream and cry, even if they are the snatcher haha.

It is not our responsibility as parents to remove the problems, the frustration and all the other negative emotions that surface in the process, rather it’s our job to support them in navigating those problems, frustrations & emotions.

So in instances like these, I’ll be there to SUPPORT them in finding solutions to the conflicts they experience.

One of the ways in which I do that is I'll model the words they can use to communicate their needs & wants. I'll give them the words that they use, literally put words in their mouth.
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"Can you ask ___ if you can have a turn after she’s finished?" "It seems like you're not finished with this toy yet. But ___ has asked for a turn after you're done, do you think you can let her know after you're done?" "I know you really want to have a turn now, but ____ is playing with it now so you will have to wait til she's finished. I know waiting is hard but snatching is not kind. Would you like to play with something else in the meantime?" "Would you like to find another toy and see if ____ would like to swap with you?"
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Press on mamas! These take time but your efforts will eventually bear fruit. Hope this helps!

p.s @ourlittleplaynest @happytotshelf & myself are coming together for the first time with a workshop to share our best tips for supporting multi-aged kids in the home. Link in bio to get on the waitlist 😊 Exclusive bonuses included!
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