Healing Stories

So much has happened in the past year and my focus has shifted from homeschooling preschoolers to teaching lower/primary school children using the Waldorf/Steiner approach! I'm compiling some of the most helpful therapeutic stories I've told over the years in my new blog, Serene's Healing Stories for Behavioural Issues. Love and light to al...

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DIY Toys: Coconut husk mini basket

Here's a simple craft made using coconut husks. We actually prefer the taste of the larger green coconuts from Malaysia, but for the sake of art, we occasionally buy Botak coconuts from NTUC or Giant. This little hanging basket can be used as decoration, a plant pot, or in our case, a Bear Holder. We finished it in 15 minutes. It's quick and simple, but requires close adult supervision. Materials Hand drill (hand-operated, not electric. Available from Spotlight. I got my Mini German-made Hand Drill from Garrett Wade) String / Yarn / Wool (We get our wool from Daiso) Botak Coconut husk...

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DIY Toys: Felt Busy Bag

Here's a lightweight and fun activity that comes in very handy during long visits or while waiting for appointments.   We basically sewed two pieces of felt cloth together to make a bag, added handles and cut out different shapes to form pictures or tell stories. Felt tends to stick to felt unless it's windy or if you  deliberately shake it off, so you don't have to worry too much about the pieces going everywhere. What to do with the Felt Busy Bag  play tic-tac-toe create beautiful pictures or designs form letters or words take turns to tell stories, one sentence at...

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Woven-Paper Heart Envelope

Here's a lovely gift idea that a child can make easily, out of paper or felt. Simple, useful, and pretty. Here's a great tutorial: Waldorf Valentine Envelope (Sarah's Silks) Photo by Sarah's Silks ...

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What to do with all the Hong Bao Red Packets? Make Chinese Lanterns!

Every year, we have tonnes of unused red packets leftover after Chinese New Year. This year, we decided to put them to good use.  These lanterns look pretty authentic! Here are some simple lanterns that we made: Simple Round Lantern This one needs just 5 identical red packets, a stapler, and string. We finished it in one sitting! Large double layered lantern This more ornate lantern needs about 30 identical red packets, cardboard, tape, string, beads, and more patience, but it's worth the trouble! Happy Lantern makin...

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10-minute No-Bake Sesame & Coconut Cookies (Gluten-free, Paleo, Raw Vegan)

Raw, dairy-free, gluten-free healthy cookies cost an arm an a leg. So we decided to make our own! These don't usually last very long. Half the dough gets devoured before even being shaped into cookies! You can eat the dough raw, on the spot.  If you want them to keep for a few days, put them in the fridge, freezer, or in your dehydrator (which dries them out at a low temperature so the food remains alive and raw). Raw Cookie Ingredients 4 pitted and soaked Dates  (adjust amount according to sweetness desired) 4 tablespoons of Raw dried Coconut flakes / Coconut flour # 4 tablespoons...

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Here's a simple woodwork activity. I know many city-dwellers may baulk at the idea of a preschooler handling woodwork tools, but in many other countries, little children are tasked with chopping firewood, doing heavy chores, and can handle tools competently and responsibly. My little ones had reasonably good gross and fine motor skills, and they have been using real knives to cut fruits and vegetables since the age of 4. So far, they still have all their fingers in tact. :) We collected thick fallen branches, sawed them into little round coins, painted them over, and voila! We created our...

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Kids can volunteer too! Christmas Caroling at Old Folk's Homes

Yesterday, the little ones found a CD of Christmas carols, and they were soon dancing to "Jingle Bells"! It brought us back to the time we went caroling at an old folk's home with our homeschool friends last year, and they reminded us that we had to go back again. An elderly resident was so touched by the little ones singing and dancing their hearts out that as we were saying goodbye, she wiped her tears away and asked our little girl if we would come back next year. The little girl immediately promised she would, and now, she reminded me of that promise. It was a simple affair at Swami Home,...

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DIY Toys: Bow and Arrow (Archery)

It was surprisingly easy to make and it provided hours of fun. The hardest part was finding a long, bendy stick. We tried balloon sticks but they broke. In the end, we went to a provision shop at an HDB void deck, or what they call the "mama shop" in Singapore. The shopkeeper gave my husband a weird look when he asked for 5 canes but, figuring this was some kind of weird sadistic psycho, chose not to ask any questions. :P What you need: 1 long, bendy stick 1 piece of string (about 3/4 the length of the stick) 3 rubber bands Straws (thick smoothie straws work well) How to Make the Bow: Tie...

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Giveaway & Discount: ASCIENCEBOX: Ready-to-Use Science Experiments delivered to your doorstep every month

My kids think their dad is a genius. At any given moment, he can pull out lightbulbs, electrodes, magnets, and all sorts of weird tools, and create an exciting new science toy! They love Doing Science With Daddy. To them, "science" has become synonymous with fun and discovery. And the best thing is, it takes Daddy ZERO seconds to prepare the materials. Much as we would love to claim all the credit, we must confess that my husband owes his Genius Status to ASCIENCEBOX. Every month, a big orange box appears on our doorstep containing all the materials and tools needed to do up to 4 different...

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DIY Toys: Pom Poms

These little pom poms are cute versatile and very easy to make! They can be used as toys, pretend food, money, balls, etc. The little boy decided that his white one was definitely a lychee. The can be used as decorations, or for pom pom crafts. (Stick them together to form shapes or animals.) And best of all, they make great luggage identifiers! Trust me. A luggage adorned with multi-coloured pom poms really stands out on the airport conveyor belt! All you need is a fork and some wool. Wind the wool around a 4-pronged fork. Make sure that you leave enough space on the fork to insert...

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DIY Toys: Sewing a drawstring bag

My children love little pouches, bags, wallets, (basically anything that can hold anything!) and they somehow always manage to find some treasures to store inside. This little flower drawstring pouch was all the more precious because the little girl made it by herself. The cloth was from Daiso and the string was made from 3 strands of wool that she braided together. We used a simple running stitch. It was their first real sewing project, so I did not want to overwhelm them with a back stitch or blanket stitch. We began with simple leaf sewing projects months earlier, to familiarise them with...

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Recharging Mum: The Importance of Me Time

I used to tire myself out trying to spend quality time with my children, only to find myself burntout, frustrated and irritable. I've since come to realise that the best gift a mother can give her child is a happy mother. "Me Time" for me is not a 'good to have' thing, it is essential, and given top priority! I find that by guarding my recharging time, it greatly increases my patience and calmness, and helps me enjoy my children more. There are no hard and fast rules about what Me Time should look like, but here are a few guidelines that I have found useful: Learn something new (preferably...

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Children Need "Me Time" too! + Craft with Ixora Flowers.

Ixora Craft The kids surprised me with this one. This is what happened when we put 3 children together for 8 hours outdoors without planning any activities:  They invented their own toys and handicrafts. I spent an entire Sunday with a dear friend. Both our husbands were away, so we parked ourselves and our children at Labrador Park, with no plans at all, but to enjoy the sea breeze. Besides some kick scooters and rollerblades, we had brought nothing for the children to play with. When they were tired of running about, they went off to find something else to do. Then finding them too...

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What to do while watching the children at the playground + DIY Toys: Dangling Leaf Butterfly

Like it or not, children are learning from us all the time. They pick up how we speak to strangers, how we manage our anger, and what we do when we have free time. Do we relax, read a book, strike up a conversation, or slump on a bench and scroll through Facebook? Usually, when my children are at the playground, I try to bring along some kind of craft for MYSELF to do while they play. I enjoy sewing toys and mending or altering clothes by hand, so I sit on the bench or floor and work quietly while they play. Benefits of being productively occupied during outdoor play: When I'm engrossed...

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DIY Toys: The Making of a Knight

The little boy is fascinated with all things knight-related. It's so hard to stay away from violent play like toy guns and knives, when every other boy in this city owns a collection! Having said that, we can't deny the fact that most boys are attracted to themes of dominance, power and violence, and find some kind of catharsis in rough play.  Rather than suppress it, perhaps the middle way would be to channel that energy to a more productive avenue. So, archaic as it might seem, when he expressed an interest in knighthood, I let him explore that track, emphasising the chivalry,...

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Nature Table - Bringing the outdoors in

The nature table is a lovely and simple way to connect children to nature. In our home, each child has a special garden, a little box filled with sand and gravel. If we discover any treasures or gifts of nature during our outdoor adventures, we bring them home and add them to the garden. It could be a pretty pebble, shell, casuarina cone, twig or flower, anything really.  Sometimes we include leaf crafts, beeswax or other figures or we have made. The children love to do landscaping on their own gardens and sometimes I see them hard at work re-positioning the treasures or creating stories...

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Raw chocolate avocado cake (Quick and no baking!)

For the little girl's birthday, we needed a gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free birthday cake. A tall order indeed, so we ended up making it ourselves.  It was surprisingly easy to make - it took about 20 minutes. And it tasted good too! It requires no baking and the it makes use of the fact that coconut oil solidifies at temperatures below 25 degrees celsius.  I adapted the recipe from Life, Gluten free Chocolate Pie with Seed Crust Easy Raw Chocolate-Avocado Pie Recipe Crust: 1/2 cup of soaked sunflower seeds 1/2 cup of soaked pumpkin seeds 1/2...

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Beeswax vs Playdough

We love beeswax. Once or twice a week, after story time (a story without illustrations) we get out the beeswax and start creating elements of the story that the have been stirred up in our imaginations. It could be the animals, flowers, the basket of berries carried by the little girl in the story, eggs, anything! Beeswax smells wonderful, like honey, it isn't messy, doesn't crumble, can be used over and over again, and unlike playdough, if you mix the colours together, it doesn't turn into a brown lump of ... something that the dog did! It's also non-toxic, and when you finish molding it,...

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No Apple a day for Steve Job's children

An old article, but the title caught my attention. No Apple a day for Steve Jobs’ children - who were not even allowed iPads "While he persuaded millions that Apple’s chic but pricey gadgets were a must-buy, turning the company from a basket case to a global powerhouse, he prevented his own children from using iPads and limited their access to the internet generally." "There is some scientific support for the idea that modern technology can be damaging. A study, published last month, of 11 and 12-year-olds found that removing digital devices, including televisions, for five days saw an improvement...

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DIY Toys: Lion Dance (Chinese New Year)

Here's a fun Chinese New Year lesson that we did during our homeschool co-op. We generally try to do co-operative activities that require the children to work together. The children decorated the lion heads and did the lion dance... and made a huge mess and a lot of noise! Enjoy the ruckus! (Don't do this at night.) Chinese New Year Lesson Plan: Warm up: Musical Statues (Music: 恭喜恭喜 ） Song: Learn how to sing 恭喜恭喜 Story: The Legend of the "Nian"(Find a version that explains how the villagers created the lion dance to scare the "Nian" beast away. I got mine from the library)Here are...

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Guilt-free comfort food: Raw Kale Chips

I'm not good at saying "no". Especially if it's to my husband and he's holding a packet of potato chips. I've scoured supermarket shelves and iherb for healthier equivalents but they all fell short. Until I discovered Kale Krunch. A raw, dehydrated vegetable superfood with an exhaustive list of vitamins and amino acids. We ordered two flavours to try out. They were so good, we ordered ten more. We would have ordered more but it didn't feel right to spend so much on chips!Here are our top 3 favourites so far. Happy snacking!Alive & Radiant, Organic Kale Krunch, Tarragon Dijon, 2.2 oz (63 g)...

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DIY Toys: Tissue Box Toy Car

It was one of those days. My husband wasn't feeling well and I was exhausted. I left the kids alone for a few hours and rested in my room. When I emerged from hiding, I found the kids making a toy car out of a tissue box! I was so inspired that I whipped out my hand drill, some used tea lights and brass paper fasteners, and installed the wheels and even a steering wheel! Voila! A new toy! Technically I didn't need a hand drill to make holes in the tea lights, but I was just waiting for an excuse to use it! Materials needed: Tissue box 5 used tea lights for the wheels and steering...

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Hemp milk (dairy-free, vegan, but creamy and yummy!)

Touted as the world's most nutritious seed, hemp seeds are the darling of the Superfoods. Packed with proteins, omega 3 and a long list of vitamins and minerals, it's a regular feature in our smoothies and salads. And now I've discovered another recipe! I made my first batch of hemp milk today. It was rich and creamy, nutty, and for someone who's been used to  watery rice milk, heavenly! I've been craving the rich, creamy taste of fresh cow's milk, but the thought of the milk curdling in my stomach stopped me from drinking any. (I endured years of daily stomach aches before realising I...

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