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Friday, March 23, 2012

Summer's here!

And it's that time of the year again! When you have to scratch your head (or break it?) thinking of things for the children to do to keep them away from the TV. I'm such a un-craftsy person I always find it tough to figure out this stuff. So for the first time I am trying to apply my mind and think of things simple enough for them (and me :)) to sit and do together.

D made it easier by bringing back her pottery clay from school, so she made a beginning by making this flower, and adding the flower pot and surprizing me with her creativity!


And then there's that paper folding technique that I have hardly ever tried my hands at - Origami ! Such amazing stuff to be made by just folding paper, and I found that I had to resort to youtube videos (!) to understand the simplest fish base too! Decoration of course is courtesy D :).


15 comments:

  1. I know what you mean.. it's tough keeping them engaged. Since you brought up origami.. why don't you connect with Shruti here
    http://www.artsycraftsymom.com/2012/03/artsy-craftsy-mar-2012.html
    She's having a fun origami contest. Plus you'll find loads of craft ideas at her place. I love it, you might like it too.

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    1. Thanks for dropping in, and for the link :). Been checking it out, will definitely need to refer to stuff like this to get through the summer ;) !

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  2. How come they have hols already? They get more than 8 weeks off? (I thought Blr schools open in 1st week June)
    I have my dad here to provide childcare cover for the 2-week spring break before the next session starts - Ads already finished one week of vacation while Yukta's has just started - and I'm already going nuts! Pl do keep posting ideas of what to do with them :)

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    1. D's school closed as of 22nd, S's montessori school last day was today :). Don't even ask how I'm going to manage. Just got D to do a jigsaw puzzle that's been daunting her for a while, realized how grown up she's got when she finished it in a couple of hours!!
      I remember Delhi vacation schedule being really different. More posts hopefully will come up as and when I get any ideas ;).

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  3. I like to see origami, but somehow its not my thing :) You have to be super-creative to think of new things to make, no?

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    1. Hahaha.. what are all the books (and finally not understanding instructions in the book and going to youtube) for?

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  4. Anonymous5:23 PM

    Hi Aparna,
    Read blogpost of Pratham today. I realized you had a lot of fun as a Pratham Champion with the wooooos and the woooooshes :) Your blog is very interesting. Will keep a track now. Sushree

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    1. Thanks so much for dropping in Sushree :) Yes I had a blast doing the reading sessions, am a big fan of promoting reading as I've already mentioned probably. Please do keep visiting!

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    2. Forgot to mention, loved your writing too, will make sure to follow your posts!

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  5. Hey Aparna,

    Another fun thing to do is diya painting. You just need acrylic colours and a paintbrush. Many sites give you tips for diya painting. I did it last Diwali with Gayathri and we used up half a day painting some ten diyas :) I am not that artistic, but this was great fun. And Gayatri took great pride giving away painted diyas to family members :)

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    1. Thanks Shailaja, I'll keep that one in mind too :) Sounds interesting and I'm sure Damita'll love it too - we haven't taken out the paintbrushes in a while.

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  6. If I had my way, I would have let our daughter homeschool or rather unschool, but DW isn't so enthusiastic about it - I am convinced that many of these problems(keeping children occupied when they are not at school etc.) are created by the rigid schooling regimen. Our daughter just finished her pre-nursery and there are questions on what she should do during holidays! Aside from the rant against schooling(rhymes very well with policing, right?), I picked up a book on practical math which has got her interested very much in counting stuff everywhere and some bit of addition. Also we had a wedding in our hometown and girls being girls, she is hallucinating about her marriage already :) Also the cats and a dog at my mother's place seems like an everlasting pastime for her.

    BTW, I had read this blog earlier, but didn't realize it was yours - sounds like you have a lot to share about parenting!

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    1. Thanks so much for dropping in Jayadeep, apologies for the late reply, my internet connection has been "against" some sites, and blogger is one of them it seems :(.

      I do understand your concerns, and I can imagine the difficulty in convincing about homeschooling and especially unschooling :). The very small silver lining is that atleast many schools are not too rigid about tests and exams at a very young age and wait a few years before increasing the workload. Other than that, it's only what we can do at home, and I generally believe that like the maths interest you mentioned, it is better to try to expose children to education through practical and everyday means than cooking up some major activities and schemes for it (or maybe I'm just lazy ;)).

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  7. wow that flower is so beautiful. how old is she?

    and yes i too am so NOT a crafty person at all :(

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  8. Thanks so much for dropping in here Sujatha :). She is close to 7 years old, and does seem to have a bent for drawing and aesthetics, probably more than i do ;).

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