Leftover rice vadam or Rice crackers

Leftover rice vadam or Rice crackers 

We had left over cooked rice at home and we were talking about not wasting of food and it’s importance.While discussing how best we could utilise left over cooked rice,this vadam came to my mind.
My amma used to do different types of vadam when I was child,after her death ,we relied only on store brought vadam.
Today,because of my son,we decided to give it a try at home.I vaguely remember the procedure but just gave a try after cross checking with a well wisher.
It was messy but my son enjoyed doing it as it is very simple .
Ingredients we used :
Left over cooked rice(We had only little qty)
Salt as needed

Chilli powder ( 1 tsp)

I grinded it in a mixie for one minute without adding water and my son dropped it in sheet one by one.Mom used to have separate sheet and white cloth exclusively for this purpose but I didn’t have any at home,so just used whatever was available at home.
It has to dry under sunlight for 3 to 4 days and once it gets dried completely,vadam will be ready which can be served with rice or you can eat it as snack.
New handson experience for my little hero and he liked doing it.

#practicallife #finemotor #bestoutofwaste #cooking

Milk packets flowers

Milk packet flower
Today,we decided to take a break from school (Bunk 😉😉) and stay at home.We did several crazy things,one among them was milk packet flowers.
My son was curious to know how they seal milk packet ,how it would look inside the milk packet and resulted in milk packet flowers.
Things needed :
Empty milk packets,stapler,scissor
Just cut the milk packets as shown in the picture.I asked child to fold it front and back from beginning till end and staple it.
Our milk packet flowers were ready in few minutes and he used it for his pretendplay.
#diy #craft #bestoutofwaste #milkpackets #finemotor #handeyecoordination

Homemade pesticide

Our homemade pesticide

As my little hero loves gardening ,eventhough we have limited space,we have few plants in our balcony.He shows great interest in taking care of plants.
Today,we decided to do homemade pesticide with just two ingredients neem leaves and garlic.This suggestion was given by my brother along detailed instructions to little hero.
Each and everything is done by the child except boiling and cooling neem leaves in water.
Steps we followed
1.He removed the neem leaves from stem and crushed garlic using mortar and pestle #finemotor
2.Mixed neemleaves and crushed garlic in vessel #sensory 
3.Filled water so that it covers neemleaves using jug #finemotor
4.Boiled the neem leaves and garlic for 15 minutes ( done by me ) and cooled it.
5.Once it got cooled,he squeezed neemleaves #finemotor and filtered it using tea strainer.
6.Then using funnel,he filled it in spray bottle #finemotor
7.He sprayed it on leaves of the plant #finemotor #practicallife
We learnt while doing about pesticides,why do plants need, importance of home made and cons of pesticide bought from the shops and many more #language
#diy #homemade #pesticide #practicallife

Watermelon seller

Today,little hero wanted to sell watermelon to all the people.He wanted to slice and sell it ,not the whole fruit.
He didnot want his fruit toy set but wanted to do something of his own.I suggested him to use felt sheet .After few trial and error,he made few slices of water melon.
He used our home made play dough as watermelon seeds and our diy number cards as rupees for his game.
In the same game,I used it to practise counting too.Learning while playing.
#pretendplay #counting #maths #scissorskills

Diy scratch art

I asked my son to colour plain sheet of paper using oil pastels wherever he feels with any colour of his choice and to make sure that whole sheet looks colourful.

Then asked him to paint it using black paint and we allowed it to dry.
Once it dried,I asked him to scribble anything on it using stick .Our diy scratch art was ready without any much preparation.

#scratch #art #diy

Peek a boo ghost

Peek a boo ghost

While,I was sharing with him about Halloween book which I saw recently,we decided to do something relating to it.Thus we did peek a boo ghost.
All you need are paper cup,spoon,tissue paper and water colours.I asked my child to paint the paper cup of his choice,cover the spoon using tissue paper,asked him to make a hole using pen to insert the spoon and eyes using water colour.Our peek a boo ghost is ready.
You just need to push the spoon ( ghost ) up and down .We liked playing it.

#art #craft

Drawing by little hero

Little hero always prefers free style when he draw ,I mean ,he doesnot copy the art ,he prefers to draw whatever comes to his mind and explains us about his drawing.

But for the first time,he asked me can you teach me to draw an elephant or anything of your choice.
I was blank for a while as I don’t know to draw and he knows it too .Then,I remembered my friend Archana ,very talented and hardworking person who had shared step by step tutorial for kids in her blog art and book junction.
She has shared in very simple way that child can draw without any parents help .
Here is the,Little hero’s first attempt to draw an ant and ladybug within few seconds by following step by step tutorial from the blog.
If you would like to try the tutorial with your child,here is the link for Archana’s tutorial of step by step drawing which we followed today.
http://theartandbookjunction.blogspot.in/2017/09/step-by-step-drawings-insects.html?m=1
Thank you very much dear Archana for the tutorial and my son loved it.
#drawing #stepbystep 

Today’s sudden visit to post office.

We regularly buy magic pot magazine from past 2 + years but suddenly today ,he coloured page for contest in Magic pot and requested me to take him to post office as he wants to send it to Magic pot.
Eventhough he does colouring but his interest is not colouring,his master plan was to visit post office as we recently couldn’t visit post office , otherwise we have regular attendance at post office.
He kept his coloured sheet inside the cover,sealed it using glue.Wrote the address with my help and was all set ready to visit post office.
He stood in queue ,waited for his turn and asked me to lift him so that he can handover the cover and pay money in the counter as it was not of his height level and has kept carefully the receipt in his bag .
This time ,his attention and curiosity towards schemes in post office..One was My stamp where our images can be printed on stamp .Secondly he showed interest in learning about postal life insurance,Sukanya samridhi scheme and other scheme.
I m thinking of better way to explain it to him in appropriate way .

#practical life #postoffice

Self discovered method for counting

Today,found him doing counting using curry leaves ,He has used number cards which I had printed very long back and curry leaves.
He removed the leaves from stem and was placing the leaves accordingly to the number.
His own style and self discovered method for counting.
#counting #maths #finemotor

Vegetable seller

Vegetable seller

Pretend play is my little hero’s all time favourite.Today,he turned out to be vegetable seller.
When he was a toddler,we learnt about vegetables using real vegetables ,sorting vegetables ,size discrimination,counting and many more.
Today ,I introduced him to concept of addition and subtraction using the vegetables during the play.Since he regularly visits market to buy vegetables ,he is very much aware of the rate of vegetables and he used it in his pretend play.
Pretend play is not only my son’s favourite but also mine since and we enjoy playing it together .
#pretendplay #maths #counting #addition