Painting at the Waste Management Habba

I was part of the Second to None (220) sale at the BBMP Waste Management Habba in February '13, which was held at the oh-so-beautiful Freedom Park. The kids joined me for an hour or so, and we got so involved in painting the mural that Srishti School of Art was putting together on the Recycling theme.

Here's a link to the final mural at Freedom Park.

The park itself is situated in the old Central Jail premises, and there is quite a bit of space for kids to run around. There are also some slides and swings near the back gate.

RATING (on 5)

Water: Please carry your own, although there is a cafe in the park.
Food: The same cafe. The Habba had food counters, not permanent, though
Toilets: Yes, clean ones
Cleanliness: 5
Fun: 5

Recycling with little hands

I have been on the recycling wagon for a while now. Especially want to point you towards the Bangalore-based Facebook group Second to None (aka 220).

Found this activity while trawling thru 220 one day. And my daughters and I decided to do our bit for recycling... Let the pictures say the story today.

An empty soap powder cardboard box

Some newspaper and glue, and little hands to glue the paper onto the box

Add some satin ribbon, and voila! A gift bag!

Very happy with her effort... showing the Before and After

Another bag with the handles made of scrap cloth from my tailor

Happy Crafting. Happy Recycling!

Road-tripping and green-tripping

Another post along the green trail. This talks about something my kids and I enjoyed while on the road - mainly highways in Kerala.

And that is, stopping to look at various kinds of cash crops. Understanding what is the process from plant produce to bank balance.We stopped at two plantations: a rubber plantation and a tea plantation. And the kids got a good lesson from their grandfather on how rubber is tapped...

Seeing how rubber cutting is done

and how tea is grown, plucked, dried, packed, sold and consumed...

Tea Gardens at Kumily, Kerala

So this is what I would suggest to all of you who go on road trips with your children. Stop. Smell the roses. And show your children that rubber is not factory made, neither does tea come from a box.

P.S. As you can see, my photoshop skills are not good. Where I wanted to blur the kids' faces, I have instead given them some brown masks :) 

Make your child green/brown

And here I am, writing after many months. Today's post is along the green trail. It's about children and gardening.

Kids seem to have this natural affinity towards mud, whether on their hands or on their faces, and definitely on their clothes. But instead of fighting this affinity, why not encourage it? Why not let the little ones help you while you are repotting, or pruning, or even watering your plants?

Little ones in the garden - Thanks Tadan for the pic

Lots of opportunity there - for you to breathe in fresh air with your kids, improve their plant vocabulary, teach them science in a practical way, show them how effort can be rewarded with tangible returns...

So lets do our part in bringing up little human beings who want to give back to this earth, and not just take-take-take all the time. Do make sure you plant at least one plant with your child in your lifetime... the green lesson.

P.S. The brown smudge on the children's faces is not thematical mud - it is my sad Photoshop attempt at smudging. :)

I Spy and I Hear

Today's post is another tip. Or two.

I want to tell you about two games I play with the children when there are no toys, books, electronic-items-with-screens or such external distractions. These games don't need any extra equipment other than the ones God has given us.

Game #1: I Spy


Image courtesy: thephotoforum.com



One is the I SPY game. We play this usually when we are in a moving vehicle. I say three things that are outside the vehicle, and the kids have to find them. Examples are

1. A lady wearing a saree
2. An Airtel sign
3. A medical shop
4. A coconut tree
5. 10 white cars

All things/people that are abundantly found, but one doesn't really notice them until one has to really search for them. When an item on the list is found, the children have to point them out to me and I have to see it. Only then does it qualify to  be struck off the list. Once the children complete one list, I tell them the next three to find, and so on.

We have played this for hours, both on city roads as well as highways. It is a good game to play when there are lots of children in the car. Be prepared for excited screaming and arguments about how the adults can't see what the kids can see. Mass hallucinations, sometimes. This game helps to keep that dreaded question away... "Are we there yet?"

Game #2: I hear

Image courtesy: www.safbaby.com

The second game has to do with sounds. In this noisy world, we don't realize how we are bombarded with sounds and voices. Until we and the children stop doing all else, and just listen.

This game can be played anywhere. All have to close eyes, stop talking and listen. And say what are the different sounds they hear. Where you play the game changes the sounds you hear. A quiet urban evening at home sounds very different from noon in a forest. Even the same place sounds different at different parts of the day.

I have found that chidren's ears can be tuned to the finer sounds in life. And they sometimes hear sounds that adult ears have filtered out. Of course, be prepared for imaginary sounds also. Another fun aspect of this game is verbalizing sounds, rather than just repeating the sound. For example, not saying" I hear tick-tick", but "I hear the ticking of the clock". A quick vocabulary-increasing exercise too!

Am reminded of this song:

O be careful little eyes what you see

O be careful little eyes what you see

For the Father up above

Is looking down in love

So be careful little eyes what you see

O be careful little ears what you hear

O be careful little ears what you hear

For the Father up above

Is looking down in love

So be careful little ears what you hear

Hear it on YouTube.

Books and Children

What do you do when four young ones under 10 years of age want to spend an afternoon watching TV (Oh that dreaded box) ? Distract them, of course. With books.

Bookshops these days welcome browsers (the human kind), what with their cushioned stools and sofas. A Sunday afternoon is a good time to take children to a book shop. Mine browse and explore, and know that there may or may not be a purchase for them at the end of the visit.

The trick is to disconnect the purchase from the experience. And if you notice, most of the fun times I have with the children are free or low-cost. I am a firm believer of not spoiling children by extravagance. OK, that's enough of me on my soap-box!

The book store has not just books, but toys and stationery. And little trinkets. All-in-all, an exciting place to smell the lovely scent of a new paperback, or to flip through a glossy coffee-table book. Even read Barbie comics or play with a stuffed toy or two.

And the coup-de-grace... I could start reading Fifty Shades of Grey in the same bookshop after hearing so much about this book. Not exactly a kids' activity, given the adult-content slant of the book, but am so hoping that more parents than teens or tweens are reading my posts.

RATING (on 5)

Water: Some bookshops have water dispensers, some have in the attached cafe
Food: The smell of coffee will be connected to the smell of books for my children because of the attached cafe in most bookshops these days. A fair collection of baked pastries and savories.
Toilets: Yes
Cleanliness: 5
Fun: A quiet 5

Homework in the park

Saturday morning. Homework to be completed. Revision to be done because assessment exams are around the corner. But the outdoors are calling. So what do we do, we who don't have a garden at home? Make good use of the local park.

Craft work behind a tree

Revision on a rock

Homework in the park - Stool and books brought from home

When my eldest asked me a question in Science, I could answer with the help of leaves and mushrooms and birds and squirrels. Breaks in studying were spent running around the park chasing mynas.... A morning truly well spent!


RATING

Water: No
Food: This park didn't have any vendors, but some children's parks do have the odd sweet-corn or icecream vendor

Toilets: No
Cleanliness: 4
Fun: 5

The Start

I am a working mother of three, based in Bangalore. And over the years, have turned to the net several times to figure out fun activities for the kids in Bangalore. And have never really found anything truly satisfying.

Two sources that I have dipped into several times over the last few years have been Mango_Mama's Blog at Parentree and Best Parenting Tips blog.

My idea with THIS blog is to give you lots of details on each activity, so that you can plan your outings.

Please do give me feedback, as well as suggestions as we go thru this exciting journey of parenthood and showing our children the wonders of this world and city.

Cheerio!