Some of my best childhood memories includes running a play restaurant with my childhood bestie. However, neither of us owned any pretend foods because they were “too expensive” in the words of our moms. As a result, we made do with what we had and served up little dishes of ripped leaves garnished with dry…
My toddler owns a small set of play kitchen foods that includes a piece of carrot, a broccoli, a burger patty and a pretend egg that cracks open. You can crack the egg open, and out comes a piece of cloth egg that you can fry. Absolutely adorable! I am a firm believer in the…
[updated 12/1/2020] You can make this EASY DIY Magnetic Fishing game with just a a few simple materials. Perfect for snowy and raining days, this is a great stay at home kids’ activities. It’s also a fun way to practice hand-eye coordination as well as counting (fish) and naming colors. Let’s go fishing (a mini…
Mantou (饅頭）is essentially a type of Chinese “bread” that is finished by steaming as opposed to baking. Along with bing and wheat noodles, it is eaten as the carbohydrate staple in Northern China where wheat instead of rice is grown. In Taiwan where I grew up, mantou is a common breakfast staple. Ways to eat…
Difficulty: EasyTime: 30 min – 1 hour Recently Barnaby received some shareable foods in his Shimajiro subscription box. Shimajiro is a little tiger boy who learns different lessons and life skills through toys, videos, and books that is in sync with your child’s age. Barnaby has loved all the toys and books he receives monthly…
Difficulty: IntermediateTime: 1-2 hoursTechniques: Sewing circle into cylinder, Finish raw edge with bias tape In the past 6 months, my toddler has already murdered two plastic water bottles via releasing them from heights water bottles shouldn’t be released from. I finally ordered him another water bottle, and was determined this one would not suffer the…
Barnaby loves sticking his stickers everywhere, so when I saw this con-tact paper activity, I thought he might enjoy it. Before this, I had never heard of Con-Tact paper and had to look it up. Turns out they are shelf-liners that have a sticky side for adhering to your shelf so you can put dishware…
Difficulty Level: EasyTime: 20 Minutes Post Updated 6/28/2020 It’s been so sad and horrifying to see recent news of the shortage of PPE (personal protective equipment) due to the COVID-19 outbreak. As a healthcare provider myself, I can’t imagine practicing without protective barriers, let alone caring for extremely high risk patients (both for patient’s safety…
Play dough has been on my to-make list for quite awhile now. However, when Barnaby was around 17 months, we attended a wedding and one of my mommy friend whipped out some play dough for all the kids while we waited for food. Her kids happily played with the dough while mine just looked at…
