FPD #4: Story Telling, Public Speaking & Petting Zoo Visit

This week’s session was done indoor (except for the Petting Zoo visit). We’re facing a very bad haze here in Klang Valley & some of us were not in an excellent health condition. Aunt Saliza suggested a place called 3C Complex in Subang Jaya. I’ve heard & passed by that place a few times but have yet to check it out myself. So we called the complex’s management office for an enquiry and a friendly officer, Pn Haini entertained us warmly.

To those whose unfamiliar with this place, 3C (Children Creativity Centre) Complex is located in SS13, Subang Jaya very near & at the row as Sunway Pyramid & Lagoon. This children complex is owned by MPSJ and it is the first government owned children creativity centre build in Malaysia. The huge complex has a kindi & day care (with a long waiting list I was told), various activity classes for children & adults, auditoriums, indoor garden, library, petting zoo, summer camp site & many more to describe.

We booked the indoor garden for our Story Telling & Public Speaking activity. Aunt Dina was the instructor for this week and she brought a mini singing microphone with her (thanks!). As usual, we started off with our circle time & introduction. Then, continued with Dora hugs, Elmo giant book & Madeline touching story (I believe everyone will be more thrilled if Alicia is in the mood of telling us the story..she reads this book in rhyme..so sweet!).

For public speaking, the kids were told to describe about their favorite toy and why they love it with some mini Q&A with their friends & parents. This session were dominated by the older toddlers..hehe! Congrates to Aliya, Amna, Alicia, Irfan & Arisya. The young ones, as in those 3 years & below were pretty cranky already at that time.

We head to the café for a quick brunch before heading to the Petting Zoo. It was a quick one since there were only so little food left for us to buy, sigh! Nasi lemak, kuey tiow & milo ice will do!

After about half an hour at the café, we walk to the Petting Zoo. The kids had fun despite some shocking experiences. It’s a ‘Petting Zoo’, so the sheeps, deer, goat, chicken, parrot, rabbit, ostrich & etc LOVES to be pat! One of the kids, Aliya chased a deer until the deer was afraid of her..so cute!

** Looking forward to next week’s activity: Fishing aka ‘menceduk’ fish & a surprise for lil Ms Ariana!!!

FPD #3: Planting My Vegetable!

Everybody gathered at Amna, Azra & Imran’s crib as early as 8.30am. The session’s instructor, Aunt Shikin was ready with her planting thingy. The stuffs were:
- A bag of black soil
- Pots
- Vegetable seeds
- Watering Can
- Gardening Tools ie; fork, gloves & etc

The kids were given a step by step instruction on how to plant their vegetable seeds. Right from putting the soil into their pots to the last stage writing their names on the pots before watering them.

After the session, parents were told to encourage their kids to monitor their pots & water it every day until they can see the results of their planting activity. About 9.30am, we’re all set for breakfast: Yummy Chinese Style Fried Yee Mee, fried beehoon, sandwiches & kuihs. The kids ?? Noisily invading the crib with 1001 attitudes of theirs. A crib which has everything that a child needs! We love it!! Thanks a Zillion Mr & Mrs Host!

FPD #2: Picnic & Play (was.. Picnic & Splash)

A bit of haywire during this session. We arrived at the venue at 8am with the kids in their best swim wear. My bad for not checking out the place earlier, the swimming pool was closed for renovation! That was one disappointment to the kids but its fine since they can enjoy the playground.

So, we set our picnic stuff on the grass at a cozy location with a very nice view. Everything was set up when suddenly came a ‘mak guard’ asking us to vacant the area. She said picnic is not allowed there without saying a reason but she suggested us to set our stuff under a gazebo. Just when we had settled down under the gazebo, we saw sprinklers spraying the field of grass. Ahhhh..now we know why picnics on the grass are forbidden..thanks to the ‘mak guard’! If not, we must have been soaked by a ‘shower’ under the morning sun of KLCC!

The plan for this session was: DIY Sandwich & Lemonade. Due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’ and lack of control by the host (it was me, sigh!), the session end up to be a Picnic & Play, Play & Play. The sandwich bread & filling were merely touched since there were two types of irresistible nasi lemak & kuihs. But we still managed to squeeze some lemons for a jug of lemonade, again by the parents.

Anyway, the kids still had a gazillion fun chasing around & playing together. While parents, eat, gossip, Sunday newspaper & posing2.. Since I can see that everybody is having fun, I can say it’s still a successful session with so much flaws..hehehe! A big lesson to learn!

FPD #1: Art Attack!!

Our first activity was hosted by Aunt Shikin, at her place. We started pretty late, arount 10am with the kids arriving with their own art sets. Two task were given, DIY: My Messy Big-T and Express My Creativity.
1) DIY: My Messy Big Tee
‘My Messy Big Tee’ is the kids’ apron/lab coat/gardening coat which will be used during FPD sessions depending on the week’s activity. They paint, wrote their own names & express their creativities on a piece of white big-T making it their very own masterpiece. Stuffs used:
- A pair of white Big-T
- Multicolored Clothes Paints
- Multicolored Glitter Glue
- Permanent Markers

2) Express My Creativity
The kids were given a piece of white A4 sized card board and they were free to scribble, draw, paste & paint anything they wish to. The kids also used natural things which they picked up from the surrounding area such as grass, leaves, dried leaves, sticks & sands to add onto their creations.
This activity will encourage them to express their creativity by using anything they can find from their surrounding area hence introducing & describing the things to them. This way of teaching is pretty good since we parents sometimes tend to forbid our children to touch anything they found outside the house, “Don’t touch it, dear. It’s dirty. Let’s go..” without noticing it, we didn’t even introduce the name of the ‘thing’ which they want to touch. So, this session is the time where they were free to get their hands dirty while learning. Of course hygiene is still our first priority and we’ll make sure the kids get cleaned up after they were done.

Since our playgroup has 2 -6 years of age kids, their work of art of course will vary depending on their age & capabilities. They also have different strength of skills depending on their exposure to the activity and their preferences. As parents & friends of parents we try not to compare our kid’s work with the others, “Look XYZ, ABC does not color outside the line like you. Can you please color like her, it will be nicer”.

Though the statement is polite & I agree that it is to encourage XYZ to do better & to make example of ABC’s work but who knows it may also de-motivate XYZ & he might also think that his work is not good enough & not appreciated.
Therefore, all of us always try our best to encourage & support our kids to do their best according to their capabilities without forcing.

This will of course make our bond tighter & they will feel loved & appreciated.

Our FPD & d Kids

Our play date sessions start as early as 8am to train our kids to be an early riser. The venues were determined depending on the week’s activity or whoever hosting it. Activities will normally last about 1 – 1 ½ hrs and we end it with a pot luck brunch & chit-chatting. Our rules (among others), whoever handles/instruct an activity buys the material (if any) and do not have to bring any food for the pot luck. Anyway, we discuss closely via facebook/ sms on what to bring & what to do before each session.

At the moment, we’re keeping our group small. Like us, the kids basically know each other very well since they were babies. Oh! And we, the parents are close friends thru primary & high school, university, work and even cousins. Therefore, we’re pretty comfortable with each others’ presence. The FPD kids are:
1) Arisya, 6
2) Amna, 6
3) Alicia R, 5
4) Alisya, 5
5) Ariana, 4
6) F. Aliya, 4
7) Z. Irfan, 4
8) Lana Z, 3
9) Azra, 3
10) Sarah, 2
11) Danish, 2
12) Arlia, 1
13) Imran, 7 months

Quite a handful isn’t it?? ;-D

On every session, we start off with a circle time. Everybody must introduce themselves to everybody during the ice-breaking session. This is good to get the kids warmed up and to encourage public speaking.

Since there are only Malays in our playgroup, we encourage everybody to converse in English at all time to get them more fluent in this second language. A ‘10 cent’ fine will be imposed to those who speak in other language!

How Does It Start???

Hi! I’m Ja, a working mom. The idea of having a playgroup came up one day when I was browsing for weekend classes from talent/enrichment centers after my 3 1/2 y.o daughter, Lana who had just discontinued her Art & Craft class at school. Although the class is good & she had lots of fun & improved the artsy side of her, hubby & me found out that she couldnt afford to miss her afternoon nap,still. So we decided to pull her off from the class but Alhamdulillah she managed to complete her 'Beginner' level wit a cert. Glad she's happy!

I opt for a Saturday classes for Lana since we are pretty free on Saturday mornings(her dad is occupied during that period). And as most parents know, most of the interesting classes are held during weekdays, which is impossible to us. Though I can send her a few times/week if I work remotely, but it’s too risky to commit due to work demands.

Then I thought about my dear friend, Shikin. She’s a mom of 3 and regularly sends her girls to weekend classes before she started enrolling Arisya and Ariana to school this year. Our friends and us also hangout regularly on weekdays or weekends with or without our kids. At that time I believe she will love the idea since she’s also always browsing and cracking her head to think of a way to fill up her girls’ weekends.

And I was right… one afternoon, we just couldn’t stop discussing and listing down our ideas to make the play dates happen. Alhamdulillah, we received a fairly warm support from our dear friends and family to join the fun and share a gazillion parenting tips!

We hope one day you parents out there will create your own playgroup for your kids too. Our objective of publishing this blog is sincerely to share the excitement, experience and parenting tips we dug out from each other and from our regular surf around the net. Perhaps one day we can plan a gathering among playgroups and date together!! Fun!