Weekend Wanderings: Charlotte's Web

Last weekend we brought the boys to watch Charlotte's Web, while my dad helped me to babysit Baby J. I had really looked forward to catching the play with the kids, since Charlotte's Web is one of my favourite books (but one that never fails to make me cry every time I read it!). This stage adaptation of the book by E.B. White didn't disappoint, and managed to bring to life the story of Wilbur the pig and his unlikely friendship with Charlotte the spider. Wilbur is saved from going under the butcher's knife by the ingenuity of Charlotte, who spins messages on her web to praise Wilbur. The story is a wonderful reminder of how true friendship transcends any of our differences, and always protects and seeks to serve, and I really enjoyed the play by The Little Company.

The cast was stellar, and I was quite amazed at how effortlessly they juggled all the characters in the story between the six of them. Sharda Harrison was wonderful as Charlotte, with her acrobatics and acting (although I found her striped get-up a little distracting).

The hubby especially liked the character of Templeton, who was played by Dwayne Lau. He brought to life the rat's calculative and greedy nature perfectly!

The kids and I loved the farm animals: Wilbur the pig (by Ann Lek), Gander (by Ivan Atienza), Goose (by Ethel Yap) and Sheep (by Matheus Ting). Each played their role so well, and the geese especially made me smile with their quirky characters!

Junior J and Lil J enjoyed the play tremendously, since they were familiar with the story (I had previously read the book to them). Small J, though quiet throughout the play, got rather restless nearing the last twenty minutes. I would say that this play is more suited for those five and up, since the humour and dialogue are more complex, and there is no singing and dancing involved. Also, I think it would be great to read the book with the kids before attending the play, to allow the kids to have a better appreciation of the story.

All in all, I'd say get those tickets if you have kids five and above!

Details for the play are as follows:
Date: Fri, 28 Oct - Sun, 11 Dec 2016
Time: Weekends & Public Holiday : 11am & 2pm
Weekdays : 10am, 1.30pm, 2pm, 2.30pm, 3pm
Venue: KC Art Centre - Home of SRT

You can purchase your tickets here on Sistic. Do note that discounts apply for family packages as well as Three Little Pigs ticket stub holders.

Disclaimer: We were kindly sponsored tickets for purpose of this review. All production photos were obtained from the Singapore Repertory Theatre's FB page. No monetary compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Toddle: Thoughtful shopping made easy

We've been decluttering a fair bit these days, in preparation for our move. One of the areas that I've tackled are the kids' toys, since I realized that they have accumulated a fair bit, and their mess was driving me nuts! 

Sorting through their stuff and reflecting on their play habits was enlightening. I was reminded that the less specific the function, the more mileage we could obtain from the toy. That you generally need to pay for quality, and that wooden toys really last longer than their plastic counterparts. The hassle of having to donate or sell the toys that I cleared from their toy pile was a painful reminder that I needed to be very intentional when it comes to shopping for the kids. I know that I tend to go a little crazy when it comes to shopping for toys, and I can't resist good offers, even though the quality of the toys may be circumspect. 

Enter Toddle, an online shop that aims to provide a thoughtful shopping experience when you have to purchase kid-related items online. Some time ago, I was invited by Silviana, one of the founders of Toddle, to try shopping at their web-store. I admit I was torn on wether to take up the invite. On one hand, I wanted to say no, because I had enough of dealing with kiddy stuff after all that decluttering. On the other hand, who could resist shopping for stuff for the kids? 

I decided to browse the shop before giving her a definitive reply. I liked what I saw: The site was a breeze to navigate both on desktop and mobile, and each product listing was informative and detailed. However, the turning point came when I looked through their selection of toys. Toddle claims to carefully curate their selection of merchandise, and pick items based on their criteria which they have termed as Toddle Tags.  Their criteria go by the abbreviation "S.H.I.N.E" (for smart, healthy, investment, necessity and eco-friendly). 

The thing is, any shop can claim that they curate their toys and state a list of criteria. It's just like how retailers can box up any plastic thing that blinks and goes beep at a press of a button, and claim it aids in teaching hand-eye co-ordination and manual dexterity. But the true test in this case would be in the selection of toys they sell. A quick browse through their listings showed many of our favourite brands. I spotted Hape, a mid-range German brand which we loved because of it's affordability and their focus on sustainability, as well as Plan Toys, which uses organic rubberwood in their products. I also found many Melissa and Doug products, one of the brands that stocks the most affordable wooden toys. Toddle seems to take the business of curating products seriously, and there was not a single plastic thingamajig in sight. I really loved this idea of providing a thoughtful shopping experience, so I said yes. 

I really appreciated the efforts to equip buyers to make well-informed purchase decisions, from the detailed product descriptions, to providing more information on their blog and in their info guides. The folks at Toddle frequently share informative posts on their blog, which range from tips for choosing a car seat, to how to prevent mold from growing in baby's feeding gear. The site also provides info guides to help shoppers in their purchase process. I found that these were really well-written: each guide lists down the available options for the relevant type of product, tips on how to refine your selection, as well as features to consider. 

Toddle also prioritizes customer service, as can be seen from their 14-day return guarantee, as well as their fast delivery times. They aim to ship orders within 1-3 business days, and delivery is free for orders above $70. In our case, our item was delivered really quickly: we ordered our items on a Saturday evening, and the items were delivered on Monday afternoon!

Seeing how the whole shopping experience was so thoughtfully planned out made me curious about the folks behind Toddle. I had a chat with Silviana, who shared with me about how she and her partner Gabriel set up shop hoping to provide quality toys, to counter the problem of low-quality toys in the current market. Initially, the couple sourced their toys from China and other SEA countries, but found that the quality was still not up to scratch. Since then, they have spread their nets further, in order to bring in toys that meet their quality standards. Their goal for Toddle was to provide a wholesome shopping experience and value-added service, where useful information is provided on top of selling the physical products.

Silviana and Gabriel do not have kids yet, but what they lack in terms of parenting experience they make up by having a sense of objectivity, as well as innovativeness. Toddle boasts a buying team that is made up of a diverse group of people, all united by their love of innovative products for children. The shop frequently updates their range of products, and I noticed that they recently added great new selections such as Tegu blocks, Magnatiles and Cuboro. The couple are now working on partnering complementary businesses, medical professionals (such as lactation consultants and pediatricians) and educators to bring about new initiatives for Toddle. I love their drive and creativity, as well as their thoughtful approach to bringing up this "baby" of theirs. Indeed, as Silviana shares, their approach is embodied by their company name "Toddle", which is a verb - all good things start from the smallest of steps.

So what did we buy? We chose to go with a Hape Quadrilla marble run, since I figured the parts were simple enough for Small J to stack up, and the older two boys could use them to build complicated marble runs. I thought a marble run with wooden parts would be great, since it would last and the toy would have plenty of mileage, especially with four kids!

I loved watching them work together to build the marble run. The older two would help each other to balance the various parts while stacking the blocks. They tested the run again and again, and spent over an hour just taking turns to drop marbles into the run and watching as the marbles rolled along. 

It was great fun, and seeing them play reminded me about how good toys are those that can cater to a wide range of ages, and are open-ended enough to allow for creativity in play. This marble run is definitely something that will last, both physically (since it's made of wood), as well as in terms of engaging the kids (they can make a different run each time). 

Thank you Toddle, for reminding us to play hard, and play well! 

~~~~~~~

Toddle is offering a promotion for readers of this blog, where you can get 15% off purchases above $70! Just type in "JUSTINA15" at checkout. This code is valid until the 25th of June 2016, and cannot be used concurrently with other promo codes. (PS: This is a good time to grab those magnatiles!)

They are also giving away a "K's Kids Pull-Back Auto Vehicle Set" to one reader of this blog! To take part in this giveaway, please follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter widget below. For more information, please visit their website, and FB page (this is regularly updated with interesting links, so do like their page!).

Note:
1. If you can, do share about this giveaway with your friends (but this is not compulsory).

2. Do hop by to our Instagram account (@justtey) to join another giveaway to win a set of Plan Toys building blocks!

3. Please note that you have to like and comment on this FB post to enter, and all incomplete entries or entries using fake FB accounts (accounts set up purely to take part in giveaways) would be disqualified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: We received shopping credits from Toddle for purpose of this review. No monetary compensation was received, and all opinions are my own. This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or associated with Facebook.

Play: Building with Miclik

We love building toys, and most of the toys we have at home are those that you build with, such as Lego, building blocks, K'nex and Plus-plus. The boys enjoy constructing various things, and these are the toys that keep them occupied for a relatively long period of time, and satisfy their need to fiddle and tinker with stuff. It's always interesting to see how the kids use these to build all sorts of structures, from houses, to boats, to imaginary machines!

Recently, the folks over at Explorer Junior contacted us to see if we were keen to try out Miclik, another building toy. Thus far, most building toys we've used usually come with a variety of parts (think Lego and K'nex). However, Miclik only provides one kind of connector for building (similar to Plus-Plus), which means that children would have to be more creative in how they use the connectors during the construction process. 

Each box of Miclik comes with 48 connectors in four different colours. The plastic connectors were very well made, with no sharp seams that can cut little hands. 

Each box of connectors comes with a small instruction booklet, that has a few photos of things you could build, as well as some step-by-step instructions. However, there isn't much in the booklet, so it's really up to the kids to how they want to use these connectors!

While the connectors are the same, they hold a fair bit of construction potential. There are six holes at the back of each connector, so you can attach pieces and turn them at an angle. Because each connector can be bent in the middle, it means you can build 3D round structures, or parts that can fold. However, this also means that kids must figure out how to attach the connectors together such that they stay straight or bend, depending on what they want to build. 

The connectors are large enough to be safe for the younger ones, since they are too big to be swallowed. Toddlers might find the pieces tricky to affix together, but Baby J enjoyed building with them, since he figured out a way to just stack the pieces without having to click the connectors together! 

Initially, the boys were a little stuck when it came to playing with Miclik, and they only tried making swords following the pictures in the instruction booklet. Junior J could build his with ease, while Lil J found that his sword flopped as he didn't know how to alternate the pieces to ensure they did not bend. 

However, after some fiddling, they decided to make a birthday cake. After the "cake" was made, they encountered some difficulty with attaching candles, which was solved by Baby J who just slotted the pieces on top! So they got busy with slotting pieces to making wobbly candles... 

... and then Junior J decided he would make a "lighter", and proceeded to "light" the candles by transferring a yellow connector from his lighter to each candle. What followed was a lot of jostling to blow out the candles. :) It was really interesting, seeing how they worked together to figure everything out!

As a building toy, I think Miclik holds a fair bit of potential, but is more suitable for the older kids, as we found that the connectors sometimes don't hold very well and require some adjusting (especially when building structures that require the connectors to be bent). However, Miclik would also be a good toy in a family with mixed ages, since there are no small parts that can be a hazard to the little ones! 

Thank you, Explorer Junior, for letting us try out Miclik! It really came at a great time, since the boys have been stuck home sick, and these have been keeping them busy. 

For more information on Miclik, please hop over to the Explorer Junior website, and do like their FB page to be kept updated on promotions. 

~~~~~~~

Explorer Junior is kindly giving away one set of Miclik each to two readers of this blog! Please follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter widget below to enter in the giveaway. For more chances to win a set, you can also hop over to their FB page to take part in another contest here, with three sets to be won!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: We were sponsored Miclik sets for purpose of the review. No monetary compensation was received, and all opinions are my own.

Play: Our Friso Experience

We spent most of the past week being cooped up at home, thanks to the haze. While the PM2.5 levels seemed to be lower than the previous week, we decided to play it safe and stayed indoors whenever the AQI was above 100, as the older two have very sensitive airways. 

The kids did get quite restless while staying home. It was understandable, considering that they were used to having outdoor time everyday. On most weekends, we spend our time as a family exploring parks or playgrounds, so it was quite trying having to stay in. We did try various art and sensory activities, but they were just bouncing off the walls! So when Friso sent over this playset, I breathed a huge sigh of relief, and promptly set up the slide and grass mat for them at home:

They had so much fun with it, and spent almost an hour running up and down, climbing and sliding, climbing and sliding yet again! They have yet to tire of having a slide at home, and have been using it every day, both as a slide for themselves, and as a ramp for their stuffed toys and cars. 

I set up the tent for them on another day. (I thought it would be best to spread out the activities since I didn't know how long we were going to be stuck home!) I'm no girl scout, but the tent proved to be easy to set up, requiring you to just connect the 4 poles together and slot them into the tent fabric.

You just need to prop up the tent, and secure the top part of the poles with the strings, and you're all done:

They had lots of fun playing camping, and got all their animals involved. They had picnics. They pretended to sleep in the tent. I wanted to play too, but they chased me out saying "no adults allowed!". So all I got to do was to provide food and water for their picnics. They later decided I was going to be the big bad wolf, and they all hid inside the tent away from me. At least they did enjoy having a tent at home!

The play set came at the most opportune time, since I was running out of ideas for playtime at home during this hazy period! I'm glad that Friso is currently having this "Experience More Together" campaign, to bring the outdoors in, encourage creative play and foster parent-child relationships. If you're interested, you can redeem this Friso Experience play set worth $300 (consisting of a tent, faux grass mat, slide with basketball hoop, storage box, and 2 cushions), by purchasing $350 worth of participating Friso products. Redemption is easy, as you just need to visit the site, input your details, and upload photos of your receipts. 

Source: Friso Singapore FB page

The Friso products that qualify for this promotion include Frisomum, Friso Gold Cereal, and Friso Gold 2, 3, 4, but excludes infant formulas for those aged 0-6 months. This promotion runs from the 1st of September to 31st of October.

There will also be special Friso Experience play zones set up at two Sheng Siong outlets (at Woodlands 6A and Bedok 209), where your child can play! Friso ambassadors would be on-site during weekends, to help snap photos of you and your child at these zones. 

~~~~~~~~

But wait... there's more! Friso Singapore has generously agreed to give away one slide, as well one tent, to two readers of this blog! To participate in this giveaway, please follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter widget below. For more information, please visit their website and their FB page. Don't forget to state in your FB comment if you would like to win the slide OR the tent, and share with us a favourite moment that you've shared with your child. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: We were sponsored a Friso playset for the purpose of this review. No monetary compensation was received, and all opinions are our own.

Play: Sensory kits from Tickle Your Senses

It seems like the haze would be lingering around until November, and the kids are still spending most days at home. Co-ops have been cancelled, and we've been doing a lot more art and craft (see this post for our list of simple crafts to try). They've also been pretty good at playing on their own too, coming up with imaginary parties and picnics and pirate adventures!

While play ranks highly on our list of things to do, I must admit I've quite neglected the aspect of sensory play, since it entails a fair bit of mess, especially when you have someone like Lil J! I've been wanting to make myself a batch of playdough for the longest time, since that seems to be one of the less messy sensory activities (compared to sand or rice!), but well, you know how things are. So when the folks over at Tickle Your Senses asked if we were keen to try out their sensory kits, I had to say yes!

We got to choose a playdough kit, as well as a water beads kit. For playdough, I went with the body parts playdough kit, since I thought the kids would enjoy making various creatures using the parts:   

It turned out I was right! They loved making monsters and pancake faces, and snowmen and what not. To reduce the mess, each kid got a tub of dough, as well as a placemat to work on, and everyone shuffled the body parts and took turns using them. I didn't let them mix the colours (at least for now), since I didn't want to end up with muddy brown balls of mixed up dough. 

Lil J took a sniff upon opening his tub and exclaimed "it smells like lavender, Mama!". And he was right. The folks add a drop of lavendar essential oil to their dough, to add to the sensory play, and I admit that was a nice touch, since most commercial doughs don't exactly smell very good. You also have the option of having your doughs unscented, should the smell bother your child. Just select that option when shopping at their site.

All three boys ended up playing for over an hour with the dough, and made so many different funny creatures! The dough was soft and not flaky, so the cleaning up was minimal, especially since we used placemats. I was told that their dough is made using plain flour, salt, water, cream of tartar, oil and food coloring, so playing with it should not be a problem for kids with sensitive skin. The body parts were made of sturdy plastic. One or two parts had sharp bits, which you tend to find with small plastic toys, however, these were easily broken off or filed down. (But as for all toys, do always check for sharp parts, before giving them to your kids to play.)

After a while, the boys moved on from making creatures, to doing other things with the dough. They hid body parts and pretended to excavate them at a dinosaur dig. They made pancakes to eat. They poked holes here and there.

Given that the dough should last for 2-3 months if stored properly in their tubs (side point, I love the tubs that the dough comes in, since these can be re-used for so many purposes!), I think we'll be seeing a lot more playdough sessions in the weeks to come!

In terms of the water beads kit, we chose the green water beads sea creature kit, simply because we knew Baby J would go crazy over the octopus. The kit came with two squeeze bath toys, a shovel and strainer, as well as a jar of water beads and a packet of dehydrated water beads. 

We've yet to use this kit yet, as I'm saving this for another hazy day, but we did try growing half of the packet of dehydrated beads. This was how they looked, before we added water:

And this was the water beads after we soaked them in water for a couple of hours! (I didn't change the container, so you can see how much they have swelled up.) The beads seem bigger than those that are purchased from Daiso. The plastic tools are well made, and I liked how the handles of the shovel and strainer can be removed so that they are easier to store. 

We'll share more on our FB page when we do get down to using the beads for sensory play. Do note that shipping goes at a flat rate fee of $7 for courier service (regular post is not available, as they do not want their water beads/dough to be affected by heat or mishandling), so you can look at pooling your orders with your friends. Orders above $80 qualify for free shipping. Also, as part of their haze boredom buster promotion, they are guaranteeing next day delivery for orders made before 7 pm, at no extra charge!

All in all, I think a fair bit of thought went into designing each kit, and I especially like the convenience of being able to order home-made playdough, and have it come with tools that you can keep for future sessions. We will definitely be ordering more playdough kits soon!

~~~~~~~

Tickle Your Senses is kindly sponsoring a giveaway of a playdough kit and a water beads kit to two readers of this blog! To take part in the giveaway, please follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter widget below. For more information, please visit the Tickle Your Senses website, as well as "like" their Facebook page to get more updates and promotions. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: We were sponsored a playdough and a water beads kit for purpose of the review, and no monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own.