New Section- Coffee with Friends

Hi Everyone,
It is been a while that I discussed with my friends about starting this section and finally I got the time to write about it. Basically, this section is dedicated to all my friends (be my friend... if you are not yet, I love having new friends)! We all meet once a week at each others' place for playdate and coffee and often make so many yummy snacks and then end up giving our recipes to each other. Apart from that we discuss about various parenting concerns since all our kids are in the same age range (just few months apart... ranging over a year), so I thought of starting this section, where all my friends can be the guest blogger and share their recipes, their parenting concerns and wisdom, style tips, creative endeavors or about anything they feel like. 
The posts in this section will be published once a week (most probably Friday)
The posts will be shared with a brief description about the author, a pic (if you want), link to their website or blog etc.
If you are sharing a recipe, please make sure you have a pic as well as food is more of a visual delight than anything else.
I am sorry but I won't be able to publish recipes that contain beef or pork in any form, if you have an alternative to these meats, please do mention.
Anyone, who wants to be a part of this group can mail me at nsur20@gmail.com

Signing off in a hope to make this a success!!

[Kids Corner] Why Playdates are Important?

Hey Mommies,
Most of us are familiar with the concept of Play dates. Play date  is an expression primarily used in the US for an arranged appointment for children to get together for a few hours to play (Wikipedia). Although it started in USA but now it is popular all over the world. 
Playdates are usually planned for kids of similar age group to help them socialize and let them play with other kids. It is usually parent accompanied for younger children and parents may or may not accompany the older ones. The frequency is generally once a week or once a fortnight, while twice a week or more is also not unheard of.

Where to have Playdates?
Playdates can be planned at somebody's house, at a play area (indoor or outdoor). It can also be in a form of a visit to zoo, museums or anything based on children's age and interest.

[Kids Corner] First Movie Experience (in Theatre) with a Toddler- Disney Planes

Hey Everyone!
So what happened was... we got tickets for screening of Disney Planes from nuffnang. I was super excited as we were really waiting for the movie to release on September 5th, 2013 and had plans for the weekend. But, this invitation came for Screening to be held on September 2nd. 
This was going to be our first movie in theatre with our Champ and after great success of Disney Cars and Cars 2 at our home, we were expecting similar results for Disney Planes as well.

[Kids Corner] Olives and Chicken Fried Rice Recipe

Olives and Chicken Fried Rice is a variation (or rather my interpretation) of a Thai dish which I had once at a  Thai Restaurant and I am in love with it since then. I tried to replicate it at home by guessing the ingredients and it came quite close to the one I had and my family enjoys it too.
Let me give you the kid's version of this recipe first and then will also tell you about my near-to-the-original version.

Olives and Chicken Fried Rice for kids

Serves- 1 Toddler

Ingredients

Cooked Rice- 1/2 Cup

Onion (finely chopped)- 2 Tbsp

Garlic (finely chopped)- 1/4 tsp

Black Olives (pitted, very finely chopped or ground)- 1 Tbsp

Minced Chicken- 3 Tbsp

Oil- 1 Tbsp

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Black Pepper (Optional)- 1/8 tsp

Method

1. Heat oil in a non-stick pan, add chopped onion and garlic and let them fry for a couple of minutes.

2. Add black olives and minced chicken and let it cook for 5 minutes or till the chicken is done. Add salt and pepper.

3. Add cooked rice and stir till all the ingredients are mixed well.

Recipe for Adults

Olives and Chicken Fried Rice

Serves- 2

Ingredients

Cooked Rice- 2 Cups

Onion (chopped)- 1/2 Cup

Garlic (finely chopped)- 4-5 cloves

Black Olives (pitted, very finely chopped or ground)- 1 Cup

Minced Chicken- 300g

Oil- 4 Tbsp

Salt- 1 tsp or as per taste

Black Pepper- 1 tsp

Vinegar- 1 tsp

Soya Sauce- 1 tsp

Roasted Cashew Nuts- 15-20 per serving

Onion (Sliced)- 1/4 of large onion per serving

Tomato (Chopped)- 1/4 of large tomato per serving

Thai Red Chilli (Chopped)- 2 chillies per serving

Ginger (Finely Chopped)- 1 Tbsp per serving

Cucumber (Sliced)- 5-6 slices per serving

Method

1. Heat oil in a non-stick pan, add chopped onion and garlic and let them fry for a couple of minutes.

2. Add black olives and minced chicken and let it cook for 5 minutes or till the chicken is done. Add salt and pepper.

3. Add cooked rice and stir till all the ingredients are mixed well.

4. Add vinegar and soya sauce, stir and mix well.

5. Plating is most important for this. To plate the dish, take a 10" plate, take rice in a bowl, press and invert the bowl in the plate. Serve with cashews, sliced onion, chopped tomatoes, cucumber slices, chopped ginger and chopped chillies (As in picture).

Hope you enjoy this with your li'l one and/or family and let me know how it turns out!

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Kids Corner: Travelling with Kids- What to Pack?

Once you decide to start packing, there comes the question of what should go in your bag specially for kids? No single checklist can work for everyone as every child has his or her needs and mothers tend to know them the best. But just to work out general checklist, I would suggest to include the following-

1. Clothes- How much is too less? With kids, often we cannot decide how many outfits to take along. If I am not sure of the laundry facility at my destination, for holidays lasting a week or less, I follow a general rule to take as many outfits as the number of days and two extra. If the vacation is longer than a week, we prefer to stay in some place with reliable laundry service. Then comes the night wear, which is like number of night divided by two and one extra so that one set can be used for two nights. Count few more outfits if you have an infant or a crawler. Keep a change of clothes in carry on bag.

2. Toiletries- Make sure to pack travel sized packs of body wash, body lotion, baby powder, q-tips, kid's sunscreen, kid's toothpaste and toothbrush and other things that seem necessary to you but do not overstuff.

3. Food and milk supply for as many days if your child is not yet eating outside food but some snacks and food jars otherwise as well. Always keep a couple of extra bottles and nipples handy.

4. Diapers and Wipes if not yet toilet trained. Also plastic bags to dispose off dirty diaper and also keep rash cream in the same bag.

5. Things to entertain them during travel. These may include small toys, books, crayons and a notepad and even gadgets.

6. Disposables like bibs, tissue (regular and wet) etc.

7. Sunglasses, hats, rain cover if you are taking stroller, or winter wear if required at your destination.

8. Emergency Medication and your pediatrician's number handy.

Well, these were the basic necessities, you may like to add on anything else to the list, please do leave a comment!

Hope you now enjoy travelling with your li'l one... and I'll enjoy mine... off on vacation for a month so will be irregular in posting... but will be back soon and share my experience!

Till then, Take care

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Kids Corner: Travelling with Kids- When to pack?

When you travel with a baby or a toddler, you often feel the need to take your whole house along so that whatever you need is at its right place. But, thanks to the Baggage allowance or the space constraint, we are often left with the task of packing the essential stuff and also not to go overboard with that and at the same time not to leave out anything important. Hmmmm... some task that is!

When to start Packing?
Even after travelling so much with my Champ, still I start packing atleast a week before departure so that everything is there with me and also it gives some room for last minute shopping and packing. So, I would recommend that if you don't like suitcases or airbags lying around in your house waiting to be filled, it would be a good idea to atleast start collecting and assembling all the stuff in one section of your wardrobe, so that in the end you are only left with stuffing your bags rather than collecting and thinking what to take. 

This will also make sure that you have all the required things (and most important in working condition) with you and if not you still have time to run for that pacifier or the rash cream or any other thing which you realise is not working or is not there at all. Although with everything becoming global, there are high chances that you will find whatever you missed in one store or the other at your destination but it will also lead to wasting some precious hours after your arrival in first of all thinking and trying to remember whether you actually forgot to keep it or has been kept in some other bag and then you go on searching frenzy often disturbing a lot of other things that are kept well, then after it is confirmed it's not there, you check with the locals to find a store that sells the 'missing object'. So a good amount of time will go in all this and regaining your cool.
So play safe and start early.

But even starting early cannot guarantee that everything is there but atleast you will work in a cooler frame of mind. Being known as the most efficient 'packer' in my house, the disaster for me took place while leaving for  Kaula Lumpur. Everything was packed in its proper place and the bags were ready and kept near the door. We called for the cab and took our bags and left our house and started our journey to the bus station, from where we were to take the bus to KL. Halfway through, I realized that one of our small back pack is missing and then came the realization that we left it at home and then started the process of thinking what all was there in that and what all we can do without and what not. We realised that since it was packed as cabin bag it had our ipad to entertain our Champ during the long bus ride, our camera so that we can take some pictures on the way, some medicines for emergency and few snacks. So nothing great, but yes, we really missed the ipad and camera, both of us are amature photographers and love to take lots of pics using our DSLR camera and throughout the trip, we had to satisfy ourselves taking pics using our smartphones! And not only that, every time I remembered that, I couldn't help but talk about the whole incident over and over again...
So you see, when things have to go the other way, they will go no matter what. But that should not stop us from trying to get everything  the way we want! 

Do you have any interesting incident to share... please leave a comment and also let us know how you plan your packing... Keep reading for what to pack and other travel tips!


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Kids Corner: Travelling with Kids

Holidays are around the corner again and hope your travel plans are in order as well and if you have kids, then the packing starts a week in advance to make sure whatever they'll need or require during the course of the holiday or travel, is there with Mamma.

For me, travelling with a baby (now a toddler) came along with him. My Champ's first air travel was when he was a month and a half! And since then, we have been travelling. He is now nearing 22 months and has already been to quite a few places in South East Asia, starting from

India- our home country, 

Japan- we were there in Japan for 9 months and there he also took his first Shinkansen (The Japanese Bullet Train) ride when he was only 4 months.

Singapore- We have been here for almost a year now. We came here from when he was 11 months

Thialand- A short trip to Bangkok and Pattaya at around 15 months.

Malaysia- A road trip by bus at 18 months 

And now he's ready to travel again to India for his holidays next week.

We call him a pro-traveller with 8 International Flights under his belt, plus domestic travels and road travel and not to forget 4 Shinkansen rides... Ha! Some kind of life that is!

But that doesn't mean that I too am a 'pro-traveller' mom! Yeah, I feel more confident every time but at every stage there are new challenges to face. Before 12 months, handling the drop in air pressure and subsequent ear-ache was a concern though thankfully, there was not a single time when he experienced it. I always made sure to have a bottle or pacifier for him to suck. After the first year, the challenge is to keep him occupied and at one place during the travel. I always try to keep variety of things like small cars (which he loves, but for how long? No one can say!), some picture books and of course his ipad. All these keep him fairly occupied but every journey is has its own story! 

How do you travel with your kids? Do you have some interesting travel tips?? Do leave a comment and share!

Keep reading for more travelling tips and tricks!

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High 5- Toddler Bag Essentials

So, we graduated from Diaper Bag/ Mother's Bag to Toddler Bag. As our kids reach this stage, they want to be independent and my Champ loves to carry his own bag as well. We go out more often; most of the time for play-dates, usually for a couple of hours. So in this bag of his, I tend to pack a few things making sure that he has something to eat and drink and most important, something to keep him occupied while travelling. So let me share with you all a list of essentials for a Toddler's bag.

First of all select a light weight bag which your child also likes. My Champ's favorite is this soft bag with a stuffed teddy.

THE BAG

THE CONTENTS

1. Water Bottle

2. Tissues, Wet Tissues and Cloth Towel

3. Cars and Book to keep him busy while travelling. You may like to keep any of his/her favorite toys. And yes Mumma's or Papa's phone is also a part of this category.

4. A tetra pack or your kid's favorite drink

5. A snack box with some finger food or snacks

Apart from these, you may like to pack a couple of diapers and baby wipes if your child is not yet toilet-trained. This small bag is enough if you are out for about 2-3 hours. 

What are the essentials that go into your toddler's bag? Do leave a comment and share...

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Kids Corner: Dealing with Separation!

Our kids get so used to staying with us because, we as mums want to do everything for them and try to make sure that we are there when they need us. This is even more evident in First-time mums and often it happens that the first-born child takes a little longer to deal and cope with separation than the next ones. At some time, all children have to face the dreaded separation. This could be at a time when mum goes back to work and leave the child in care of any other adult- grandparent, domestic helper or at the time when the child starts with play school or pre-school. More often than not, this is the most feared stage by parents and children are also not able to take it from the word go! Each one of us experience this and often are not sure about how to deal with it in a positive way. Everyone has their own opinion about dealing with separation and the best one is that, which works for you and your child.  The only thing, we as parents need to make sure is to be strong and never let our child get overwhelmed with our nervousness.

These few tips may help to make the process easier if not completely tear free.

1. Even before going back to work or before starting school, leave the child for an hour (and gradually increasing to 2, then 4 and then for the day) with another care giver like grandparent, babysitter, domestic helper. This will help him/her to understand that others also can take care of them.

2. If you are starting with school, stay with him/her for a couple of days for sometime so that he/she gets used to the environment and feels safe there, then gradually start leaving him/her there for the duration of school.

3. When starting school, explain to your child what all activities he can look forward to and talk about teachers and new friends that he/she is going to meet.

4. Don't expect your child to take on to this new experience in a positive way immediately. Be prepared for a good amount of crying and tears when you leave him/her at the school or at home with another caregiver. But you have to feel strong and confident and let your child cry for a while and within a week or 10 days, it will be absolutely fine and they may even start enjoying and look forward to go to school. This is tried and tested... my champ used to cry for the first week, a lot of people told me to wait for some more time before starting with the play group for him but I felt that the longer he stays with me and see me around, the longer he'll take to adjust. So after two days of starting school, I left him there and to make sure that I could not hear him cry, used to go out for a walk or to a cafe. Initially he used to whine for the whole time (2 hours), then it was only few minutes after I left and then he used to get engaged in the activities, then it was for a couple of minutes after dropping off and and believe me, he was absolutely fine after 10 days.

5. Another thing that might work is to have the father drop the child to school. Usually with Stay at home mums, children feel that mothers are there to stay with them forever, whereas for Dads, they know that Daddy has to go to work so it is easier to cope. I tried this also and it's working great. Mr. Scientists drops our champ on the way to work and I go to bring him back. The difference is felt on those days when Mr. Scientist has an early meeting and has to leave early and I go to drop our Champ, he kind of expects that I am going to stay with him there.

6. Talk to the teachers and make sure that your child see that and this will reassure him  and he'll be able to trust them.

7. Keep talking about school and teachers in a positive way.

Hope these tips will help you and your child to deal with separation anxiety. Do you have any of your experience or tips to share, please leave a comment

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High 5- Great Apps for Toddlers (iPhone/ iPad)

I won't go into the debate of whether toddlers should be allowed to handle your smartphones or Tabs (I'll leave it for another post). But, if like me, you feel that there is no harm in giving your toddlers these "Smart toys" to play and learn, you may like to download these apps on your iPhone/ iPad to keep your toddler occupied. All these Apps have been personally experienced by me, Mr. Scientist and our Champ.

1. Sound Touch Lite (Free), Sound Touch (paid): Great for learning animal sounds, identifying animals, vehicles, household objects, musical instruments etc.

2. Kids Song collection (Free & Paid): Interactive Collection of Nursery Rhymes. Paid version has more.

3. Wheels on Bus: Popular Nursery rhyme "Wheels on the bus goes..." along with lot of interactive games suitable for Hand Eye co-ordination.

4. Baby Dress Up/ Puppy Dog Sitter: The toddler learns to dress up a baby/puppy and take care of it by feeding, bathing and putting her to bed/ plying with it.

5. Toddler Puzzle Shapes: Helps to identify shapes in a fun way!

Do you or your toddler have a favorite App? Do comment and share....

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Kids Corner- No Playschool at 18 Months. Why?

There is always a debate on what's the right age to send your child to school. 18 months now seem to be an acceptable minimum but yet there are some experts and parents, who feel that Children should stay and learn at home till the age of 3. Let's find out why?

• A lot of parents feel that they can teach what toddlers are learning in school in a much better way and socializing with peers can take place in playground.
• Three to Five years is the age when children start forming meaningful relationships and start understanding social behaviour, hence a better age to start school.
• Younger kids have weaker immune system and hence more prone to falling sick.
• If possible, start with a couple of hours few days a week gradually moving on to more time being spent in school.

Well, now that I have presented you with both sides of the coin, you may want to take decision on what should be done. Even after what experts say and what others say, you have to work it out in a manner which is best for you and your li'l one. If you feel, the child is now getting bored at home, he/she needs some change and socializing, play school is a good option, while if you feel that he is fine at home and gets enough opportunities to meet with people and peers from home, you might want to delay the first day of school by few more months. It's your call now... Would you like to share some similar experience reagarding your decision, please do write a comment!

Will continue this series with more on types of playschools and how to deal with separation anxiety etc. Keep reading...

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Kids Corner- Playschool at 18 Months. Why?

A lot of parents decide to send their li'l one to the Playschool at around 18 months. Playschool programs are usually for a couple of hours, 2-5 times a week. Why is it a good idea to send your toddler to a playschool?  Experts feel that there is not much importance given to Early Childhood Education, which actually forms the foundation for all the formal education to be taken later. The following points are compiled after a thorough study of articles written by experts and discussions from various websites and forums as well as from various magazines. They may or may not hold true for all children but are generally observed. Let's find out...

• These programs introduce a toddler to structured activities and routines.
• They let them socially interact with their peers.
• Help them to be more confident and also independent.
• These help to stimulate the toddler's learning abilities and may bring out their strong personal, intellectual, social and creative traits at an early age.
• Help to make friends and adapt to new faces and setting.
• Help to inculcate social behaviour like sharing and caring, taking turns etc.
• Understand that crying is not the means to achieve what he/she wants.
• Help them to adapt to the formal school well.
• Helps in developing better learning and understanding abilities by making them more patient, focused, attentive.
• Kids are motivated to learn new things by observing their peers.

These may help to convince you of benefits of starting playschool at 18 months. But nevertheless there are others who say children are better if kept at home till 3 years. Keep reading to know why...

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Kids Corner- Playschool at 18 months? or not?

As my champ was approaching the 18 month milestone, I was concerned about whether to send him to a playschool or a playgroup or not. And believe me, it wasn't an easy decision to make as everyone you talk to will present their view for or against your thought and many a times will leave you reconsidering your decision. However, to begin the whole process, I thought of enrolling my champ into a playgroup and started talking to a lot of mums.
I had my reasons to have come to that decision and when shared with my Mr. Scientist, he also found them sensible and then started our search for a good playgroup close to our house. But in the meanwhile, when I shared my thoughts with other mums, not every one was on the same page with me on that and there were always a lot of discussions centered around whether I should go for it or not.
I wanted to send my champ to a playgroup because of certain reasons and let me share them with you all as well-

• Since he was used to being with only two of us that is me and my husband, he was becoming shy of strangers and didn't feel very comfortable in company of any other adult. I wanted him to get used to being around with other people as well.
• I wanted him to socialize with children of similar age group. That can provide him with experience that he's been missing in the company of adults for the whole day.
• Being in different surrounding, away from home and parents for some time may help him to become more confident and independent.
• There will be a routine set for him and he'll learn to be better organised in life later.

The counter arguments that came across for doing so were-

• He's too young to go out and stay away from home and mum even for a short while.
• He'll cry initially and may not settle well and how would you handle that?
• He may develop insecurities.

So this was what I experienced and since then I have been reading a lot about what is the right age to send your child to school, how to cope with various initial difficulties etc. I have also been talking to experts on the same issues and will share with you my findings in the following posts...
But with all this We started sending him to this Playgroup close to our place, for two hours, five days a week. Yes, We faced some initial "teething problems" and believe me they can persuade you to change your decision but we survived through them (How? Will let you know in next few posts...) and now We are happy with the way things are moving. Our Champ is enjoying his school, teachers and friends and learning as well!

Keep reading for more!

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Kids Corner- Veggie Vermicelli Recipe

Veggie Vermicelli is variation of a South Indian recipe usually prepared as hot breakfast. It is a yummy dish that can be given to the child for lunch or dinner and you may also have it for breakfast.

Serves- 1 Toddler

Ingredients
Roasted Vermicelli- 1/3 Cup
Ginger (finely chopped or grated)- 1/4 tsp.
Onion (chopped)- 1/4 Large onion
Frozen Mix Vegetable (Carrots, beans, corn and peas)- 1/4 Cup (grind once in grinder)
Water- 1 1/4 Cup
Salt- as per taste
Black pepper- as per taste (optional)
Oil- 1 tsp.

Method
1. Heat oil in a pan and add chopped ginger and onion. Fry for few minutes.
2. Add the vegetables and 1/2 cup water. Let it boil and simmer for  minutes.
3. Add roasted vermicelli, salt, black pepper and remaining water and cook till almost dry on low flame.
4. You may add more water if you feel the vermicelli is not cooked properly.

Variations
1. Again the veggies can be more or less, but more the better. You may add broccoli, mushrooms bell pepper as well.
2. Vegetable or chicken stock may be used in place of water.
3. Chicken or fish may also be added.

Original Recipe 
Ingredients (Serves 2)
Oil- 2 Tbsp.
Mustard Seeds- 2 tsp.
Ginger- 1 inch piece chopped
Split Black Gram (dehusked)- 1 Tbsp.
Whole dry Red Chili- 2
Onion- 1 small (finely chopped)
Mix vegetables (Carrots, beans, peas and corn)- 1/2 Cup
Roasted Vermicelli- 1 1/2 Cup
Water- 3 Cups
Salt- As per taste
Red chilli powder- 1 Tsp or as per taste
Desiccated Coconut- 1/4 Cup.
Cashew nuts (Crushed almost to powder)- 1/4 Cup

Method

• Heat the oil and add Mustard seeds, ginger, black gram and whole red chilli. Fry for one minute.
• Add chopped onion, fry till light pink in colour, then add vegetables and fry for 2-3 minutes.
• Add roasted vermicelli and fry for 1 minute and add water, salt and red chilli. Cook on low flame.
• When it is 70% dry, add desiccated coconut and crushed cashews and cook till dry on low flame.

Hope you enjoy this with your li'l one and/or family and let me know how it turns out!

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Kids Corner- Age Appropriate Toys for 18-24 Month Olds

Now is the time when toddlers start to polish their acquired skill and the most important thing that you will now hear or experience very often is 'I'll do it myself" or want to do things on their own. They are now capable of showing and expressing their emotions. Walking is more stable and experimentation starts here as well... am I able to walk sideways? backward? with eyes closed? (yes, my champ does that...!). The vocabulary may range from 50-200 words. He/she can follow what you are saying in an efficient manner. The toys at this stage should help them in their social and emotional development and building their vocabulary as well let them to be physically active. Some of the appropriate toys for this age group are-

1. Pretend Play Toys
These toys introduced at the previous stage of 12-18 months can continue through this stage and even after that for a long time. The only difference is the play becomes more sophisticated and interesting for us to watch. You may like to give toy kitchen set, tool kit, shopping cart, dolls to take care of (great idea if you are planning for another child), models of household equipment like vacuum cleaner etc. These toys let the child imitate his/her parent(s) and also help to develop his/her social skills.

2. Blocks
Here they come again. Nothing can beat the creative and imagination development that takes place while playing with blocks. The structures get more advanced with advancing age and also the child may never get tired of blocks and they may accompany him/her through the adulthood as well.

3. Toy Musical Instruments
Children love to create music and what would be better than to give them a toy guitar, drum or a keyboard to create their master-compositions.

4. Balls
Balls of various materials and sizes can be given to the child to kick, throw and run after them. At this age, with practice, they can learn how to kick a ball and then later come running and kick. All this helps in sensory coordination.

5. Puzzles
Along with wooden on piece puzzles, you may introduce puzzles with 2-3 pieces. The feeling of victory that comes after putting the pieces into their place is great for them and will motivate them to go for complex puzzles and also help them to develop their problem solving and organizing skills for life.

6. Ride on Vehicles
Now the child will be more comfortable  in using these as he/she becomes more confident in getting on and off from it.

7. Vehicle Playsets
Children at this age definitely enjoy their collection of vehicles and if they have a playset like car tracks or train set, their joy knows no bounds when they see their cars or trains running along them and making some noise or generating some other response like lights or wave. These help in sensory and motor coordination.

8. Crayons and Paper
To help the child develop his/her writing skills for later, crayons help them to get the grip and their hand muscles become more flexible for writing with scribbling. Only make sure the crayons are non toxic and also washable as you never know when the scribbles from paper will also start showing on walls and other surfaces.

9. Books
Books if introduced early can become the child's best friend for the rest of the life. At this stage, board books work as well as the picture books and as the child grows, reading to them becomes more fun. It also help them to develop their vocabulary and understanding of various things.

Apart from Toys, physical play like in the playground on slides, swings and running around is highly recommended as is swimming.

What's your child's favorite toy? Leave a comment...

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Kids Corner- Age Appropriate Toys for 12-18 Month Olds

Active is what your child is now! He/she is now almost walking well without support and hence get more opportunities to explore greater heights (Be careful and make your home safe for your li'l one)! Hes/her movements are more co-ordinated. The child is now able to use his toys from the previous stages in a much better way, as in he/she is able to use the toy sorter in a proper manner, able to stack blocks to make towers much taller than before, is able to scribble using pencil or crayon (Be careful of your walls; to prevent scribbling on walls, you may like to tape a paper similar to the colour of wall upto the height your baby can reach, so that all his/her masterpieces are on the paper and not on the wall.). Now, the baby also starts showing affection by giving hugs and kisses and also like to imitate adults in simple household routines. Toys at this stage should enhance the motor skills as well help in balance and co-ordination. They should promote problem solving skills, imagination and creativity. Some appropriate toys for this age are-

1. Large Building Blocks
Blocks which can be built up into a big tower or a fort. The blocks which fit into each other (like Mega Bloks) can also be introduced now for more creative designs.

2. Sorting Toys and Puzzles
Shape sorters, now make more sense with the child and also you can now introduce wooden knob puzzles, where one piece has to be placed in its place. This acts like advanced version of shape sorting with shapes being more abstract in outline.

3. Balls
The toddler can now play with a ball by kicking it, throwing it or by running after it while it rolls. Different types of balls may produce different sounds on hitting the ground, which also amuses the child. A favorite game in my house is we (me or my husband) will pretend to hit our champ with a soft ball and he loves dodging from it. We'll throw the ball away from  him and pretend to miss the target and he feels he's successful in his dodging attempts and will bring the ball back to us and this goes on filling the whole house with his squeals of joy and laughter.

4. Ride on Vehicles
These could be electronic (like cars and bikes) or manually controlled with a handle for an adult to maneuver if the child gets tired. These help them to practice getting on and off the vehicle as well as practice peddling if it's manually controlled.

5. Pretend Play toys like Tool Bench or Kitchen Set
These will let the child to imitate what adults are doing but with safer tools. These can be used for much longer time and their play will get more complex and imaginative. It helps them to develop their imagination and creativity and also will promote sharing and harmony in later stages.

6.   Non Toxic and washable crayons and paper
Kids now love to scribble and it's better to give them a crayon and paper otherwise be prepared with a sponge and soap solution to clean your walls and floor, although writing on walls may still happen even if paper is kept in front but let's hope for the best.

7. Books
Board books, cloth books and all types of books. Picture books work the best as the child now starts identifying the objects and telling him or her the correct word now will help in long run. Your li'l one may even now pick up his/her favorite book for you to read to him/her.

8. Cars and other Vehicles of various Sizes
Kids now love to play with anything with wheels. They love to drive them up and down the bed, sofa, table and sometimes even on your body. The whole world may look like a car track to them.

Apart from all these toys, you may like to take your child out to a play area with climbing gym, slides and swings but make sure to be attentive all the time and never let your li'l one out of your sight. It's also a great time to start with swimming using floating devices. Introducing sandbox is also a good idea at this stage. Give them a bucket and shovel and watch them get dirty!


What's your child's favorite toy? Leave a comment...
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Kids Corner- Understanding your Toddler (Part III)

Continuing from the previous post Understanding your Toddler (Part II), let's know about the other 4 personality types commonly observed in Toddlers.

5. The Bully
Characteristics-

• Intimidates others
• Share and exert his personal rights.
• Low self control

How to Handle?

• Give him/her a chance to do something simple for others to make him/her feel important.
• Allow him/her to open up with you by acknowledging his/her feelings after receiving negative feedback from teachers. Then take your time to explain why what he/she did was not right.

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6. The Mouse

Characteristics-

• Observe first and participate later
• Needs time to open up and feel secure.

How to Handle?

• Create opportunities for him/her to come out of his shell
• Encourage him/her to communicate with you on a common topic but make sure to start interacting first so that he/she can observe and participate.
• Instead of using the words like shy or slow to describe your child, use positive words like careful and toughtful to build his/her positive self image.

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7. The Smart Aleck

Characteristics-

• A keen learner
• Has a lot to say and contribute.
• Often the first one to answer the question.

How to Handle?

• New things with more difficult concepts should be introduced to them frequently.
• Make sure to broaden his/her horizons and expose him/her to more in depth information.

Image Source: http://www.metroparent.com

8. The Clown

Characteristics-

• Attention seeker
• Usually liked by everybody
• Never seem to be serious enough to sit and complete a task.

How to Handle?

• Make him/her understand what is socially acceptable and what is not.
• Divert his/her energy towards music, drama or theater to fulfill his/her need for attention. 

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Hope by now, you must have got a better idea about your child... how he/she behaves and why and how to handle him/her to get the best out of your child and also to reduce the negative qualities and convert them to positive ones...  Do feel free to share your parenting experience!

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