Happy news_IKEA lovers

IKEA is likely to open its first store in Hyderabad, July 2018.

Hoping they will have good online shopping/shipping as in western countries.

I am eagerly waiting to do some purchases from IKEA, India.

kindergarten connection

https://thekindergartenconnection.com/alphabet-and-number-snack-printables/

Pros of fasting

Our ancestors had established the practice of fasting for spiritual reasons. According to me citing God was only to establish a routine practice to fast once in every 2 weeks. Were they aware of its health benefits? May be they were I personally believe so! As we, are aware digestion is the most energy consuming process.

We can fast once in two weeks to give a break to our digestive system.  Is fasting good for our health below is the scientific facts associated with fasting. So what happens inside us when we do not eat for a while?

1. There is a drop in blood sugar level. Therefore, to get energy our body burns fat, which is good news! 
2. There is a five-fold increase of human growth hormone (HGH) in our blood. HGH helps regulate body structure, body fluids, fat metabolism, heart function, muscle and bone growth. 
 3. The body works on cellular repair, processes such as removing waste material from the cells. 
4. Helps alleviate insulin resistance. 
5. It could also benefit against aging, its related diseases. 

As we have talked about the health benefits of fasting, let us see a typical fasting diet plan.

Drink plenty of water 

Breakfast 

2 cups of milk (can be taken @ intervals) 

Medium sized banana 

Lunch 

Oats porridge 

Early dinner 

Rice/tortillas, lentils, vegetables 

Optional (before going to bed) 

Fruits

Lingerie bag free of cost

Care for your lingerie, however do not want to buy lingerie bags here is a simple idea.

I did use complimentary lingerie bags given in hotels, for washing my lingerie's it just worked perfect for me.

Try it out and let me know your thoughts !

Orginally posted on Pinterest

SAY NO TO PLASTIC BAGS !

As we are all aware plastics are polluting our environment its our responsibility  to minimize them as much as we can.

Tips to reduce plastics

1.Carry  reusable  bags for shopping.
2.Reuse clamshell containers where ever possible.
3.Pack your own cutlery reusable spoons/fork would be ideal.
4.Always have these reusable bags/packed cutlery handy in your car/two wheeler.
5.Stop buying bottled water.
6. Avoid using plastic book covers for kids notebooks/textbooks.
7.A big NO to plastic straws.

Here is a picture of plastic garbage patch in our oceans, I really  feel sorry for those marine  animals. Together we must all solve this problem to achieve less plastic pollution.


 

Trees for free !

 Orginally posted on : Trees for free

Our mission is to see that  trees are planted wherever there is a place for it to grow. Our pledge is to plant trees faster than the cutting of trees. Please follow the link to see more !

http://www.icfn.in/vodafonecycling/trees-for-free/

what-would-the-earth-look-like-if-all-the-ice-melted !

 Originally posted :  Author Fabio Evangelista Dasilva

https://fabioevangelistadasilva.wordpress.com/2015/11/05/what-would-the-earth-look-like-if-all-the-ice-melted-2/

Tyler Dewitt educator,scientist, creator

www.tdwscience.com

He teaches undergraduate chemistry awesome !
The best part is you get to watch chemistry videos
Check it out you will for sure admire his teaching methodology.

mathplay ground!

www.mathplayground.com

Incense stick holder

Typical incense stick holders, were always messy I had to clean up the ash that fell on the ground. Especially with a 3 year old falling ash on the ground is no fun. Hence came up with the idea of making this mess free incense stick holder :)

Materials:

Corrugated cardboard ( LxW : 10 inches x 2 inches)
Glue
Scrap gift wrap paper
Washi tape
pistachio shells.

 As already mentioned I used a Corrugated cardboard of dimensions( LxW : 10 inches x 2 inches) for making the incense stick holder. Glued the incense stick holder with gift wrap paper, and with  pistachio shells on either ends.

I used the pistachio shells on the either sides of the incense stick holder to kind of constrain  the ash from falling/flying all over. Used washi tape on the ends to mask the cardboard from showing off. We are all set the incense stick holder is ready Ta-dah!

 

Paper plate clock craft

Teaching kids to tell time:

I was looking on easy ways to teach my kindergartner to tell time. Every time I taught him using a real clock he had trouble, he would get confused with hours and minutes. Then his teacher gave me the idea of paper plate clock craft.

Materials needed:

Paper plate 
Cardstock
Glue
Paper brad
Markers ( Red and black)

For a step-by-step instruction on paper plate clock follow the link below

https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/paper-plate-clock-craft-4164110

After we made this clock things went easy, my first strategy was to teach only hours, once he got good at it  we moved to minutes. To teach him minutes first I made him learn multiples of 5. Then to make it easier on him I went by 15, 30 and 45 minutes. The clock is pretty self explanatory and thus its easy on kids to tell time.

 

childrens storybook

 http://www.magickeys.com/books/

Really love this they have tons and tons of interesting stuff, plus the bonus is its free!

Cont'd kids love recess

Countries like US emphasis on having Recess for kids everyday. On the other hand, in India our primary school kids are not even allowed to move out of the classroom for lunch :(

Originally posted on Timbernook balanced and barefoot blog 

 Why children fidget: And what we can do about it 

The following lines are very well said about children in the classroom

Children are going to class with bodies that are less prepared to learn than ever before. With sensory systems not quite working right, they are asked to sit and pay attention. Children naturally start fidgeting in order to get the movement their body so desperately needs and is not getting enough of to “turn their brain on.” What happens when the children start fidgeting? We ask them to sit still and pay attention; therefore, their brain goes back to “sleep.”

Fidgeting is a real problem. It is a strong indicator that children are not getting enough movement throughout the day. We need to fix the underlying issue. Recess times need to be extended and kids should be playing outside as soon as they get home from school. Twenty minutes of movement a day is not enough! They need hours of play outdoors in order to establish a healthy sensory system and to support higher-level attention and learning in the classroom.

In order for children to learn, they need to be able to pay attention. In order to pay attention, we need to let them move.

kids love Recess

When I was a kid I loved Recess well, we hardly got one ! Now I  am trying  to see if my kids atleast can get recess in school, for just 20 minutes a day.

Surprising these days in India, primary school kids hardly get out of there class, even for lunch.They sit in the classroom and have lunch. Very sad I feel bad for those little kids.

 We all parents need to work together and try to have recess as a part of our curriculum. Please see  the video to better understand the significance of recess !

Jefferson lab

A free online resource for grades 3-8 ( go to the very bottom of the web page and click student
zone !) 

https://education.jlab.org/mca/question.html?49052318

Free online books

https://www.storyjumper.com/book/search

Being in India finding public libraries is hard as we do in US.  This was really useful for my 8 year old over the summer!

I hope this link will be useful to all parents.

Think before you trash!

https://www.quora.com/How-is-waste-segregated-in-USA

Kids calender

Materials required :

white chart paper
Scissors
Glue
Transparent tape
Scrap gift paper for aesthetic appreciation.

Got this idea from :
https://www.livecrafteat.com/live/kids-homework-station/