Category Archives: Parenting

Review of Kanten Clay + A giveaway!

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When Xi En was at the teething stage, we bought a Sophie the Giraffe for him. I wished that I had bought it for him earlier so he could have fully “enjoyed” it!

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The friends from the same company – Sophie & Friends - sent along 2 pots of bright coloured modelling clay from Kanten Clay Studio. This clay is made in Japan using ingredients such as kanten (a type of agar agar/jelly), natural food colouring and brine.

The all-natural ingredients made it completely safe for young children and children with sensitive skin to play with. Even if accidentally consumed, it remains safe. Xi En licked his hands after playing when I didn’t noticed – this happen to many I am sure! Smile

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I love the little transparent pots they come in.

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This unique product is quite unlike those oil-based clays in the market now. It does not stick to the table/floor & thus does not leave an oily mark after play time. I laid a plastic table-cloth on the table only to realise there wasn’t a need to!

The clay might seemed hard on the first touch. But after seconds of kneading and moulding, it is extremely stretchable and pliable.

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We took out the “tools” from his other dough play set and allowed Xi En to cut, mould and spread.

Xi En enjoyed cutting and making “mee hoon kueh” (tearing the clay into flat noodles-like shapes).

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Your child can make anything imaginable.

A tip here: you can buy baking moulds instead of play moulds. The baking moulds at Diaso cost only $2 for a big pack of interesting shapes!

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Kanten Clay comes in 7 colours and you can easily make a new colour by mixing two or more colours together. Good to teach kids on concept of mixing colours too!

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After turning 2 years old, Xi En is even more curious and active than before. Moulding clay “forced” him to sit still and play for a good 30 minutes. Experts (my mum for one) believe that such play brings out the creativity in kids and train patience at the same time! Smile 

You can buy or read more about Kanten Clay Studio here.

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GIVEAWAY!!

Sophie & Friends is kindly giving away Kanten Clay samples to one reader of this blog. Xi En enjoyed playing with this and we hope you will too!

To win this, please leave a comment on this post by next Monday, 15th August 2011. Winner will be picked randomly. Smile

Saving–from young

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From young, I recalled that my mum will bring us to the bank and open a savings account. Small amount as it might seemed; it inculcated a savings behaviour in us – and that money is really not easily earned.

My mum went to get a cow-shaped coin saving box for Xi En from a thrift shop (Xi en was born in Chinese zodiac year of Cow).

We started this saving habit for Xi En when he was around 1 year old. Every time he gets his hands on some coins .. he will throttle to his cow money “box” and stretched for it.

We taught him how to aim and drop the coins in.

Today – Little cow is full and ready to go to the bank! Smile 

It’s a good habit to start savings from young! Smile

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Parklon Play mats

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With the recent reports on the toxicity of the commonly used “ABC” baby mats, my mum decided to keep all the alphabets mats and let Xi En play on the hard platform floor. Another reason is Xi En loves to pick up all various alphabets and put them in his mouth. He especially loved the small “o” and “r” – those which he can stuffed into his small mouth!

And so we sat on the hard platform floor for a few weeks and ……… GAVE UP! It’s too hard for our butts!

We started hunting for suitable play mats for Xi En’s play corner and found some really pricey options!

I found some Korean/Taiwan imported play mats which are made of really good material.

“The colorful reversible printed surface is made of heavy-duty, non-slip, non-toxic, non-phthalate soft PVC material.”

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There are many designs and thickness available. I got mine from Small Small World. They were holding a bulk purchase on SingaporeMotherhood.com and thus prices were cheaper. They also sell these mats in baby fairs. I saw another provider on the forum – WorldofKorea.

Apparently there are two common known brands – Parklon and LG (yes, the Korean fridge brand!). LG has higher end series whereas Parklon is slightly cheaper. Personally, I think Parklon’s performance is good enough for our use and thus settled for that. We paid S$140 for a M size mat – ok – it seemed crazy to pay so much for a play mat.. these companies just know how to prey on parents’ weaknesses… But we felt that it’s probably worth it long-term wise. Smile

And so….. we waited for the free delivery…….

It CAME and it is so worth it! Xi En loves the vibrant colors and best of all our butts don’t hurt anymore. Smile 

 

 

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