Gold Coin Toothfairy Printables

I'm sharing this fun and simple "earn a gold coin for every baby tooth you lose!" printables on Hello Wonderful blog today. Hop on over to download the free printable and short instructions on how-to here. Have fun!

Going Unplugged

Photo by Selina [Sequoia National Park]

I was just thinking about the time when we went up to the Sequoia National Park to go camping for 3 days last year. It was actually our very first family camping trip. I remember going camping with my family growing up and although it's a vague memory, it's one of the most fond memory that I have as a child. The best thing about camping (for me) was that we were completely unplugged for few days. No internet, no phone, no TV, no iPad...no iNothing! I remember feeling so liberated and everything seem to just slow down, helping me to pay attention to my surroundings and appreciate more. Since we are skipping family camping this summer, I want to go unplugged for few days. Actually Appah (my husband) demands that I try this. I don't blame him since I've been glued to my phone, my ipad day and night, inbetween work,  wherever I go (you know what I'm talking about!), taking myself away from my family and friends. Don't get me wrong. Oh I love social media and everything else. Actually, doing SNS has changed my life positively for past few years but I think we all need a little break, unplug for a while. So here is my plan on WHY and HOW I'm going to try this! Does anybody want to join me?

WHY

To take a mental break

To spend more quality time with family & friends

To feed the soul by reading more

To get out more and see and smell the nature

To flex my creative muscles

To get better sleep

HOW

Delete all social media apps from the phone temporarily

(e.g. Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter...etc.)

Minimize outgoing txt messages and dial instead

No TV series or movies on iPad

Keep personal email closed and minimize the
number of times to check

(maybe twice a day?)

This 3 days unplugging plan will be effective on Monday, July 28. I'm also going to encourage my children to do the same. No iPad, games for them (eek!). I know 3 days doesn't seem that much but I have a feeling that this is going be harder than it actually is. Wish me luck!!!!

_Selina

Best Art Education Blogs

Age 5 Self Portrait                                                                                                                                                                                                             Age 7 Self Portrait

I've been thinking a lot about teaching more art at home. N8 likes to draw and paint and he's usually making some kind of craft on his own. He finds recycling materials around the house and likes to glue and tape things to build toys. But as you can imagine, it usually becomes a pile of another clutter or end up back in the recycling bin. So I thought it would be more fun if I can invest little bit more time on my part to prepare a short lesson or session for him to do and I can join in on the fun. I know teaching art at home is not as easy as it sounds. If you're are like me, I prefer to skip the mess and cleaning part too but there are other simple "clean" ways to do more art with your kids. Here is a list of best art education blog resouces on TINKERLAB, a creative parenting blog. This is a really good list of resources as it's organized by age (preschool, elementary, middle and high school). I am smitten by DEEP SPACE SPARKLE site for e-classes on teaching art and many many ideas on lessons. If you are interested in teaching more art at home, don't forget to check it out!

Picture above is self-portraits by N8 when he was 5 (left) and 7 (right). I think I should ask him to draw a self-portrait every year to see how he expresses/portrays himself in his drawings!