Junk Mail Crafts - Healthy Eating Collage

Some of the most fun arts and crafts can be created with things that are lying around right under our noses. We made use of junk mail this morning but cutting it up and creating pages of health posters. 

Junk mail is fun to look at but a chore to dispose of. There's nothing that I see more messy in my house than a pile of scrumpled, overly colourful, glossy pages of ads. So it was great to cut it up into tiny pieces and make good use of it. It was great because I didn't have to print anything out or sift through my arts and crafts boxes to find suitable materials. It was less stressful art time since I did not to have to plan anything out in advance. 

I've been trying to get healthier with my children so we made health posters about what junk food is and what healthy food is. Both Baby Boy 1 now 3 years old and Baby Girl 2, now 2 years old found it exciting to recognise and lable household items whilst going through the grocery ads. They identified junk and health quite well which surprised me since I didn't think 2 years could tell coke has absolutely no nutritional value. Subhanallah. 

We made a page of junk food and a page of healthy food. We practiced learning the names of things in both english and in arabic too since that's the language we're trying to learn right now. We found tamar and burtuqaali and that's about how far my fruit vocab goes for now - dates and oranges! 

Woolworths has a Jamie's Garden promotion going on right now which I found very useful sincethe pictures of fruit were so cute. We've been collecting a few of those garden stickers too.

Lessons learnt: Labelling, language skills, knowledge of health issues, fine motor skills through using scissors.


Umm Musk :)

Bop Along Buddies Review

Asalamalaikum :)

Alhamdulilah Hubby ordered a surprise Bop Along Buddy for us :)

It was great timing as I have been trying to set up activities that will help my children adopt a healthier and more active lifestyle, however a tiny paved backyard hasn't allowed for that mission to be too successful. Going to the local park everyday for sporting activities in this chilly winter doesn't seem as appealing as it did in summer.

Alhamdulilah for the Bop Along Buddy, the kids have been bopping around all over the house. The ball bouncer had been lying around the house for a while and had lost it's initial novelty (as toys do...). It seems we've found an excellent alternative for it!

My children are aged between 5 and 2 and this seems to be the perfect age bracket for it. It is best loved by my 2 year old, suited for her height and weight. Kids up to 7 years should be fine using it, kids under 2 will need supervision as the children do fall off it. Its bopping design means that it isn't as stable so the child must support it with their own weight and hands.

Hubby bought Darcy the Dragon. It is a cute and fun bouncing invention made of durable PVC, easy to clean and okay for storing. I just have to make sure to keep it out of the praying area since it is an animal shape with a face.

The box included a pump and inflating it was pretty easy. Care needs to be taken to ensure it isn't over or under inflated.

My children love their Bop Along Buddy and I love it too as it has sorted out our winter exercise regime :)




Umm Musk :)

Bright Starts Pretty in Pink Flutter Dot Baby Bouncer Review

Asalamalaikum :D

With BabyGirl 2 I bought a Bright Starts Savanna Dreams bouncer and it worked really well for us. Since it was already tried and tested, BrightStarts was the choice for BabyGirl 3 too, although this time I went for something with added features and extra comfort. 

The Pretty in Pink Flutter Dot bouncer arrived this morning and I am every bit pleased with it! Alhamdulilah.

As the name suggests it is quite pretty but what improves it from the Savanna Dreams is the extra padding for comfort, the removable head rest and the vibrations option. I love the velvety warm fabric, excellent for this very cold winter right now. It is super light so I can move it around with me through the house and take it to friends houses inshallah. 

Savanna Dreams vs Flutter Dot vs Comfort and Harmony

Price wise, Savanna Dreams is around $37,  the Flutter Dot is $59 and the Comfort and Harmony at around $79 (online shopping prices). 

I liked my old Savanna Dreams bouncer and would have used it for BabyGirl3 but it was ruined since it developed mould in storage, rain got to it somehow subhanallah.  

I was leaning towards the Comfort and Harmony but it just looked a little to warm for Summer. Baby Girl 3 will be 6 months inshallah by December, this is when I'll be needing the bouncer the most so I decided against it. 

The Flutter Dot seemed like the perfect middle choice between the Savanna Dreams and the Comfort and Harmony. 

Newborn Use

I do get a little worried about putting newborns into bouncers as the curvature of the cradle is a little deep for newborns. Since BabyGirl 3 is only 3 weeks old she won't be spending too much time in it but I just don't want her getting too used to be held all the time by loving grandmas and aunties. May Allah help me when I go back to my own house. So now I'm just popping her in to get used to it, the curvature is not too bad for small periods of time. 

Bouncer vs Rocker

Speaking of being on my own - this is why I chose I bouncer over a rocker. I love the way the bouncer soothes the baby as she starts to cry. Her own movements push off the bouncing motion, which gives me enough time to wrap up mum duties and come to attend her needs. Rockers need to pushed with a foot, which means if my foot is there then I must be too and if I'm there then she shouldn't be crying in a contraption, she should be snug and cuddly in my arms! :)

Putting it all together

The top of the bouncer is just two pieces that snap tgether to make this piece:

The lower bar is made up with three pieces snapped together:

The top and bottom pieces join in the middle to make a full cradle

Attach the vibration device:

This part is a little tricky, it needs a little force. This device should be placed before the padded cover.

Padded cover easily buckles tight at the back

The flower head rest is placed in with a piece of velcro at the top

Easy remove toybar:

All Done :D

Very easy to put together alhamdulilah.



Umm Musk :)