Tuesday, July 31, 2012

NEC Jungle Walk in FRIM

Remember Reese went to FRIM sometime back and did the canopy walk and he was complaining about the dirt and all? Yesterday he was totally a different kid! :)

We joined the NEC jungle walk at FRIM and it was very enjoyable and fun. Just a few families and we had a lovely picnic after that. We had fun learning about the jungle and various plants and insects that can be found there. Next we went jungle trekking! The kids got to climb up and go under logs, jump over little streams, pick up various leafs and seeds, listen to different insects sound, looking at fungi and towards the end we had to use a rope to go down a very steep slope. Kids were thrilled and my boy actually slide down on dirt, hold on to the roots and stones for support, getting all dirty without complaining! it was definitely a first. Hehehe..... 

Getting ready for the jungle walk

NEC supervisors

Seed of a tree with a web inside

Kids having a discussion

A seed sprouting!

Peacock fern. It changes colour when you look at it at different angle.

A Cricket

An ant colony

This tree is about 70+ years old.

Kids linking hands to surround the tree.

Trekking in the jungle, Reese had fun going over and under various obstacles

Do you know bamboo is a form of grass?

Beautiful. It's like a jigsaw puzzle. We were told that this can only be found in FRIM and no where else in the world.

This is a forest ant and it is huge. About an inch long!

Fungi can be found everywhere

The steep slope

Going over a huge log

Having fun on a very big open space

Another fungus we found

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Construction Blocks (LEPAO)

Lepao blocks. The ones on the left are more than 8 years old and the one on the right is the one we purchased secondhand. 

Many years ago, my aunt gave me 2 construction sets (incomplete) for kids. At that time I didn't think much of it because I do not even have Reese yet but kept it anyway for my students to play with. About 2 years ago, I came across the same set at Popular Book Fair and immediately wanted to buy it. Too bad, it was priced almost RM400 per set. Too expensive. So did not follow up. Last year, Reese was really into building things and sadly I forgot the name of the set! I was trying my luck on the internet but couldn't find the same set. Last week, on a Facebook community, a mummy posted that she wanted to sell a set of construction blocks for only RM170! and you guess it right. It was the same set that I wanted so badly!!! I managed to message her and booked the set before other mummies. :)

Insisted on carrying the heavy case home all by himself! He was so excited to play with the blocks

Yesterday Reese and I went to pick it up and it was really worth it! It is almost new. This set of construction blocks is from Taiwan and it is called Potential-Inspiring Blocks (LEPAO). Very durable and the ones passed on to me were still in good condition. Easy to use and you can build anything you can think of. 

Lepao blocks comes in a case. Convenient when traveling.
We built a ferris wheel. It can turn and the carriages move like regular ferris wheel. Very easy to assemble.
Reese created a country fair. It comes with a roller coaster too.
He used Lego figurines for his fair.
He spent a lot of time on it. 

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Science Fair was absolutely fun and educational!!


This the first science fair organized by some great homeschooling parents from MHsN. It was a great success. Children and parents alike had lots of fun. It was also a very educational event. Science explained in simple terms easy enough for young children to understand. The best part is most of the experiments and presentations were done by the children themselves. Parents carefully selected topics and experiments that their children understand and able to do it on their own. Laughter was everywhere and you can hear all the 'wooohhhh' and 'wahhhhh' through out the event. Participants were between the age of 3 and 10. We parents had fun too. The fair was held in a hall of an apartment. simple set up and the quality of the experiments and presentation can compete with school science fair! Can't wait for the next science fair. My dear Reese has already decided that he is going to do plant science. Why and how do plants rot! :)
Nice art work! All about Stealth and Survival
Crystal Ice and a few other interesting experiments


This was good stuff. It teaches you more about electricity
A child demonstrating how electricity works  

Reese love this. Magic Milk!

Eeerr.... forgot what this was... something to do with clean energy and how it can power homes
Magnetism 
Lovely.... great for younger kids to learn about matter.
A child demonstrating an experiment

The Solar System model
Terrarium
Reese and his work
Reese presenting to the judges
We had some really young admirers of Reese's work!
The science of baking! :)
Water tension
Underwater Volcano... Reese trying out the experiment
Having fun with dry ice!
Kids were all ohhhs and ahhhs with this dry ice demo
Magical bubble!


Reese was really proud of his achievement. Showing everyone back home! :)