Tag Archives: DIY

homemade mango lassi popsicles – popsicoholic part 2

Posted on May 20, 2014 | Leave a comment

Popsicoholic part 2: mango lassi popsicles, for mango lovers.

Mango lassi is an indian drink like a milkshake, a blend of mango pulp, yogurt and sugar. It’s very delicious and refreshing. Usually served chilled on hot days, the perfect scenario to turn out this succulent drink into popsicles!

In a food processor, puree 1 1/2 cup mango with 2 tbsp yogurt and 1 tsp sugar.

In a seperate bowl whisk 1/2 cup of low fat yogurt with 1 tsp sugar.

Pour them in molds, alternating between the two mix. Let the mango puree layer thicker than yogurt. Make 3 to 4 layers. With a skewer or thin-bladed knife, swirl mixtures together in an up-and-down motion.

Insert ice-pop sticks and freeze until solid. Preferably overnight. To remove the popsicles from the molds, run under warm water until they are easily released. This quantity makes 5-6 popsicles depending on your mold size.

Nothing can beat the heat like a fresh fruit popsicle. So try making these, they are worth it! My son loves them! yes they are suitable for kids and nutritious too.

One cup of mangoes (225 g) contains the following:

105 calories
76 percent vitamin C (antioxidant and immune booster)
25 percent vitamin A (antioxidant and vision)
11 percent vitamin B6 plus other B vitamins (hormone production in brain and heart desease prevention)
9 percent healthy probiotic fiber
9 percent copper (copper is a co-factor for many vital enzymes plus production of red blood cells)
7 percent potassium (to balance out our high sodium intake)
4 percent magnesium

(Percentages apply to daily value)

Enjoy!

homemade fresh strawberry popsicles – popsicoholic part 1

Posted on May 19, 2014 | Leave a comment

Cool off doha heat! A healthy refreshing homemade dessert! Suitable for kids! 100% natural! Low in calories!…. and i can keep listing many other reasons… Just to say there’s always an excuse to have a popsicle in my mind, am a big fan of popsicles!

Doha summer is already here and the temperature is getting higher and higher to the 40°C and above. Nothing will refresh you like a fruity popsicle.

I would like to share with you my recipes for fresh fruits popsicles and give a piece of my happiness to popsicoholic people like me 🙂

Popsicoholic part1: strawberry flavor

For these delicious popsicles you need to:

In a food processor puree one cup of fresh strawberries with 1 tbsp of sugar.
whisk 1 cup of yogurt and 2 tbsp of sugar

Pour in a mold, alternating between the strawberry puree and the yogurt, make about 3-4 layers. With a skewer or thin-bladed knife, swirl mixtures together in an up-and-down motion. Insert ice-pop sticks and freeze until solid.

You should get 5 to 6 popsicles depending on your mold size. You can freeze up to one week, (but i doubt if they will last more than couple of hours).

To remove the popsicles from the molds, run under warm water until they are easily released. Enjoy!

Homemade colored sand – fine motor skills and messy sensory fun

Posted on May 5, 2014 | 1 comment

Homemade sand for hot days (or rainy, but it’s not the case in doha), when it’s not convenient to play outdoor.

Very easy and low-budget activity. All you need is cracked wheat and colors ( i always recommend wilton icing gel). One kilo bag of cracked wheat needs one tsp of the coloring gel. Mix well until the color is even and let it dry.

To kick off the fun, I put them in a container and hide the small animals for Nady to dig in.

Children have always been intrigued by sand play. They dig in, pour it, enjoy the feeling, pretend with it and explore how it moves.

Sand play is open-ended, there is no right way to play with, it stretches the imagination of the kid, provides a soothing sensory experience and it’s an excellent avenue for children to learn physical, cognitive and social skills.

Children are not born with a know how to play, parents should teach them! that’s why at the beginning children just observe before starting to explore.

What does this feel like when I touch it? What does this sound like when I squeeze it? What will happen if I push this or pull that? Crawl over there? Pull myself up on this?

Get down on the floor with your child. You are the ultimate plaything, and any activity will seem more fun if your child can share it with you. Talk to him while you play and you’ll help boost his language skills. Let your child choose how to play, you can suggest new things or present new options, but he should be the boss.

Now it’s time for messy play! It’s an important part of early education:

Physical development: Children will be given the tools to develop and practice fine motor skills and eye hand coordination, such as pouring and spooning and will provide opportunities for children to compare textures such as smooth, rough, hard and soft.

Communication and language development: During messy play, children will be given many opportunities to speak and listen.

Personal, emotional and social development: Messy Play is designed with children’s natural curiosity in mind. It encourages a positive approach to new experiences. There is no “right” way for children to do messy play. This builds self-confidence and self-esteem. They develop concentration, problem-solving and planning.

Intellectual development: Children will investigate, explore, design and create leading to a better understanding of the world around them. They will learn to group and classify, arrange items in a logical order, identify and match and understand cause and effect.

Mathematical development: The children will sort objects, fill containers and create patterns.

Creative development: Children are given endless opportunities with a variety of materials to build imagination and creativity. Through sensory experiences, they are able to respond to what they see, hear, feel, touch and smell. They will express their feelings and thoughts through color, texture, shapes and forms in two and three dimensions.

It was a successful fun activity, Nady was extremely happy and enjoying every second! we played for 90 minutes non stop without loosing interest or getting fussy.

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Posted in DIY, way to play

Tagged blog, colored sand, colors, cracked wheat sand, DIY, fine motor skills, homemade snad, how to make sand at home, jaymmy, marmite et ponpon, motor skills, sensory play, way to play

jungle playdough – Introducing the playdough to your toddler for a great sensory learning and fine motor skills

Posted on April 29, 2014 | Leave a comment

Today we are using the playdough we made yesterday. Click playdough recipe for more details.

Playdough brings out the fun and creativity in your kids, there are open ended games great for hands on, sensory learning. The first very basic game with the playdough consists of introducing the texture to just squeeze and poke . We are all sensory creatures, especially kids they use all their senses when learning something new.

Introducing playdough to your kids can start from age of 15 months. At this age they are not able to create shapes yet, so don’t expect your baby to grab it and start playing. It’s a bit disappointing in the beginning, he can throw it or reject it. Nady was giving me faces and keep on throwing it! You need a gentle introduction, that’s why putting his favorite toys with it can help for more fun.

Nady is learning colors and animals. Jungle playdough is a great fun idea for his first experience.

We started by creating the jungle and introducing the animals one by one inserting their legs in the playdough!

Adding some broccoli trees created a realistic atmosphere. As said Nady likes to taste everything, and he loves broccoli!

Poking sticks in the playdough was so much fun we used popsicle sticks. It’s a great way to encourage his motor skills.

We were shaping balls for him to poke with the sticks.

Mommy loves playdough too! It’s important to talk while playing and introducing new words like squeeze, poke, naming the colors or the things around us. Nady loves the music, we were singing all the time too 🙂

Daddy decided to introduce the legos as well (his favourite).

First he was showing him how to print the lego pattern then he filled them with the playdough and Nady was trying to take it out.

This way we extended more the fun, and we all participated in the play!

When you decide to introduce playdough to your baby or toddler, just make sure it’s safe and at a right pace without pushing too fast.

DIY homemade playdough (pate a modeler) – kids safe recipe

Posted on April 28, 2014 | 4 comments

Making playdough at home is easier than you think. A healthy way to ensure your kids safety. All you need is couple of ingredients and 10 minutes of your time and let the fun and creativity begin.

Ingredients: (make about 2 cups)

1 cup flour
1 cup water
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/3 cup salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
food coloring

In a sauce pan combine all dry ingredients then add water, oil and food coloring. Mix well until no lumps show.

Cook over medium heat and stir constantly until the dough forms a ball and no longer sticky. This will take almost 3-4 minutes.

Remove from the pan and keep to cool before kneading until smooth.

This playdough can stay long if you store it properly. Wrap it with cling film and keep it in a locked container or simply put it in a plastic zipper bag at room temperature.

This playdough is 100% safe if your kid wants to taste. My boy is still under 2 years he likes to taste everything, i make sure we always play with edible or safe games.