Water has been one of my top choices when thinking about an activity that will grab the attention of my students, even my own child. Growing up, I used to play inside a timba (tub) while holding our garden hose. I'd spent hours inside it and it felt like swimming in the ocean with my water toys. And now, a lot of inflatable pools and toys are readily available in toy stores that come in different shapes and sizes making it more fun and more safe for your kids!

Some parents are hesitant to let children play with water for too long. Why? kids might get sick and let's face it, it's hard to clean up the messy and wet area right after. But consider doing this once in a while, maybe once a week for 30minutes to an hour. You'll see the wonderful benefits of engaging in water play, not just for tots, but for all ages!

Think outside of the box...errrr tub.

With just the tub and plain toys that are water-resistant, children will begin to use them in so many ways. It can act as a ship, a shark, or whatever it is they have in mind. Just keep in mind that the toys are not too small for them to swallow.

Stronger immune system

I like doing this activity in our garden. Aside from its easier to clean afterwards, my child enjoys running around with the hose with her feet touching the grass. I believe its important for kids to be exposed once in a while to breathe in natural air and be more familiar with their surroundings. She enjoys creating a puddle of mud and likes watering the plants as part of her play routine. Take note, she’s also wearing her favorite bathing suit!

Different concepts are introduced

Water can be used in many ways and concepts from Science, Math and Art can be taught. For Science on freezing to melting, you can show a bucket full of ice and then leave it under direct sunlight until it melts. Or mix few drops of different food coloring and see how colours change when asking about colours. For Math on measuring, bring our different sizes of cups and see how much you can put on each then compare. You can also do transferring of water from one container to another. For Art, place tempera paint on clean canvas and throw some water balloons on it to make your art piece. Easy and super fun!

It takes a while to prepare water activities for children. But on days when you just wanna have fun, a tub, water hose and some toys will be just fine. How about you, whats your favorite water play activity with your kids? :)

My father would always invite me and my daughter to an afternoon at Kidzoona Nuvali which is near his house. But because of my mommy brain, I always end up not bringing any socks for both of us so I always just insist on checking out new restos to try instead.

Anyway, we had the chance to have a play date during the weekend at their Shangri-la branch. It was a Sunday so I expected that there will be lots of babies, toddlers, moms and ates around.Baby A was super excited to go inside. It's nice that they have this electronic gate so that no kids will just go out or come in whenever they want to.

I loved the pretend play section. If only I can make some of these toys for my school. Hmm..

Also, I wanna purchase their manipulatives! Wooden toys and this magnetic tiles are my must-haves!

Baby A spent most of her time in this wooden doll house with two hand stitched dolls.I think she liked it because it's quite similar to the interior of our house.

Sand area. Baby A didn't like it that much maybe she felt too "sandy" that she kept wiping the excess sand on her dress. Yikes!

The ball pit of course! WE, yes we enjoyed this part so much!

She also liked riding bikes even she's not yet ready for it.

The entrance fee is 300 for 90 mins (child and guardian) plus 100 for another adult and P400 for 3 hours.

It was a tiring 90min play time with baby A but definitely worth it since there were different stations to choose from; they're all educational and all areas were created to develop certain skills. It was still okay for me even it was a Sunday where baby A was able to interact with kids of different ages so it was an instant playdate for her. Hooray for this trip. ;)

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend with your families and ready to meet the demands of your upcoming week. Here's something we wrote for Millennial Moms PH which can help moms with tots deal with different scenarios. Hit us up and let us know your thoughts on this. Happy Sunday!

Read on Keeping up with your Active Tot

While we may have different definitions of PLAY, we all know its importance as children grow. Its a bit disturbing that there are several articles online talking about how children are not given enough time for free play and exploration. Why? Because of the growing demand of our society that pushes parents and even schools to just focus on academic growth alone. We've been schooled about the benefits of early childhood play but how come none of us are practicing them? Is it because we are afraid that our children will fail which will turn heads to the parents who "failed" parenting.

Adults need some time off from the computer screen and mobile phones that are often times abused for work. Kids, too, need some of that. Actually, a lot of time off. Play makes them feel better about themselves. They create their own freedom- to speak, to pretend, to imagine, to laugh and even cry. While school lets our children develop critical thinking, play develops a different side of thinking which I think is taken for granted because again, there is the pressure to maintain high grades.

So to all moms and dads, take it slow and enjoy some time to play with them. You'll be surprised on how much they know their game and how well they play it. ;)

Care to share your favourite childhood game? :)

Travels are both enjoyable and stressful. If "Im a backpacker" was your thing in the past, your travelling philosophy will definitely change once you book a flight with your child.

Yes, it is tiring to travel with a tot. But let me tell you some benefits of exposing them to a whole new world at an early age.

PROVIDES STIMULATION.

Skyscrapers, green grass, buses and trains, bright lights-- all these are absorbed by their sponge-like minds. They create meaning with what they hear, see, smell, taste and touch. Our daughter was quite busy looking at the huge crowd crossing the streets or riding the train especially during rush hour. Here in Manila, although we see them, we don't really get to experience crossing streets except in our quiet neighbourhood. We also got to try different types of food both from the streets and restos. Our child is in her picky-eater stage so sometimes we had to opt for safe bets like Mcdo. Surprisingly, their Mcdo has a different set of menu so us too were happy to try new eats!

INCREASES VOCAB.

As you go along the trip, you point at certain objects and give its names to your child. In our case when we went to Hong Kong, our daughter kept on pointing at Finding Dory posters we see in the MTR. "Dory! Dory!" She also enjoyed looking at bright lights, little children ( she even played with some), and super cars! (Oh yes, this girl got taste).

ADAPTATION.

Hong Kong is not extremely opposite to our country since we have the same humid weather and busy streets. Like us adults, we had to adapt to their culture. You have to somewhat talk like them and to move fast! We also had to be careful not to offend the people living there who were of different races and religion. Exposing your child to these differences will help her in the future become more adapt to the environment- in school and community.

BONDING TIME.

Although we're fortunate to be spending more time with our child regularly, it's still different when it's just us three and in a different country. We had to divide our tasks so our trip will run smoothly. Unlike here in Manila when most of us are used to having helping hands, we had to carefully plan out our day and make sure to bring everything not for ourselves, but for our daughter. Because of that, we became a team which made us enjoy our trip more.

Again, travelling with a tot can be tiring but just remember all those memories and even the mistakes you encountered along the way. It's a way to prepare yourself in your next family adventure. How about you, are you planning your fist trip with your child?