Play Learning Tuesday

What is Play Learning Tuesday?
Play Learning Tuesday is a bi-weekly linky hosted by Toddly Mummy where bloggers are invited to share their child-friendly play, learning and craft activities.

If you would like to link up and share your posts on Play Learning Tuesday, please read the following guidelines first.
- Please link up any posts featuring a play, learning or craft activity.
- Feel free to link more than one post.
- Please don't link giveaways.
- Please grab the Play Learning Tuesday badge from below and include it at the bottom of the submitted post, or somewhere on your site.
- Thank you for sharing your wonderful ideas on Play Learning Tuesday!

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Dedicated to my mummy

Mummy with EV and AA

My mummy. She's the greatest. She had me when she was 25, just three months after migrating to Singapore with my daddy. He didn't dare carry me, so mum single-handedly looked after me during her confinement month, with no one to brew special tonics for her. That took a toll on her health for a while, and when she had my brother, the grandparents insisted that she return to Hong Kong to have him. One month after he was born, we came back here.

She decided very early on that she would be a SAHM. She lived apart from her own mother till she was in her teens, and she was determined that her own kids won't have to go through that.

Every year she would single-handedly bring my brother and me to Hong Kong for holidays and visit relatives. I loved those trips, but for mum, it must have been quite stressful. I didn't understand just how hard it was to travel with two young kids. I know now mum. It was not easy to pack the luggage, and it's a mad house trying to get everyone ready in the mornings. Packing for the return trip was even harder, I know. I remember luggages full of toys from the grandparents.

She always made me memorize every text in the Chinese text book. I remember standing at the end of her bed reciting the texts to her. Yes, it was a chore, but I am grateful. I can still speak and read Chinese rather well, at least in my opinion. Some writing too, which is not at all perfect. These days, she's still my 'live' translator, and I still go to her when I don't understand something. 

We had our tensed moments during my growing up years. As I started work, we became closer and we would have our very own mummy-daughter outings. Now that I have my family, we're even closer. Every day we'd have our morning chat. Brief, snappy conversations that assure each of us that everything is ok on either side. A morning without these chats makes me feel funny. We still have our tensed moments, but we usually get over it very quickly.

When AA got admitted to hospital recently, and I stayed over with him, my mum offered to stay over to accompany me, without hesitation. Having her there somehow made everything easier to bear. 

This is my mummy, and I love her very much.

Happy mother's day, mummy!

Linking up with:

Review: 3M Polarizing Light LED6000

{Sponsored Review}

Remember a previous interview conducted with Dr Lee Sao Bing during which he shared eye care tips? One of his tips was to read under good light to avoid straining our eyes due to light flicker and glare. Recently, I made a discovery that meets this.

I'm talking about the 3M Polarizing Light LED6000. Yes, I admit. I've been hoarding this new device myself and not sharing with the kids. Hey, there are mum's stuff and there are kids' stuff and for the moment, this light is mine, mine, all mine!!!!

Ok, so back to the task at hand. The LED6000. Why does it produce good light? How does it reduce light flicker and glare? Firstly, LED light does not flash or flicker, and does not emit any ultraviolet rays. There's also this feature called Air Guiding Technology.

No, it is not really guiding air. Rather is is a light engine that works with built-in reflector and brightness enhancement films to create an internal light recycling system. What the LED6000 is able to do is to make sure that all light rays, including LED light from the device itself and all other light rays from the surrounding environment, is used optimally. The light rays are reflected hundreds and thousands of times, bad light is reflected away, and what you get is light that has less glare, flicker and is gentle on the eyes. 

The position of the LED lights in the device also play a part. They are at the edges, meaning that when light is thrown on a source, shadows are minimized and the lighted area is as large as possible. 

Here, you can see just how even lighted the reading area is, with no shadows. The text is bright, clear and easy to read. Easy on the eyes too if one is to read for hours.

And hours is how long this light can go, almost like it is running a 8-hour marathon. Which is often the case when I have to catch up on readings or finish my assignments and work late into the night when the kids are in la-la-land. The LED6000 has a unique ventilation design that dissipates heat. Ventilation holes lets heat and cool air flow in and out of the light housing. I don't have to worry about it over heating. I would not dare play Survivor with the LED6000; at 50,000 hours of usage, it can last almost 2083 days, or 6 years! Yes, that's impressive!

What I''m really impressed with is just how flexible the LED6000 is. Left, right, up, down. You have to see it to believe it.

See? Just awesome. So though I'm usually the one using this light, it is so mobile that I can move it anytime for the kids or hubby to use. But then they may just end up playing with the touch dimmer with five brightness levels, or move the light left, right, up, down… No, I think the light is safer in my hands. For now.

3M Polarizing Light LED6000
Pros
Produces light with no flicker or glare.
Highly flexible body.

Cons
Illuminated touch dimmer is hard to see once the light is on.
Lack of clip-on option, for small spaces.

My verdict
Design *****
Ease of use ****
Performance ****

Price
$269

Disclaimer: The 3M Polarizing Light LED6000 was sponsored by 3M. No monetary compensation was received for this review, and all opinions and images are my own.

Painting with spices

What do you get when you bring together spice, water and a paint brush? Spice painting!! It's simple and fun, and EV got the opportunity to smell and experience the different spices.

Here's what you need:
- Spices, any type that you can find, in a bottle or otherwise
- water
- egg carton, to be used as a palette for the spice and water
- paint brush
- cardboard

As I poured each of the spices into the egg carton, I described it, the smell and the appearance, and let EV feel the spices in its original state. She had fun helping me with the pouring. Then I added a little bit of water to each of the spices, and away EV went with her spicy creation.

See her intent look of concentration? She also indulged in her own messy play and did finger painting. And when the spice paints ran out, she helped herself by pouring more.

It's a good activity to keep the young one occupied. Some of the spices may drop on the floor, but it is not something that some newspaper cannot solve.

So, go pick up some spices and do some spice painting.