Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
HOW TO MAKE TRAVEL HANGMAN GAME
Do your kids always need something to entertain themselves, keep them occupied without boredom during travel, at the dentist's office or at the waiting room of the hospital or even while waiting for orders at the restaurant? What is more suitable than a travel set of a popular game such as HANGMAN that is compact enough to toss in your tote, self-contained (i.e. including as few as possible extra components to minimize the risk of lost pieces), being reusable (instead of wasting tons of pieces of paper), and finally costing as little as possible?
A lot of great products in the market offer the first 3 features, such as Hangman Flip-to-Win Wooden Travel Game by Melissa & Doug, Imaginetics Magnetic Hangman Travel Games, GO Magnetic Hangman Travel Game, Magnetic Game Tin: Hangman, but only a home-made product would satisfy the 4th crucial requirement of the lowest cost possible.
I reused the erasable memo board sent by 3 Amigos to advertise their restaurant for this purpose. That its size is only as big as a notebook sheet is perfect for a travel game. The board is heavier and more sturdy than a normal sheet of paper, thus no worry for creases, etc. You can try any erasable memo/fridge board available around.
The erasable memo board I got also has the marker attached to it so it made my project easier. However, you can be creative with attaching a dry-erase marker to the board by using adhesive pad, a flexible string, a chain, etc. If your marker's end tip has the eraser already, it would be a plus. If not, you can stick small piece of soft cloth (such as the kind of cloth for cleaning glasses) or sponge to the back of the board by a paperclip. Do not forget to toss in your bag a pocket-sized pack of facial tissues and a small bottle of hand sanitizer solution. It not only serves to sanitize the little hands quickly but also helps to dampen the cloth or sponge to clean the marks left by the dry-erase marker as effectively as a whiteboard marker eraser.
Some sheets of Post-it could be glued to the back of the board so that your kids may scribble his words of the game, keep track of the game's scores, etc.
On the front of the whiteboard, to the left, use the permanent marker with a different colour to the dry-erase marker to draw the gallows where the hangman will be. To the right edge of the board, write all 26 letters of the alphabet in upper case in rows of 3 or 4 letters each with enough space between them so that your kid can use the dry-erase marker to circle any letter called in by the guesser. At the end of the white board, below the gallows and the ABCs, draw in permanent ink a row of dashes where the letters of the word would be written down in their appropriate places (usually 10 dashes in kids' game).
To play the game, the person who sets the word must announce in advance how many letters there are in his word, e.g. 6 letters so only the first number of dashes equal to the number of letters in the word (6 in this example) would be used in the game. His opponent (the guesser) then tries to guess the word by guessing letters. Once a letter is guessed whether correctly or not, the wordsetter will circle that letter by the dry-erase marker to show that it has been guessed.
If the guessed letter is included indeed in the word, the wordsetter would fill in the corresponding dash(es) with the letter. If the suggested letter does not occur in the word, the wordsetter draws one element of the hangman diagram as a tally mark, starting with a head. The amount of parts of the man can vary, affecting the number of chances of guessing. Usually the player guessing the word gets 6 chances (traditionally the head, then the torso, then the arms & legs one by one). Many players include a face on the head, either all at once or one feature at a time.
The game is over when either the guessing player guesses the whole word correctly or the wordsetter completes the diagram of a hanging man; whichever is earlier. In the first case, the guessing player wins the game.
This Hangman game can be used to play in both English and French and is absolutely a great game for reinforcing and improving kids' vocabulary.
And do not forget to check out a very neat flash Hangman online game for English-as-a-second-language learners at www.manythings.org/hmf/.
A lot of great products in the market offer the first 3 features, such as Hangman Flip-to-Win Wooden Travel Game by Melissa & Doug, Imaginetics Magnetic Hangman Travel Games, GO Magnetic Hangman Travel Game, Magnetic Game Tin: Hangman, but only a home-made product would satisfy the 4th crucial requirement of the lowest cost possible.
I reused the erasable memo board sent by 3 Amigos to advertise their restaurant for this purpose. That its size is only as big as a notebook sheet is perfect for a travel game. The board is heavier and more sturdy than a normal sheet of paper, thus no worry for creases, etc. You can try any erasable memo/fridge board available around.
The erasable memo board I got also has the marker attached to it so it made my project easier. However, you can be creative with attaching a dry-erase marker to the board by using adhesive pad, a flexible string, a chain, etc. If your marker's end tip has the eraser already, it would be a plus. If not, you can stick small piece of soft cloth (such as the kind of cloth for cleaning glasses) or sponge to the back of the board by a paperclip. Do not forget to toss in your bag a pocket-sized pack of facial tissues and a small bottle of hand sanitizer solution. It not only serves to sanitize the little hands quickly but also helps to dampen the cloth or sponge to clean the marks left by the dry-erase marker as effectively as a whiteboard marker eraser.
Some sheets of Post-it could be glued to the back of the board so that your kids may scribble his words of the game, keep track of the game's scores, etc.
On the front of the whiteboard, to the left, use the permanent marker with a different colour to the dry-erase marker to draw the gallows where the hangman will be. To the right edge of the board, write all 26 letters of the alphabet in upper case in rows of 3 or 4 letters each with enough space between them so that your kid can use the dry-erase marker to circle any letter called in by the guesser. At the end of the white board, below the gallows and the ABCs, draw in permanent ink a row of dashes where the letters of the word would be written down in their appropriate places (usually 10 dashes in kids' game).
To play the game, the person who sets the word must announce in advance how many letters there are in his word, e.g. 6 letters so only the first number of dashes equal to the number of letters in the word (6 in this example) would be used in the game. His opponent (the guesser) then tries to guess the word by guessing letters. Once a letter is guessed whether correctly or not, the wordsetter will circle that letter by the dry-erase marker to show that it has been guessed.
If the guessed letter is included indeed in the word, the wordsetter would fill in the corresponding dash(es) with the letter. If the suggested letter does not occur in the word, the wordsetter draws one element of the hangman diagram as a tally mark, starting with a head. The amount of parts of the man can vary, affecting the number of chances of guessing. Usually the player guessing the word gets 6 chances (traditionally the head, then the torso, then the arms & legs one by one). Many players include a face on the head, either all at once or one feature at a time.
The game is over when either the guessing player guesses the whole word correctly or the wordsetter completes the diagram of a hanging man; whichever is earlier. In the first case, the guessing player wins the game.
This Hangman game can be used to play in both English and French and is absolutely a great game for reinforcing and improving kids' vocabulary.
And do not forget to check out a very neat flash Hangman online game for English-as-a-second-language learners at www.manythings.org/hmf/.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
MA VA LA (THE LITTLE FROG)
Both Mew and Tom have recently become addicted to listening to this song originally written by a Vietnamese composer Phan Nhan (Chu Ech Con) and converted into Italian to be presented in an international children music programme on RAI channel of Italy in 2003. It was proudly and confidently performed by Huong Tra, a 8-year-old Vietnamese school girl, together with an orchestra of Italian girls and boys.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
MEW IS DOING AWESOME!
I have to repeat it: Mew is truly art-talented! No doubt! She can draw pictures by herself and color them magnificiently. She can also copy down a picture from books as beautifully as the original (maybe even more beautifully in my views). Seeing is believing: can you notice the difference between the original and her work of art? The quality of my camera is bad, thus all the glittering colours in the pictures do not show up perfectly here unfortunately.
MEW CAN RIDE A BIKE FINALLY, HOORAY!
Learning to ride a bike can be scary at first, but when you get the hang of it, it's a lot of fun!
It is indeed another big achievement that Mew has scored at the age of 7: she now can ride her bicycle! No more training wheels! No help from Dad or Mom (all we could help was simply oral instructions and guide)! She learnt to ride mostly by herself during 3 days - amazingly! The disadvantage that we live in a high-rise building without any space for kids turned out an advantage when Mew learnt to cycle along the narrow corridor. At first, we fixed the bike to fit Mew's height so that she could keep her feet onto the ground whenever she was losing the balance. Then she tried to pedal along the hallway with one hand holding the handlebar and the other hand pushing against the wall. Once she became more confident in keeping the balance, she left the hand touching the wall to hold the handlebar and tried to steer. About 30 minutes everyday in only 3 consecutive days and voila - she can ride from one end to the other end of the corridor. Then we decided to descend and let her practice biking on the large pavement in front of the building. She became proficient in pedaling and steering her bike just after a few rounds, making left turns and right turns smoothly.
Mew was so excited at her new experience and we were also very proud of her. Learning to ride a bike is an important step in any childhood and watching your child eagerly mastering her two-wheels is undoubtedly a joy of parenthood. We all cannot wait for finding a new "real" junior bike with hand brakes for her.
Look at Mew learning to ride since her toddler years until now:
It is indeed another big achievement that Mew has scored at the age of 7: she now can ride her bicycle! No more training wheels! No help from Dad or Mom (all we could help was simply oral instructions and guide)! She learnt to ride mostly by herself during 3 days - amazingly! The disadvantage that we live in a high-rise building without any space for kids turned out an advantage when Mew learnt to cycle along the narrow corridor. At first, we fixed the bike to fit Mew's height so that she could keep her feet onto the ground whenever she was losing the balance. Then she tried to pedal along the hallway with one hand holding the handlebar and the other hand pushing against the wall. Once she became more confident in keeping the balance, she left the hand touching the wall to hold the handlebar and tried to steer. About 30 minutes everyday in only 3 consecutive days and voila - she can ride from one end to the other end of the corridor. Then we decided to descend and let her practice biking on the large pavement in front of the building. She became proficient in pedaling and steering her bike just after a few rounds, making left turns and right turns smoothly.
Mew was so excited at her new experience and we were also very proud of her. Learning to ride a bike is an important step in any childhood and watching your child eagerly mastering her two-wheels is undoubtedly a joy of parenthood. We all cannot wait for finding a new "real" junior bike with hand brakes for her.
Look at Mew learning to ride since her toddler years until now:
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
TOMMY IS 3 MONTHS OLD
 And here is the development charts of Tommy: both his weight and height are higher than 77% of the children of the same age of 3 months. Yay for a breastfed baby boy! Way to go!   |
Sunday, May 8, 2011
YOUR ANGEL
Author Unknown, Source Unknown
Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born. So one day he asked God: "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"
God replied, "Among the many angels, I chose one for you. She will be waiting for you and will take care of you."
"But tell me, here in Heaven, I don't do anything else but sing and smile, that's enough for me to be happy."
"Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day. And you will feel your angel's love and be happy."
"And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me, if I don't know the language that men talk?"
"Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."
"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"
"Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."
"I've heard that on earth there are bad men. Who will protect me?"
"Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."
"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."
"Your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you the way for you to come back to me, even though I will always be next to you."
At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from earth could already be heard, and the child in a hurry asked softly:
"Oh God, if I am about to leave now, please tell me my angel's name."
"Your angel's name is of no importance, you will call your angel: Mommy."
Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born. So one day he asked God: "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"
God replied, "Among the many angels, I chose one for you. She will be waiting for you and will take care of you."
"But tell me, here in Heaven, I don't do anything else but sing and smile, that's enough for me to be happy."
"Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day. And you will feel your angel's love and be happy."
"And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me, if I don't know the language that men talk?"
"Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."
"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"
"Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."
"I've heard that on earth there are bad men. Who will protect me?"
"Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."
"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."
"Your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you the way for you to come back to me, even though I will always be next to you."
At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from earth could already be heard, and the child in a hurry asked softly:
"Oh God, if I am about to leave now, please tell me my angel's name."
"Your angel's name is of no importance, you will call your angel: Mommy."
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