Irfan and me

This holiday, I can say that I had spent a lot of time with Irfan. He is also having his holidays, so I seized the opportunity to spend time with him, every hour of the day. Alim was away on a rugby trip for a few days so for about 5 days, it was just Irfan and me at home.
I think when school reopens, I would be the one having difficulty parting with him, especially the first day of school. :( I never thought I could enjoy the company of a2+ year old as much as I did. At this age, these toddlers are able to have a two way communication and they do make sense, well..most times.
His concentration span has a also improved a great deal so I could actually enjoy some quiet moments with him completing 4 to 6 pieces puzzles. I'm surprised he could actually complete these puzzles at one seating with full concentration; given the abundance of energy he has.
One day, we spent almost half the day, moulding playdoh. He wanted me to mould 3 people; ayah, ibu and irfan. His job was to add in the eyes, nose, mouth, ears and shoes. He also requested that I built 'ayah's car' for the family to go out shopping.




Irfan in blue, ayah in green (check out the Elvis cum P Ramlee hair) and me in pink.

Playdoh is definitely one of my favourite toy now, not only it encourages creativity but you can teach a million and one things to your toddler through playing play doh. From our little activity, he managed to learn a lil about colours, body parts and size. I just tried to extend what he knew and introduce a few new ideas which Im sure he didnt know. The other day, we moulded animals and he told me that birds must have wings, snake is long and must be rolled and an elephant have a long nose. I took the opportunity to introduce some animals he didn't know and moulded them, whilst making him put the body parts. Great teaching tool, isnt it and most importantly it's a lot of fun!
Over the holidays, one of the things I wanted to do with Irfan was to expose him to more things, and especially to work a lil on his phonics and his colour recognition. But the most important thing is to weave them into play and make it fun, fun , fun! That way, both of us can enjoy the activity and he can also pick a thing or two.
I have been introducing him to colours for a while now, but he is taking a pretty long time to recognise them. Actually I find it surprising that he could recognise shapes quicker than colours. So during the holidays, I looked around the house and collected objects which are blue, yellow, green and red and mixed them all up. I deliberately chose items which he liked, which are as real as possible, like bananas, oranges, apples, peas....things which he likes touching but seldom got a chance to. I took 4 boxes and put 2 same coloured items in each box and ask irfan to find other items which are of the same colour. Of course, he enjoyed the idea of walking around finding things and putting them in boxes.
From this activity, I realized he is able to group based on colours. But the problem is, he could not remember what the colour is called.
Now, Im thinking of how to teach him names of colours in a fun and exciting way. Actually I liked it that I have to find creative ways to make sure the activity is interesting enough to sustain Irfan's limited attention. It keeps the activities fun.
Another exciting and powerful teaching tool, is playing make-believe. At 3 years old, they enjoy make-believe play so I took the opportunity to capitalise on this interest of his.
At the moment, his Mickey Mouse and teddy bear are his faithful companions. He will always take mickey mouse for himself and hands me the teddy bear. The other day, Mickey mouse, teddy bear, irfan and me went to a 'make believe' restaurant and we ordered different kinds of food and drinks. There were really a lot of teaching opportunities just from the pretend conversations we've had. I followed his lead but I also tried to put in some details and asked him some questions which made him see other possibilities Halfway through 'eating' , he said Mickey Mouse urgently wanted to 'pee', so he rushed Mickey Mouse to the pretend toilet. Soon he came back, said, "Dah pee" and started eating. I asked him if Mickey Mouse had washed his hands because he had just went to the toilet and his hands are full of germs.
I really had so much fun playing with him and every lil playtime with him can be a teachable moment. He is talkative and once I get his full attention, he is very responsive and engaged. So my challenge is always to make my activities exciting and able to capture his interest. But sometimes, he comes up with the activities and I just simply play along.
I wonder who will he play with him when school reopens. He will learn in school for 3 hours and when he gets back, he will usually be watching TV. I must admit he has learnt quite a lot from TV; some good and some not so good things. But it would be great if there is someone to play with him and make play, a fun teachable moment.
School will start in 2 days, and I am sure 'looking forward' to it.