How do you play at home? Do you run out of ideas sometimes? Tell me I am not alone.. please?

Confession of a working-cum-stay-at-home mum: I am tired and so very lazy to engage in play time with my kids (at times). Half the time (ok – maybe most of the time!) I wish that I am chilling at a cafe, having a nice cuppa with a warm pastry and a yummy good book. BUT the mummy-duty heart overruled.

Then again, when I see my little ones chuckle, have a good time of laugh and play, learn a new word, the twinkle in their eyes when they understand you and etc; it’s all worth it.

That cuppa can wait. 🙂

I enjoyed reading blogs and surfing the web for ideas on purposeful play for my boys. There are really amazing mummies with great lesson ideas! But let’s put that aside for today.

Just sharing a little on simple fun we have at home with our boys:

Is it really obvious that Daddy wouldn’t mind having a daughter? Sharing a laugh together as a family; take one for the family, Eizac. 😀

When all else fail, let them have a ride. Daddy’s favourite stance; the boys are not complaining.

I have 2 boys and the older one – Xi En – is fascinated with remote controls, plugs and anything electrical since a young age. He had successfully taken apart our $700 baby monitor, stand fans, chairs, digital cameras, countless remote controllers and more. He has a personal box of batteries whereby he is the master “batteries-changer” should any toys ran out. Leveraging on his interest, we taught him the physics (plus and minus signs on batteries), chemistry (what happens when you put your fingers into the socket holes), maths (add up the no.of electrical plugs he amassed) and etc.

With no. 2 – Eizac – it’s probably too early to tell. Parenting a 2nd child is somewhat like God giving us a 2nd chance to not make the same mistakes we did with No. 1!

Xi En was exposed to gadgets at a really young age. He was a fussy one when it comes to meal times and social occasions; and thus we whipped out the Ipad, iphones and television programmes all too readily and too early. With Eizac, we are determined to keep him away from such exposures till an older age. As such, we are consciously trying to spend more time together as a family playing make-up games, pretend play and purchasing more purposeful toys.

One such toy which was gifted to Eizac recently is the Fisher-Price Love to Play Puppy (Laugh & Learn Series). 

In all true honestly, I almost dismissed it as a “regular” soft toy till we took it out of its packaging. This clever pup is surprisingly chockfull of many play-and-learn opportunities.

It comes in 2 interactive play modes (Learning Time and Musical Fun) and 10 Sing-Along songs such as Pat-a-Cake, Itsy Bitsy Spider and more. It never hurt to have more songs packed into a toy to entertain our little ones.

Through the interactive mode, Puppy teaches alphabet, numbering, counting, parts of the body, colors, feelings and more. Besides sounds and music, it helps there is a little lit-up heart which attracts the little ones’ attention too.

“Love to Play Puppy” is suitable for age 6 to 36 months and I can testify why it’s such a wide age group.
At 9+ months, Eizac cannot sing or clap along with the Pup but he’s captivated by the bright colors, the music and also where the music originates from.

At 48 months, Xi En sings along to all the songs and explored all the interactive modes on behalf of his brother. It was good enough to hold his attention for a few days. Thus, I can foresee Eizac growing up with Puppy. Besides being soft and cuddly, its interactive mode accompanies a growing child’s learning journey.

More ideas on how to engage in “Puppy Play” can be found on Fisher-Price website.

Have a chuckling fun family weekend ahead! 

Disclaimer: We received the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn “Love to Play Puppy” as part of the Fisher-Price Play Ambassador programme for review purpose. No other compensation was received. Opinions and photos remain ours.