Playground at Watten Estate

We have found our favorite playground! It is shady, has lots of seating areas for moms, boasts a sand play area, a web climbing structure, swings, slides, a flying fox, more climbing structures, lots of green grass just for running around... It is big yet small enough for me to watch my boys from a bench. The play areas are kinda separated so I don't have kids trying to run in-front or behind the swings... Even though they were quite a few kids playing at the same time, it didn't feel crowded. And I liked how there was stuff for both the big kids and the little kids. :)

Today, I sat there reading a book while my boys built sand castles for an hour! Bliss!

Pack your sand play toys, a picnic... Bring along a good book, and enjoy! It is near the junction of Hillcrest Road and Watten Estate Road.

This Mama Loves to Read

If you love to read, you'd probably like to know where to find good books, and where to find them cheap. The Groovy Giraffe is a Singapore based website that stocks remainder books. Remainder books are new, overstock, overprint books. Most of them are in excellent condition and cheaper than other bookstores. Use discount code "mamasdesk" to enjoy 5% discount off all books (except 'Bargains'). Free shipping applies for orders above S$60. Books are typically shipped within 3 days. 

I share some of my favourites here with you...

Books for the New Mom

Humphrey Baby Record Book by Sally Hunter

Record your baby's firsts in this beautiful gift book. It will be a treasured keepsake in the years to come.

Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel

Is your baby ready for solids? This book gives you a whole lot of yummy ideas.

Books for Babies

Ladybird Touch & Feel by various authors

A series of board books with touch and feel elements that little hands will love.

Elmer's Colours by David McKee

The colourful elephant that many kids love. I bought this book to introduce colours to my toddler. He loves it! Find many more titles in the same series at The Groovy Giraffe. 

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

A classic tale that tells of how Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare express their love for each other.

Books for Toddlers

Charlie & Lola

The endearing brother and sister pair that we so love to read about. Numerous titles from the same series available from The Groovy Giraffe. 

Charlie Cook's Favourite Book by Julia Donaldson

Charlie Cook is reading a book about pirate, who is reading a book about Goldilocks, who is reading a book about a knight... a delightful book with familiar characters that your child would recognise.

Julia Donaldson is one of our favourite children authors. We love the other books that she's written like The Gruffalo, Gruffalo's Child, The Smartest Giant in Town, and The Snail and the Whale. The Groovy Giraffe might just be stocking more of Julia Donaldson's books in the near future. Check back often!

One Fish Two Fish Ref Fish Blue Fish by Dr Seuss

Find this and more more titles by Dr Seuss at The Groovy Giraffe.

The Berenstain Bears Book Set

I grew up watching the Berenstain Bears on TV and was glad to be any to introduce them to my boys.

Adults

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Author of the bestseller 'The Tipping Point', Gladwell brings us another book that examines the road/s that lead to success.

The Book of Inventions (National Geographic)

As with all National Geographic publications, this is a coffee table book with many beautiful photographs about the many inventions that we use in our daily lives.

Find these and many more great books at The Groovy Giraffe! Remember to use the discount code "mamasdesk" to get 5% off your order.

Book Review: Emily Lim's Picture Books

I first picked up Emily Lim's picture books before I even had kids. I was drawn to the beautiful illustrations and I liked how Emily has cleverly woven life lessons into the stories so simply and beautifully. I have since introduced four of her most popular books to my boys, and we've read them countless times. These 4 books have been recently been reprinted and made Penpal Whizz compatible. The narrations made the words come alive and the boys get to play simple games with their Penpal Whizz.

Bunny Finds the Right Stuff

Bunny Finds the Right Stuff tells the story of an unhappy bunny who did not like the way he looked. He found himself flat footed, floppy and short of stuffing. He went about searching for ways to fill himself up but ends up in a big mess, causing him to feel even more blue.

His friends learnt of his predicament and went about helping to make him feel better. Children read about how bunny's friends rallied around him and went about giving a little bit of themselves to cheer him up. A heart warming story about friendship that many young ones can relate to.

Prince Bear & Pauper Bear

Pauper bear lived in a toy shop. He was poorly stitched, his eyes did not match, he was forgotten and unloved. He longed to be picked up by a child who would love him and play with him. Prince bear on the other hand was well stitched and wore a crown. He thought highly of himself and was also looking forward to the day that someone would buy him and bring him home. A couple of days before Christmas, a little girl came to the toy shop and brought Prince bear to her lovely big house. Pauper bear looked on sadly. Soon after, a little boy who did not have much money came by and asked to buy a teddy bear. The shop keeper gave him Pauper bear for free.

We read about how the lives of Prince bear and Pauper bear changed as they entered the house of the girl and boy. A story about love, friendship and a boy with a big heart.

Just Teddy

Just teddy was made by a master toy maker in a toy factory. He often thought he was different from the other toys in the factory and tried hard to fit in with everyone else. His journey of finding himself brought him into the arms of a little girl who loved him just the way he was. 

In this story, children learn that each of us are fearfully and wonderfully made, and special in our very own way. There is no need to change the way we look to fit in, because we are all "one-of-a-kind".

The Tale of Rusty Horse

Rusty horse was an old rocking horse that was forgotten by everyone. He used to be a favourite with the children but now that he is old and rusty, no one really wanted to ride on him anymore. That made him really sad. He longed to be a real horse so he can take children on horse-back rides. One day he met a fairy who granted his wish... he became a real horse! Read about Rusty's adventure in this delightful book.

  

GIVEAWAY

Emily Lim will be giving away 4 of her books to 2 of my blog readers (2 books for each reader). To enter, simply follow the Rafflecopter instructions below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In addition, the distributors of Pen Pal Whizz is also giving away an $80 voucher which you can use to buy either the Pen Pal Whizz, or many more Pen Pal Whizz books to add to your collection. Send in your entries for the draw here.

Emily Lim's books are available at: 

Kinokuniya Bookstores

Popular Bookstores

MPH Bookstore (Raffles City) 

Tango Mango (Tanglin Mall) 

Big Bookshop (Harbourfront) 

OG Albert Rainbow Shop (Robinson Road) 

Attic Pals (Tanglin Mall) 

Smart Alley (Centrepoint & Changi Point)

Pen Pal Whizz Review

Pen Pal Whizz is an educational tool that is not only able to play back pre-recorded narrations of your child's favourite stories, but also able to engage your child thru games and songs. It has an in-built memory of 4GBs, which means it can store over 100 books at any one time. Each Penpal Whizz comes pre-loaded with Pen Pal Whizz enabled books. Saves us busy mums the hassle of having to download the audio files to our computer, and then connecting the device so we can transfer the files. This was one of the main draws of Pen Pal Whizz for me. We were using a similar product previously, but the small memory of that product meant that we could store less than 15+ books, and each time my boys wanted to read something that was not loaded on the reading pen, I'd have to connect the device to my computer, delete a previously loaded audio file before transferring a new audio file to the pen. Which busy mum has time to do that? Not me! The only books I need to download to my Penpal Whizz are the newly released titles. But since there is a large in-built memory, it means I do not need to delete any of the preloaded books, but just add on the new files.

I was also delighted to know that the Pen Pal Whizz can read Chinese! In fact, not just Chinese, but any language! There are hundreds of Pen Pal Whizz enabled books and new titles are added every month. I have trouble reading Chinese books to my boys as I hardly read/write Chinese ever since I was done with my last Chinese exam in school. Reading Chinese books with Pen Pal Whizz is a breeze. The boys are more motivated to pick up a Chinese book to read, and they get to learn accurate pronunciation. One of the Penpal Whizz enabled books, is an English-Chinese dictionary. This book teaches us how to say commonly used words/phrases in English and Chinese. I often have Nathan asking me... "mommy, how do you say ??? in Chinese"... so this is a book we have been looking at over and over again.

Another feature I love about the Pen Pal Whizz is the ability to record and playback our own voices with the touch of just a few 'buttons'. This allows me to make my non Pen Pal Whizz enabled books, Pen Pal Whizz enabled! I surprised Noah by recording my voice as I read one of his favourite books. He instantly recognised my voice and was thrilled that "it is mommy"!

The Pen Pal Whizz bundle includes one Pen Pal Whizz reading pen (choose from 2 colours - blue or pink), charger, calculator card, MP3 card, standing dock and 18 books. The retail price is $188. There are 3 book bundles that you can choose from, categorized by age group. You can specify if you'd like the book bundle for pre-schoolers, lower primary students or upper primary students.

Pen Pal Whizz Bundle

GIVEAWAY

We'll be giving away an $80 voucher which you can use to purchase a Penpal Whizz bundle set. If you already own a Penpal Whizz, this voucher can also be used to purchase additional Penpal Whizz enabled books. To enter, follow the steps below. Giveaway closes 15 Nov 2013. Stay tuned for other Pen Pal Whizz books giveaways!

Giveaway closed! The winner is Lyndis Lee! Congratulations.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mommy & Me Outfits

Thinking of what to get as Mother's Day presents? Check out our mommy & me outfits from Mama Shoppe!

Debbie G from Picapie road tested some of our clothes and did a blog review of our very first collection. Check out their adorable models J and Little E!

We are looking for business partners who share the same vision to market and distribute our handmade clothing collection through your distribution channels or retail shops. Do drop us an email at bizdev@mamashoppe.com if you are interested to partner with us.

Road Safety Park

Those born in the 1980s will remember the Road Safety Park located within East Coast Park. It was a popular attraction for school excursions, and the last time I was there was when I was in Primary 5 some 20 years back.

Several months back, I brought Nathan cycling at East Coast Park. We cycled past Road Safety Park and I was pleasantly surprised to find the gate open. But since I wasn't sure if we were actually allowed to enter, we didn't go in.

Subsequently, I found out that the park is open to the public and we're free to use it as long as there are no school / community group bookings. So we made our way down yesterday...

Our first stop was the petrol kiosk...

Then we stopped by 7 eleven to grab a snack...

We got to see the different road signs, and I explained to Nathan what they meant...

Nathan learnt to stop at red lights...

And to stop for pedestrians. It was a weekday so we were the only people on the 'road' together with a group of old folks, who were getting briefed on how to use the roads safely. They were really sweet, thanking Nathan for stopping for them to cross...

He brought his bike for regular servicing...

And sent it to VICOM for its annual inspection...

We cycled past bus stops, went under overhead bridges... cycled on straight roads and roads with a slight bend...

On our journey, he saw a man cutting down a tree illegally, so he went to the Police Station to make a report...

All in all, it was a nice change from the usual cycling spots we frequent. I'm sure Nathan will be asking me to bring him back here again. There's practically no one using the park except us on weekdays, might be a bit more crowded on weekends, but that'll probably be more fun too!

This Mama Loves Fisher-Price Toys

My kids are surrounded by Fisher-Price toys... a few of them are bought, some of them are gifts, and most of them are hand-me-downs. I suppose they do make good and durable toys, and hence, the popularity. Some of the Fisher-Price toys my kids are playing with / have played with include...

Infant-to-Toddler Rocker

Activity Station 

Ride On

Phone

Doll House

The doll house above is more than 10 years old!

Recently, Fisher Price sent us their Brilliant Basics Medical Kit. The kit comes with a stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, otoscope, thermometer, syringe and a bandage play piece. Everything fits nicely in a small red bag.

Dr Nathan

Getting an injection

Showing how a stethoscope is used

Looking into the ear with an otoscope

All's good!

Nathan enjoyed playing doctor with it, and it gave me an opportunity to explain in brief what each instrument does. It makes doctor visits less intimidating for him, since he had a better idea of what to expect. 

Disclaimer: We received the Fisher-Price Medical Kit for this review. All opinions are my own.