Coloured Hearts.

It’s been a while since we’ve been home, just the 3 of us. The other day when Luqman was sick, we spent the week at my parents' house and commuted to work every day so that Luqman could recover under optimum conditions. Then, it was AidilAdha and we spent a few days in Melaka.

So, after all that time travelling and being away from home, all I wanted to do last weekend was to stay in, just the 3 of us.

But Luqman, having taken up my love for jalan-jalan when I was pregnant, gets restless pretty easily, especially when we spend too many hours indoors, just idling. So, I knew that I had to cook up some activities to get him off his boredom while we settled all the undone chores while we were away from home.

Since my boys slept in late on that Saturday, I decided to “get cooking” in the kitchen.

Only this time round, it didn’t involve any boiling, baking, simmering or anything of the sort.

All I needed was 1 cup salt, 1 cup flour, 1 cup water and some food colouring. And of course, my fingers.

And since I only had 2 colours in my kitchen, I only managed to come up with these 3 – homemade “paint” for Luqman’s indoor activity.

  

when my brother saw this photo, he said the caption should be "Luqman, the Mosquito Murderer"| Quite apt, I must say, hehe.

Oh, boyyyy, the Boy REALLY had fun I tell you! It was such as great way to coax him into getting into the bathroom (he’s currently having issues with taking off his clothes, I’m still baffled as to why) and the best thing is that not only did it keep him occupied (of course, under my very strict supervision) without involving a gadget of any sort (which will eventually spoil his eyes way before his time, I am sure. yes, I'm old school, just shoot me!), this activity involved homemade ingredients, which are cheap, safe and easily found in my kitchen.

I know it’s actually easy to get store bought paint, but I know my Boy way too well and had anticipated that his curiosity would lead him to want to taste his paint, which he did. Man, did he get the shock of his life, it was SO SALTY (yes, I tasted and tested before I let him play with it)! After that initial shock, he didn’t repeat the same and continued playing and painting with his hands, on my bathroom wall.

So far, I think this is the most practical home activity yet, because it doesn’t involve Luqman creating “art” on my walls, or my floor or on my furniture, which are thankfully dark-coloured (smart move, Mama and Dadddy!) and so, it doesn’t frustrate him because we aren’t constantly telling him “No” or stopping him midway his “creativity”. After we both got tired of painting the walls and each other (hehe) all I had to do was to wash off the “paint” with  a hose (to which Luqman responded with “Alaaaaaaa” each time he saw the colours trickle off the walls, sumpah comel gila, tak boleh belah puji anak sendiri haha). And my bathroom wall went back to its original state!

Oh, just so you know, after our painting session, I finally bought a new packet of salt, after being married for almost 3 years! Hahaha!

I highly recommend this, like seriously!

(especially to those with salt you don’t know what to do with and those who don’t cook, hahaha)

(eh, tapi saya masak ye kat rumah, tak pakai salt banyak je. perlu ke cerita? hahah tak tahu lah!)

And to those who are thinking of keeping your house and wall squeaky clean, think again!

There’s more to scribbling than you think ;)

 Read Here: Developmental Stages of Scribbling

And of course, you can Google "Benefits of Scribbling in Child Development" for further reading. 

Happy trying!