Waldorf Inspired Wet on Wet Water Coloring With Kids - Duck

        

Me & my 3 year old son did wet on wet water coloring together for some art therapy! In Waldorf philosophy of alternative education, wet on wet coloring is very popular. This is a free hand style we did together. It is Spring season right now & we are reading about nature & birds these days, so my son chose to paint a duck.

Here are some bird related books I am reading to my 3 year old these days because it's spring time and my boy has been listening to koyal and other birds these days during our nature walks. We also made a nest using twigs & weaved them into pipe cleaner few days back.

Do you have any favorite kids books related to birds? I would love to know, do share in the comments below.

Since we are reading about birds these days, my son wanted to paint a duck. So we took this page as reference and did our wet on wet painting.

Here is our humble setup.

Products Used -

The brand of water color paper we used isnt showing up online, so I am linking up a similar water color paper of another brand for your reference.

This is how we started our work on the floor.

Our work midway. Left one is my 3 year old son's work & right one is mine. It was done free hand on wet paper. I am actually happy the way my son's artwork turned out to be. It is difficult for a child to do free hand painting. Of course I was guiding him verbally how & what to make.

After the painting was dry, I outlined both the paintings using black gel pen. This is our final outcome & I am very happy about it!

Have you done wet on wet water coloring?

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How To Make Ecofriendly Natural Homemade Holi Colors With Kids

Are you looking for a super simple recipe on how to make natural ecofriendly holi colors at home this year? Check out this tutorial where I tell you how to do that with kids from your kitchen ingredients. This year, let us play Holi with natural colors & refuse synthetic toxic colors!

Holi is a festival of colors & being a North Indian, I have enjoyed this festival immensely all these years. But in the recent past, I have become more aware towards nature & I really hate to see artificial synthetic toxic colors being used to smear each other. The water & soil are being polluted in the name of the festival & our skin and bodies are prone to so many issues if we use these colors. 

Last year, my son was 2 & I gave him plain simple water with a pichkari to play Holi with his friends. I also made a simple mixture of flour & turmeric to make yellow natural Holi color. This year I decided to make some more natural colors with my son.

So here are few eco friendly, natural homemade Holi Powder recipes that can be safely used for kids too.

Using Rice Flour & Food Grade Colors

Watch this video below to see my 3 year old son making his own natural Holi colors (dry Gulaal). All you need is rice flour, water & food grade colors. Instead of food grade colors, you can also use turmeric for yellow, beetroot for red & spinach for green. 

You might like other fun activities me & my son are doing this Spring season here in this YouTube Playlist.


Using Real Flowers 

You can sun dry rose or hibiscus for dry red color, tesu for dry saffron color, grind them & mix some flour to make the consistency nicer.

You can boil marigold flower in water for wet yellow color.

You might like this Holi song that describes the story of Holi in simple terms. Click here to watch.

Using Leaves/Vegetables

You can mix turmeric powder with any flour to make dry yellow color

You can mix heena powder with any flour to make dry green color

You can boil pieces of beetroot in water and strain the water for wet purple/maroon color

You might want to check out these simple fun activities for Holi that you can do with your kids. Click HERE to browse.

Do you have any more ideas, suggestions or recipes to make natural Holi colors? I would love to know! Please share with me in comments below.

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How To Make Gujiya - Indian Sweet - Easy Recipe - Holi Special

Holi is incomplete without sweets & Gujiya is a must have during Holi, specially in North India. I remember my mom making a bunch of gujiyas when I was in school. Here is a simple recipe & you can learn how to make this Indian sweet Gujiya.

How about celebrating this Holi with these home-made mouthwatering Gujiyas?

Now as you are aware you can make Guiiya during any festivals be it Holi or Diwali, follow these simple step-by-step instructions to make crispy gujiyas at your home.

Do share this recipe with your loved ones too.

You might like this Holi song that describes the story of Holi in simple terms. Click here to watch.

Ingredients

• 100 gms Almonds, chopped 
• 6 tbsp Cooking oil • 3 tbsp Raisins
• 200 ml Water
• 400 gms Sugar
• 500 gms Maida
• 4 tbsp of ground coconut
• 1 kg Khoya

Method

• Mix maida with 5 tbsp of oil using your fingers for 5 minutes.
• Make a soft dough and knead it lightly using water.
• Cover this dough with a wet cloth and leave aside for some time.
• Then in a frying pan, deep-fry the khoya till light brown in color.
• Add chopped almonds, sugar, raisins and grinded coconut, now mix well.
• Fry again for few minutes. Allow the mixture to cool.
• Stuff half of the chapati with the khoya mixture.
• Fold and draw the edges of chapati inwards to close.
• On slow fire, deep-fry the gujiya till golden brown.
• Take out using a sieve and drain the oil properly.
• Store them in an airtight container.
• Repeat the procedure with remaining dough. 

You might want to check out these simple fun activities for Holi that you can do with your kids. Click HERE to browse.

Now go ahead and start making this delicious sweet at your home!!!

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Top 4 Benefits Of Mazes For Kids & Free Maze Printable

Mazes are great for working on various skills for kids. Read on to know the benefits of mazes for children & also featured is a FREE maze printable / worksheet (Spring theme) for kids, which is powered by education.com. 

Mazes are loved by most of the kids & they provide a challenge for children that they enjoy! How the child solves a maze also provides a window to a therapist into the skill set of the child if therapy session is in progress. Mazes can also be taped to a wall at your child’s eye-level. Working on a vertical surface helps to promote wrist extension in kids.


Here are some benefits & reasons to do mazes with your child -

Fine Motor

Mazes require the child to control the pen/pencil through the maze without hitting the black lines. Fine motor skills are mastered by this very exercise that helps in writing later.

Visual Tracking

Mazes require the child to use his eyes to scan the maze in order to find possible solutions. Scanning is a great skill used for reading and writing, as it is important to scan from the left side of the paper to the right side.

Problem Solving

Mazes help the child to work on planning and problem solving skills to reach to the end of the maze.

Confidence

Mazes boost your child’s confidence like anything. Starting from easy to difficult mazes, a child can glide into the mazes gradually.

There are many websites that offer free printable maze worksheets for a variety of age levels and themes. 

Spring is in the air! This flowery maze is great pre-school practice for those fine motor skills. 

Download this FREE maze printable from HERE. 

This is powered by education.com , visit them for more fun educational activities.

MORE ABOUT EDUCATION.COM

Education.com provides learning resources in over 20 countries and six continents. Their digital resources, tools, and learning materials are developed by educational experts to incorporate leading pedagogical practices. They are useful in any type of teaching moment and many can be used to support national education standards. Their mission is to empower parents and teachers to help their children build essential skills and excel.

If you also have any activities ideas for kids, then we would love to feature them on this blog! Shoot us an email using the contact form HERE along with a brief about you & your idea & we will get in touch with you soon!

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Sewing For Kids (Beginner) - Tutorial - Waldorf Handwork - Valentine Day Craft - Felt Hearts (VLOG)

This is a tutorial for Waldorf inspired handwork - sewing project for kids. This beginner level project is suitable for kindergartners & preschoolers. In this tutorial, watch my almost 3 year old son doing his first ever sewing project & making a stuffed heart from felt. We did this project as a part of Valentine's Day craft.

Watch the video below to know the step by step process of making felt hearts.

I would love to see what handwork you have done with your child. Do post your links in the comments below.

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Do not forget to follow "The K Junction" on Facebook page & closed Facebook group, Twitter and Instagram for day to day updates that might not always find a place on this blog. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to know more about our early learning journey, DIY & Montessori & Waldorf inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

Hope to see you around. Happy Parenting!

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Welcoming Spring - Celebrating Harvest Festival (Sankranti/Pongal) In India - Activity For Kids (VLOG)

Check out this small & simple setup that you can easily for kids of any age to welcome Spring. We in India, celebrate harvest during Spring & for that I got my son stalks of Sorghum & Wheat & showed him in a hands-on way the steps from harvest till the flours reach our homes for consumption.
I set this up for my almost 3 year old son & he absolutely loved it! Take a look at this video below & grab some ideas :)

Just like our Winter activities HERE, our playlist for Spring activities is HERE & it will include Spring storytellings, crafts, activities, festival celebrations & whatever we do this Spring season. I will keep adding those videos in this playlist. So do keep a check!

Related - Check out this amazing story & activity book that celebrates the Spring festivals in a hands-on way & shows how there is unity & diversity in India - My Hopscotch Journey. Grab your copy from HERE!

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Do not forget to follow "The K Junction" on Facebook page & closed Facebook group, Twitter and Instagram for day to day updates that might not always find a place on this blog. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to know more about our early learning journey, DIY & Montessori & Waldorf inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

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DIY Easter Resurrection Garden & Storytelling For Kids (VLOG)

Easter is here & since I want to raise a multi-cultural child, we not being Christians does not stop me from telling my 26 months old son about Easter, its story & its significance.

Easter or Resurrection Sunday, is a festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial after his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary. It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. Source - Wikipedia 

I thought & looked around for activities for my son based on Easter theme but most of them were egg based. I do have his Montessori shelf setup with some egg-themed activities (Will cover the shelf in a separate video) but I wanted to make something more meaningful to make him learn the real meaning of Easter. So I came up with this DIY Easter garden. I have shared the setup & details in this video below. Hope you like it :) I would love to read your comments!

If you are here, you might be interested to look at my Christmas Nativity Storytelling setup as well, that I had set up last Christmas for my toddler - HERE & HERE as well.

And now some pictures of my son with the Easter Garden setup!

Listening to crucification story

Putting Jesus inside the tomb

Putting the stone to close the tomb

Bonus, now a super fun activity with Easter egg & kinetic sand! Just put some kinetic sand into the Easter egg & shake shake shake! Open it & see an ellipsoid :) Watch the video below for details.

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Do not forget to follow "The K Junction" on Facebook page & closed Facebook group, Twitter and Instagram for day to day updates that might not always find a place on this blog. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to know more about our early learning journey, DIY & Montessori & Waldorf inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

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The Story Of Holi - Song (VLOG)

It is HOLI season here! And every festival has a legend behind it. We as parents should teach our kids the story behind every festival to make them culturally rich individuals. 

The story of Holi was weaved into a Hindi verse form by my father, he is a tremendous writer! He wrote this poem in just 5 minutes in the lunch break at work yesterday. I wanted to create a song out of these lovely lines, especially for kids because kids love music & they tend to remember facts via music in a much better way. So the singer/musician in me tweaked the lyrics slightly here & there while composing a simple tune for it & sang it. So here is the song/poem, whatever you want to call it. 

Do make your kids listen to it this Holi season :) I would love to have your feedback!

Here are the lyrics of the song in Devnagri script - 

असुरों का राजा हिरण्यकश्यप

वरदान मिला बना अजय

अत्याचार करता प्रजा पर

सब पर फैला उसका भय

बेटा प्रह्लाद भक्त था

इश्वर का वो भक्त था 

राजा को नही भाता था

अपने घमंड में पिता पुत्र को

मार डालना चाहता था

बहन होलिका को वर था

कोई जला नहीं सकता था 

कैसी भी हो आग मगर

कोई जला नहीं सकता था

हिरण्यकश्चप के मन में वो 

विचार गंदा आया था 

होलिका के गोद  में जलती 

आग में बेटा बिठाया था 

लेकर प्रह्लाद को गोद में

जलती आग में गयी होलिका

हुआ नही प्रह्लाद को कुछ भी

राख हो गयी स्वयम होलिका

ईश्वर भक्ति की जीत हुई

यूँ सबने होली मनाई थी 

 त्याग और भक्ति की जीत पे

पिचकारियां चलाई थी 

आपस की दुश्मनी भूल कर

 गले सभी मिल जाते हैं

हर साल फाल्गुन पूर्णिमा को

मिल के होली मनाते हैं।।

आओ करें हम सब ये फैसला 

प्यार से धरती सीचेंगे 

सभी जात  और सभी धर्म को 

एक सामान ही देखेंगे 

आओ करें हम सब ये फैसला 

प्यार से धरती सीचेंगे 

Wish you a very Happy Holi & Happy Parenting :)

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Holi Themed Fun Hands-On Activities For Kids

We did some #holi themed activities, basically had fun with colors!

Painting with bursting water balloons (arts & gross motor)

Painting with syringe - a mini pichkaari (arts & fine motor)

Holika dahan at home (science experiment)

Marble painting (arts & gross motor)

Making eco friendly colors - Click HERE to know the recipes.

Letter matching activity (language)

Book reading

You can read more details about the activities here at My Article On BabyChakra

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Montessori Inspired Makar Sankranti/Pongal/Uttaraayan Activities For Kids (VLOG)

Makar Sankranti is the first festival in India for the month of January. It marks a significant movement in the zodiac – the arrangement of the earth’s dial around the sun – the movement brings about a change in the way we experience the planet itself! The festival is celebrated by various names & rituals in different parts of the country - Makar Sankranti, Lohri, Uttaraayan, Bihu, Pongal. It also marks the harvest season.

I have tried to incorporate the essence of these various celebrations in the activities that I set up for my 23 months old son. I had set up Montessori inspired shelf works & we also did some hands-on activities apart from the shelf. I am sharing few pics below but it would be much better if you watch the two videos below to know & understand more about what we did :)

This is the Montessori inspired shelf work video 

And this is the video of all the hands-on activities & crafts we did on this festival theme.

We experienced Lohri bonfire & also made a painting craft of the Lohri bonfire with twigs & paints.  We also went to the cowshed & fed cows to experience Pongal rituals. We washed the cow figurine with colored water & learnt about color mixing in this process. Then we worshipped the cow. To experience Uttarayan, we went kite-flying & my son enjoyed a lot. To celebrate the harvest festival, we also learnt how ploughing is done in a hands-on way using his tractor miniature. And my son also planted wheat seeds to welcome the spring.

You can check them out all in this video below.

Hope you enjoy the activities & the video :)

Babychakra.com also featured my set of activities as a part of their toddler learning activities series, you can read my article HERE.

If you do not have time to watch the videos, here are very few pics of all the fun we had celebrating this festival!

Do let me know how you celebrated this beautiful festival :)

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Do not forget to follow "The K Junction" on Facebook page & closed Facebook group, Twitter and Instagram for day to day updates that might not always find a place on this blog. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to know more about our early learning journey, DIY & Montessori & Waldorf inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

Hope to see you around. Happy Parenting!

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