Being a Momstar has its own perks ;) I received this Palmer's hamper from Babychakra to review.
Here is my quick review of these products. The detailed description of these products can be found on the Amazon links shared below. You can also buy these products from Babychakra HERE.
The baby washis superb. I used it when I was traveling & it worked like a charm. Nothing harsh, very mildly fragranced and it can be used as a shampoo too. It left my toddler's skin & hair soft.
I loved the cocoa butter stretch marks cream a lot. I am 2 years postpartum so not sure those remaning stretch marks that I have will even go away now but the cream in itself if so mild & gets absorbed super quickly into the skin. The smell is so so good & pure, I love coffee so I had to love its smell. I have not used the baby bottom cream because we have passed the stage of diaper rashes, my son is toilet trained now :) But the description on the cover of the product looks good!
The skin therapy oil is awesome too! It is absolutely non-greasy & immensely moisturizing. All in all, the quality of the products is very good. I would certainly recommend them.
As most of you know, I have been associated with Babychakra for quite some time now! I have been contributing articles on early learning, parenting & Montessori to this awesome portal for parents that has evolved so fast & beautifully in the last few months.
About Babychakra
BabyChakra is the most trusted platform for parents in India. Whether you are looking to connect with other mothers, experts or childcare services, BabyChakra guarantees happier, healthier mothers and kids. BabyChakra is an award winning venture that revolutionizes how parents discover healthcare and education for their families. They are the one platform that brings all the help and support a new parents needs to have in one place:
They have the largest, most active community of young parents in India.
They have the top Experts in India on BabyChakra.
The largest base of maternity & childcare services & reviews on them are on BabyChakra.
They have the most comprehensive base of articles with DIY tips, recipes and developmental milestones.
Babychakra has its presence in various cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore but Pune (where I am based) is still on their cards to spread its wings. But luckily I got this opportunity to meet Babychakra team with whom I have been working online in this great event that they organized in association with Johnson & Johnson, a brand that has been in the child care arena since ages! When I got a call from Babychakra that they are going to have an event in Pune & I am the first person (a mommy blogger) that came to their mind to invite, it just made my day :) I counted days literally to be a part of the event because I knew if Babychakra is organizing something, it has to be a fun-filled event.
Little did I know that Johnson & Johnson as well, will leave a significant mark on me as a mother & an individual after the event. We did not know the agenda of this event beforehand but we knew it is going to be a moms & kids meet.
About The Event
The event started in the morning at 10 AM with the registrations. I was so excited to meet the Babychakra team in person, including the CEO & Founder Naiyya Saggi. What a lovely lady she is - elegant, soft spoken & down to earth. The hall was gradually full with moms like me, moms of infants, toddlers & some moms of elder kids too. It was such a warm ambiance that all of us moms connected to each other so quickly, many of the moms were totally stranger to me but the motherhood instinct in all of us made us connect beautifully while we had a nice cup of tea/coffee together outside the hall.
The best part of the event was there was a play area set up for toddlers right in the hall itself where our little ones were so busy playing & we moms could actually pay attention to what the event was all about :)
The event began with the introduction of Deepali Agarwal, the marketing manager at Johnson & Johnson. She is a brilliant speaker & kept us all awake & alive with her witty remarks amidst serious discussions. The agenda of the event became clearer as we moved ahead. Deepali helped us understand a lot of myths that exist around baby care products, we saw a couple of videos by experts explaining important gyaan, there were some quizzes too around Johnson & Johnson products and parenting in general.
Then some real fun part started, we were divided into teams & were given some DIY experiments to do that actually demonstrated us how Johnson & Johnson products fare as compared to other brands.
Wipes experiment - We were asked to squeeze out water through a syringe in a test tube from a baby wipe and compare it with another brand.
Testing Brand New Launched Baby Detergent - This event also marked a launch of Johnson's baby detergent & we used couple of sauces & colors to spoil a cloth & then wash it using this new detergent.
At the end, surprisingly our team won the contest, which means we were able to complete the experiments ahead in time!!! We got a gift hamper from Neutrogena - a beautiful one, yayyy!
Then the session was open for Q&A. Deepali was kind enough to take each & every question in a very mature & convincing way. The best part was that her answers had a scientific reason behind & the facts were not at all misguiding! The most crucial questions were around the lawsuit that was filed against Johnson brand about baby powder causing ovarian cancer. Deepali threw light on how & why the brand lost that case but won similar cases three times too. We all got to know how the products of Johnson are still #bestforbaby & how the brand has gotten over the controversy. Many moms, including me, who were skeptical about the brand products are now assured that Johnson is still as pure as it was when we were kids!
After that, there were Facebook Live sessions by we moms, Babychakra & Johnson guys! It was so much fun. You can go ahead & watch all the fun on Johnson Facebook Page HERE.
You can also check out my Instagram, Twitter & Facebook accounts where I posted about the event LIVE :)
The event was wrapped up by a wonderful lunch where we enjoyed networking with fellow moms & found ourselves feeding our kids some yummy kids friendly dishes too! The organizers had thought it off so well that they included special items for kids with very less spices.
We also got hampers & goodies from Babychakra & Johnson & Johnson at the end! My toddler was so eager to explore them & the nest day he demanded to use Johnson & Johnson shampoo, soap & oil for his bath :) And honestly I am loving their shampoo! It leaves my son's hair so soft & silky.
We also got gift voucher from Babychakra to shop from, if you do not know it yet, Babychakra now has an exclusive shop section that has some interesting items to pick. Since currently I am deep into parenting, early learning & Montessori (as you must have inferred by now from my blog), I ordered educational kit from their shop. It will reach me soon & my toddler is already questioning, what is coming in the parcel!!!
All in all, a brilliant day out for moms & kids, where I got to meet so many of my virtual friends in person for the first time, I got to meet the team of Babychakra, my son had a gala time in the play area & most importantly, we all got to know so much more about Johnson & Johnson brand & that it still is as pure & trustable as it was years ago, as they say, it is #bestforbaby !!!
I thank the entire team of Babychakra & Johnson for organizing such a memorable event for we moms & kids :)
Do you think you should start paying attention to your child's writing skills only when they start to write alphabets & numbers?
The answer is NO. It actually starts very early! Your child is already preparing himself to be able to write in future & you can aid his preparation with what is called "pre-writing exercises". I have compiled some really easy to do activities that can be done using simple things at home. They are engaging, educational & enriching.
What are pre-writing skills?
To put it simply, these are the skills that children need to develop, to be able to write. For example – holding a pencil, using a pencil to move around on the paper, ability to draw something, copy or colour it, ability to draw different lines, patterns, shapes etc. The skills encompass; hand and finger strength, directional movement, hand position, pencil grip, proper usage of large muscles like elbow and shoulder, proper usage of small muscles like wrist and fingers, hand-eye coordination, bilateral integration, object manipulation and so much more!
The best place to start prewriting activities is your home. You really do not need to invest in expensive materials to develop the mentioned skills. As complex as they sound, the skills are not very difficult to master. Provided you give the muchneeded exposure and stimulus to your child. In the article linked below, I am sharing some prewriting Montessori inspired activities that you can do with young toddlers (12 to 30 months)
Love is in the air with the Valentine's day approaching!
Sharing our set of Montessori inspired Valentine's day theme activities for my almost 2 year old son :) Have a look & pick any ideas you like for your child! I have tried to cover almost all key areas of Montessori in this set.
Fine Motor Skills
Practical Life Activity - Montessori Flower Arrangement
Maths
DIY Logic Puzzle
Craft Work Using Cotton Balls From Activity Above
Practical Life
Quick Science Experiment - Sink & Float
Stamping & Sticker Peeling - Fine Motor
For more details about the activities & explanation, watch this quick video, which also shows my son in action for some of the activities :)
These activities were also featured on BabyChakra.com, If you prefer reading text than the video, then check out my article HERE!
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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Pregnancy is a beautiful phase & it needs to be enjoyed to the fullest. We need to nurture ourselves as well as the foetus. It can be done in many ways, a very important tool being music. It is scientifically proven how music helps to heal & soothe an individual. Music is a therapy in itself. It achieves miraculous results for hormonal health. The foetus is no different. By third or fourth month of pregnancy, the foetus is able to hear the outside sounds. It is the right time to start exposing it to beautiful sounds & music.
Being a singer myself, I heard a lot of music during my pregnancy. It varied from Indian classical to Western classical to instrumentals to spiritual to Bollywood classics. And I cannot tell you enough about the positive effects it has had on my son.
My experience has been featured on BabyChakra. Click HERE to read more on this & to get links & pointers for good music that you can play to your foetus as well as to your baby after birth.
I am feeling so happy, content & grateful at this moment today!
I am finally done with publishing all the articles of my 18 days of christmasness series! It was a long but interesting project that challenged me on many fronts like creativity, time management, writing skills, photography & editing skills apart from coming up with 18 different activities that covered all the skills areas #Montessori suggests like #finemotor #grossmotor #sensory #language #culture #practicallife #music #Maths #Logic #science #arts #freeplay . I am happy with what I could do with more than 15 days of travel on & off whole of December. The series started on 15 December when I was travelling. I had submitted 11 articles to babychakra before I started my travel & schedule-posted them on my blog also. After coming back, I again got back to creating the activities & writing the remaining articles amidst unpacking, tons of laundry & entertaining my toddler :)
If you have liked even a single activity in the series, please give me a thumbs up here :) That will make my day!
For those, who are new here, THIS is the landing page of my 18 days kids activity series.
This is Day 18, the last day of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. We are ending this series today. The goal of this series was to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities! Hope you have found this series useful for your child. Of course, you can come back to it any time of the year to do these activities!
HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series!
DAY 18 - Today's activity is BAKING WITH KIDS
My 22 months old son was reading one of his books on his own & blabbering to himself. On a page, there was a cake. He stopped at that page, saw the cake for few seconds & then turned up to me saying, “I want to eat cake, I am hungry”, with those desperate eyes! Who could have said a no! He was adamant he wanted the cake right there & then and was getting impatient. So I thought let me involve him in the cake making process. That way he will get distracted from his “I want now, I want now”, learn that food has to be made & is not readily available. That he would appreciate the entire procedure when he actually sees & does it. And of course, with the benefits of practical life activities as Montessori tells us! We used THIS recipe.
Works on practical life, fine motor, sensorial, maths & sequencing skills.
For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra
This is Day 17, second last day of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. We are almost at the end of this series. The goal of this series is to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities! Hope you have found this series useful for your child. Of course, you can come back to it any time of the year to do these activities!
HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series!
DAY 17 - Today's activity is MONTESSORI NEW YEAR CELEBRATION
Works on science, language & gross motor skills.
Tweaking the traditional Montessori style birthday celebration to celebrate birthday of Mother Earth.
Here is an example setup (Image Source : BlossomVine). I am yet to do it for my son, will update this post with our own set of pics :)
For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra
This is Day 16 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. We are almost at the end of this series. The goal of this series is to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities! Hope you have found this series useful for your child. Of course, you can come back to it any time of the year to do these activities!
HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series!
DAY 16 - Today's activity is DIY ICE HOCKEY
Works on sensorial & motor skills.
Here is a step by step pictorial guide to make Ice Hockey.
Watch it in action in the video below, you will love it !!!
For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra
