My Hopscotch Journey - Story & Activity Book For Kids Showcasing India's Unity In Diversity - Book Review

My Hopscotch Journey is a story & activity book for kids showcasing India's unity in diversity. It has a story weaved into the festival of Makar Sankranti & how it is celebrated differently with different names in different states of India. Apart from the story, it also has an amazing set of engaging & educational activities for toddlers, kindergartners & little older kids too. It has over 200 stickers for the related activities & some craft supplies too. Check out the inside pages, review & buy link in this post.

As promised, here is a video review of this beautiful book - My Hopscotch Journey - written by Kajal Dharod from Your Learning Capsules. If you are a regular follower of my blog, you must have seen Kajal's previous books that were received so very well by fellow parents - Interactive Diwali Book  and All About Christmas Book.

Publisher - Your Learning Capsules
Age Group - 3 Years +
Price - Rs. 249 (FREE shipping anywhere in India)

Click HERE to buy this book!

BUY NOW to showcase India's unity in diversity to your kids this Republic day. This will certainly give you child a whole new experience of the celebration of Makar Sankranti festival in India.

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Related - You might also like these Montessori inspired, fun, educational & hands-on engaging activities for the festival of Makar Sankranti that I did for my child last year.

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Here are few pages from this book and my almost 3 year old son enjoying the activity of taking a dip in the river in West Bengal :)

You may like more of our featured products & discounts related to early learning for kids HERE.

Click HERE to buy this book!

Check out YourLearningCapsules.com for more such awesome stuff for your kids and some free printables of activities!

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Related - Check out HERE, how I welcomed Spring (harvest) season with my son during Sankranti, where we explored how grains like Jowar, Wheat after harvest, going through so many stages, finally come to our homes. This helped my son appreciate that efforts that go into farming & growing food.

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Disclaimer : I received this book for free in return for a review but the views shared are honest and solely mine. I believe in using the products/service myself before putting up the review or opinion about them 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-inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

Hope to see you around. Happy Parenting!

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All About Christmas - Story & Activity Book For Kids - Book Review

All About Christmas is a story & activity book for kids based on the Christmas theme. It has the Nativity story, facts & stories about Santa Claus, and an amazing set of engaging & educational activities for toddlers, kindergartners & little older kids too. It has over 400 stickers for the related activities. Check out the inside pages, review & buy link in this post.

As promised, here is a video review of this beautiful Christmas book - All About Christmas - written by Kajal Dharod from Your Learning Capsules. If you are a regular follower of my blog, you must have seen Kajal's Diwali activity book few months back. Me & my 2 year old liked it a lot! You can check out Diwali book HERE.



Publisher - Your Learning Capsules
Age Group - 2.5 Years +
Price - Rs. 349 (FREE shipping anywhere in India)

Click HERE to buy this book.

BUY NOW so that the book reaches you well before Christmas this year! This will certainly give your kids an enriching experience!

Here are few pages from this activity book that my almost 3 year old son has done.

You may like more of our featured products & discounts related to early learning for kids HERE.

Click HERE to buy this book.

Check out YourLearningCapsules.com for more such awesome stuff for your kids and some free printables of activities!

I also have a FREE collection of 18 Montessori Inspired DIY activities for Christmas & New Year from the year 2016 & you can do those activities as well with your kids! Check out the entire collection HERE. 

Disclaimer : I received this book for free in return for a review but the views shared are honest and solely mine. I believe in using the products/service myself before putting up the review or opinion about them 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-inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

Hope to see you around. Happy Parenting!

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This Diwali Gift Learning - Diwali Gift Ideas For Children - Open Ended Learning Experiences

Are you looking for Diwali gift ideas for children this year? Are you bored of buying the same old sweets or crackers or clothes as gifts & looking for better gift options that kids will remember in the years to come? Then do something different this year & gift learning, memories & experiences to kids! Read on to know more.

Diwali, the most important and widely celebrated festival for Hindus, commemorates the victory of good over evil. It is the festive time when families get together, everyone indulges on sweets, lit up diyas, illuminate homes, children burst fire crackers and everyone has a great time.

I just love Diwali! It is my favorite time of the year because of the positivity, cheerfulness & festival fervor in the air! It is customary to gift sweets, crackers, clothes etc to kids in our friends & family members. Why not do something different this year? Let us gift learning to kids. Sounds different? Let me tell you how this can be done in so many ways. I am listing some learning gift ideas for kids because at the end of the day, kids remember experiences & memories and that gives them learning for life. They do not remember that they got chocolates & sweets as gifts!


Excursions

Kids love outdoors, be it a simple visit to a nearby park. This Diwali let us keep them away from screens by gifting them our time & take them out for excursions. Depending upon the age & interest of your child, you can take him/her to a green farm, plant nursery, dam, boating, camping, fort, trek, adventure sports trip, amusement park or even just a long drive in the outskirts of the city. Nature is the best teacher & kids learn the best when they are amidst nature.

Field Trips

Did you know even a simple trip to a post office or a super market can be a learning experience for a child? You can even take your child to a temple over a hill, a fire station, museum or any such place. My toddler loves visiting new places. It gives us a new dimension to our never-ending conversations. And a holistic learning is already going on during such outings.


Books, Books & More Books

Nothing beats the smell & sight of books for me. They are never enough for me, just the space is less to store them at home. I have hundreds of books for myself & my toddler too & I still do not stop buying! Gift your child a bundle of books this Diwali. Let us raise readers! If you are confused which books to buy for your child, I have put up an exhaustive list of Diwali themed books HERE that you can choose from. Apart from this I have a bunch of book reviews & recommendations too on various topics. So go ahead & take a pick yourself!


DIY & Diwali Activities & Crafts

It is holiday time for the kids & what better than bonding with them over DIY fun Diwali activities. There so many more activities that I am going to do with my son this year. Also, pinterest is full of Diwali activity & craft ideas that you can browse through. If you are working or do not have enough ideas or motivation, you can send your child in Diwali camps happening at many places these days. Let your child soak into the festivities and learn a lot of things too.

Open-Ended & Free Play Learning Experiences

I cannot stress much upon the importance of open-ended & free play. It boosts creativity, confidence, self esteem of the child & the learning that follows organically is incomparable. We have a lot of open-ended toys & a brand that we personally love for its quality, designing & precision is Skola Toys. Toys are the best friends & the best teachers, so it is very important to make an informed choice of what kind of toys you buy for a child.

You might want to read this article - 6 things to consider when choosing toys & what is wrong with today's toys.

The team & designers at Skola Toys believe that play leads to exploration, exploration leads to discovery and discovery leads to learning. Skola toys stimulate the child’s senses by opening up a fascinating world of colours, shapes, numbers, alphabets, science, geography and more. Children between 0 and 8 have an extremely high rate of brain development that constantly seeks information through activity. For these young Skolars, activity, work and play are all synonymous.

We love Skola toys because they are made of natural material (wood) which gives a rich sensory input to kids. They are self correcting in most cases, which means that there is no need for an adult intervention to decide whether the child is working with the material correctly or not. They are open-ended, interactive & facilitates imagination, which is very important during early years. Each toy is targeted very beautifully for a particular skill like fine motor or emotional intelligence or math or language or science (more on science in my next blog post) etc. Moreover, the concept of "learning journeys designed as play" by Skola Toys is amazing & it gives us a concrete path which we can follow to decide which toy/material to get for the child depending on where the child is in his learning journey. Read more about "learning journeys" HERE.

What more can I ask for to gift a child this Diwali? A wholesome sensory playing & learning experience, and in addition to this, their products are sustainable too. No plastics! Good for earth, less guilt for parents.

Here are some amazing open-ended Skola toys that you can consider for gifting kids this Diwali.



If you are unsure of what to gift to your family members' kids, then Skola has an option of GIFT CARD as well.

You might also want to check out more articles & reviews of mine on Skola Toys HERE.

So this Diwali, gift learning to kids! Let us change the trend and do something valuable for our kids, our future generation!

I hope this post gave you some unusual Diwali gift ideas for kids this year. If you have any more ideas, I would love to hear them!

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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-inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

Hope to see you around. Happy Parenting!

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Book Review & Giveaway - iDiwali - Interactive Diwali Story & Activity Book For Kids From Your Learning Capsules (VLOG)

iDiwali is an interactive Diwali story and activity book for toddlers & kindergarteners with crafts, coloring, greeting cards, lanterns and sensational Diwali stickers. Watch the inside pages & review in the video below. Do not forget to avail the limited time discount of 10%.

About The Book

The Ramayana story summarized in 10 chapters, with hands on activity in each chapter. Additional Diwali experience activities - Rangoli, fireworks, sweets and more!!! 18 activities packed in one engaging book.

Publisher - Your Learning Capsules 
Age Group - 2.5 Years +
Price - Rs. 299 (FREE shipping anywhere in India)
Get 10% off till 19 Oct 2017. Use the discount code "kjunc10"

Try your luck & participate in the GIVEAWAY HERE where a lucky one can win this book for FREE! Giveaway will close on 11 Oct 2017 11.59pm.

You may like more of our featured products & discounts related to early learning for kids HERE.

The Author Talks
"Love interactive apps, but not the media time"
As a mother I am always trying to balance between the interactive and engaging experience of the digital world and just simple story telling, I present this experiment of mine to you - an interactive hands-on book!

Review
Watch the inside pages of the book & my opinions here in this video



What I Loved About The Book

• Absolutely engaging
• Designing is really nice
• Entire story of Diwali is covered in the form of activities
• Whole range of activities for different age group kids - coloring, tracing, stickers, numbers, writing, sequencing, storytelling etc

• Extra stickers so that if few are lost by kids, the activity can still be completed

• Good quality thick pages & stickers are easy to peel off & use without getting frustrated
• Even after all the activities have been done by the kids, this book can still be used next year as a simple storybook, so this book is going to serve you for the next couple of years surely & you can combine it with other storytelling setups with blocks or figurines etc

You may also like this "Story Of Diwali" book, a fun, non-preachy, simple-to-read rhyming storybook which talks about how five days of Diwali are celebrated. Review & buy links of the book HERE.

What Could Be Improved

• I would have loved if the pages were of laminated quality so that the stickers could be reused couple of times & the book could be reused next year too. But with this competitive pricing, I would not mind the existing type.

All in all, a must have for little kids this Diwali season!

Buy Links

BUY NOW so that the book reaches you well before Diwali this year! This will certainly give your kids an enriching experience!

You might want to check out YourLearningCapsules.com for more such awesome stuff for your kids and some free printables of activities! 

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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-inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

Hope to see you around. Happy Parenting!

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FREE #TourOfMontessori Video Series - Week 5 - Culture Area (VLOG)

Language Tour Of Montessori

We have almost come to an end of this super informative FREE video series. Thank you so much for your encouragement, shares, feedback & comments on the previous videos. Coming Friday, last video in this series, it is going to be the tour of CULTURE area of Montessori in our FREE Guided Virtual Tour of a Montessori House Of Children, #TourOfMontessori, 5-part video series! So sign up now HERE.

This is the teaser video of Culture Area tour.

Sign UP for FREE HERE to access FULL video.

If you still do not know what it is all about, then check out THIS post & you can sign up for FREE for this super informative series by clicking HERE. In return, you get 5 videos right into your mailbox!

Click HERE to watch the Practical Life tour teaser video & HERE to watch the Sensorial tour teaser video.

Hurry, you do not want to miss it and it will NOT be free forever :)

Here are my home based / DIY setup related to culture area of Montessori that you can also easily do at home if your child is not going to a Montessori school. 

Study Of Germination Process | Budget Friendly Arts Corner | Art Projects For Kids | Science Lessons | Geography Lessons | Music Lessons

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Do not forget to follow us 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-inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

Hope to see you around. Happy Parenting!

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Virtual Tour Of Montessori House Of Children (Preschool/Classroom) (VLOG)

Tour Of Montessori - Free Video Series

See for yourself what an authentic Montessori classroom looks like. We will give you a complete overview & a guided virtual tour of a typical classroom in a Montessori House Of Children (for children of age 2 - 6 years - preschool age). The K Junction & Benmont Montessori (Pune, India) have come together to create this one of a kind FREE 5 part video series that will give you an insight into all the Montessori materials used in different areas of learning like - sensorial, practical life, maths, language and culture. You can treat this as a Montessori 101 course for your toddler's learning supplies needs!

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The entire video series is FREE! 

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Just sign up HERE now & get these exclusive videos right into your mailbox! 

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• Are you a parent contemplating to enroll your toddler in a Montessori School?
• Are you a confused parent who is researching an authentic Montessori School but unable to decide which one actually is because there are so many so-called called Montessori School these days?
• Are you a parent who is homeschooling or contemplating to homeschool your toddler according to Montessori philosophy and wondering where to start or what to do next or what materials to get and what do those Montessori materials are meant for?
• Are you an Early childhood educator or a preschool or daycare owner or a teacher who wants to know more about Montessori and wants to incorporate the philosophy in some sense in your school?
• Are you a Montessori trained directress and or looking to set up your own school?

Then you are at the right place!

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The K Junction has teamed up with Benmont Montessori, an authentic Montessori House Of Children in Pune (India), to bring to you this awesome super informative & one of a kind series of videos called the tour of a Montessori House of Children. 

You can check out the teaser videos of all the areas before signing up if you wish so! 

• Practical Life Area Tour - Teaser
• Sensorial Area Tour - Teaser
• Language Area Tour - Teaser
• Math Area Tour - Teaser
• Culture Tour - Teaser

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Sign Up HERE right away & watch our 5 FREE comprehensive tour videos!

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You can follow BENMONT MONTESSORI on Facebook & Instagram.

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-inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

Hope to see you around. Happy Parenting!

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Christmas Manger Color Matching - Day 13 of 18 Days of Christmas-ness Series

This is Day 13 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. 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!

HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series! 

DAY 13 - Today's activity is CHRISTMAS MANGER COLOR MATCHING

Works on visual discrimination & pre-maths 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 

Have you joined already?

Make sure to either follow The K Junction via Email or via Facebook Page or via closed Facebook Group or follow me on Twitter (@kuhoogupta) or Instagram (@kuhoogupta). 

Do come back tomorrow for Day 14 of our "18 Days Of Christmas-ness" series.

If you have additional favorite simple toddler Christmas ideas please tell me about them in the comments! I always love finding new ideas!

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Christmas Nativity DIY Puzzle - Day 12 of 18 Days of Christmas-ness Series

This is Day 12 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. 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!

HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series! 

DAY 12 - Today's activity is CHRISTMAS NATIVITY DIY PUZZLE

Works on logic, fine motor & hand-eye coordination 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 

Have you joined already?

Make sure to either follow The K Junction via Email or via Facebook Page or via closed Facebook Group or follow me on Twitter (@kuhoogupta) or Instagram (@kuhoogupta). 

Do come back tomorrow for Day 13 of our "18 Days Of Christmas-ness" series.

If you have additional favorite simple toddler Christmas ideas please tell me about them in the comments! I always love finding new ideas!

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Christmas Music - Day 11 of 18 Days of Christmas-ness Series

Merry Christmas Everyone :)

This is Day 11 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. 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! Today we will take a break from the regular activities & focus on the festival with some Christmas music! Let us take out our music instruments & sway away to the music.

HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series! 

DAY 11 - Today's activity is CHRISTMAS MUSIC

Works on music appreciation, language building, gross motor & social skills.

For more details on what music to play, links & resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra. It is not going to be just English songs. I have something more in store for you, so make sure you visit this Babychakra link.

Have you joined already?

Make sure to either follow The K Junction via Email or via Facebook Page or via closed Facebook Group or follow me on Twitter (@kuhoogupta) or Instagram (@kuhoogupta). 

Do come back tomorrow for Day 12 of our "18 Days Of Christmas-ness" series.

If you have additional favorite simple toddler Christmas ideas please tell me about them in the comments! I always love finding new ideas!

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Christmas Nativity Storytelling - Day 10 of 18 Days of Christmas-ness Series

This is Day 10 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. 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!

HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series! 

DAY 10 - Today's activity is CHRISTMAS NATIVITY STORYTELLING

Works on language building, memory, concentration & communication 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 

Have you joined already?

Make sure to either follow The K Junction via Email or via Facebook Page or via closed Facebook Group or follow me on Twitter (@kuhoogupta) or Instagram (@kuhoogupta). 

Do come back tomorrow for Day 11 of our "18 Days Of Christmas-ness" series.

If you have additional favorite simple toddler Christmas ideas please tell me about them in the comments! I always love finding new ideas!

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Sanskrit Mantras By A 20 Months Old (VLOG)

I have been reciting some Sanskrit mantras to my son since he was 3 months old. After bath, when I get him ready, I recite the mantras. The motive behind this exercise was to impart some positivity & stimulation of his senses. I never expected him to learn the mantras.

Two days back (he is 20 months old now), I just said a part of the mantra & he completed that particular line & I was literally happily shocked that he had learnt many of those mantras. I am sure he had learnt a lot earlier but he is able to articulate them only now.

Why Sanskrit?
It is a well known fact that the recitation of Sanskrit language improves the speech of the children. And of course there is so much positivity in these mantras.

Here is the video of Sanskrit Mantras recited by my 20 months old son.

Vakratund Mahakaay
Gayatri Mantra
Tvamev Mata

Children absorb so much from their environment, we cannot even comprehend. So let us give them a rich environment which stimulates their senses, give them exposure to lot of things. You never know when they surprise you. Kids are a total surprise package!

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