WARNING: NO HONEY FOR BABIES!

Honey is  a great source of energy and also contains protein, vitamins and minerals.  The two types of sugar in it are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and give the body a quick energy boost. It has less than 2% sodium (almost sodium-free) and has many medicinal properties. One of the most commonly known effects of honey is its antibacterial effect. It literally dehydrates the bacteria that causes the infection until it dies. In addition, enzymatic activities of honey contribute to honey's antibacterial properties too.

Normally, honey is a fabulous healthy, tasty, natural and wholesome food (It is also a part of our homemade remedies at home and I will be posting an entry on that in the near future). HOWEVER, honey is NOT SAFE for INFANTS and therefore should NOT be consumed prior to the age of one at all (many recommend to wait even until the age of two)! (This warning includes dipping pacifiers into the honey too! It is UNSAFE.)

Honey can contain spores of a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum, which can germinate in a baby's immature digestive system and cause infant botulism, a rare but potentially fatal illness.

These spores do not harm adults and older children as our developed digestive system prevents the bacteria from growing.

The symptoms of botulism include muscle weakness (a 'floppy baby'), constipation, slack jaw, sucking issues, crying, lethargy, drooling or swallowing difficulties and occasionally, respiratory arrest.

The baby foods should not contain honey but it is still worthwhile to check ingredients before you feed your precise baby any foods that you haven't cooked at home or aren't totally sure of the content. Don't forget, some baked breads and commercial foods may contain honey in them as well. Never take it for granted and double check if unsure.

Wishing all your babies a honey-free babyhood!

NATIONAL RECYCLING WEEK (November 7-13)

The National Recycling Week aims to increase the environmental benefits of kerbside, industrial and community recycling programs.

A few reminders in regards to Planet Ark's National Recycling Week:

• You can recycle printer cartridges and mobile phones into everything from pens to jewellery at Australia Post outlets. (There are recycling boxes located in Australian Post retail outlets).

•  Especially companies and offices are encouraged to participate in Friday File Fling (file cleanout: declutter your office and get good, reusable office paper back into circulation.).

• You can check out the website or the newsletter of your council to see what they are doing or you can take a part in during this meaningful week. You can also visit some reputable and informative sites such as livinggreener.gov.au, recyclingweek.planetark.org or recyclingnearyou.com for more detailed information on the National Recycling Week and recycling in general.

Did you know that

...the most commonly made recycling mistake is putting PLASTIC BAGS in the kerbside recycling bin?

...Australians throw away 270 million (approximately 12 per person) (equal of about 8000 tonnes) batteries a year?

...aluminum  can be recycled over and over, infinitely?

Wherever you are or whatever you do, don't forget to reduce, re-use and recycle! 

PAPER BOWS: Tutorial

This is a project that I've found while browsing another blog (here). I've loved it and wanted to share it with you as well. They would be great as a kid activity or you can use it to decorate your gifts. They can also be used as a part of a party decoration too.
 

Supplies:
Square piece of card stock
One brad
Hole punch
Scissors

With right side of paper facing down cut paper where you see dotted lines. Cut off bottom section (refer to right picture).

Bend top flap down revealing right side of paper. Punch holes as marked by the five black dots. Fold bottom left corner up and add a brad. Click on images for a larger view.

Attach top left corner to the brad. Attach bottom right flap to the brad.


Attach top right flap to brad. Place brad through the center hole. Close brad in the back. Cut out bottom of bow (refer to dots). Done!

Once your bows are made you can adjust the shape by trimming the bows if you wish.

DISCIPLINE PHRASES

These are some phrases that a private early learning centre recommends their teachers and the parents of their students to use. As you will notice, some of the phrases below suit only a classroom environment while others can be used at home too. It is also worth mentioning that the phrases below only emphasise the expectations and the positives rather than focusing on negatives.

• "I need good listeners."
• "I like the words you used."
• "I like what I'm seeing right now, (and describe positive behaviour)."
• "We're not doing that yet/now. We're still doing ... "
• "Put up your hand if you want to ..." 
• "Can you sit up (child's name), you must be tired today."
• "I'd like to see you talking only when you put up your hand and I call your name."
• "I need you to be patient right now. I know it is hard to wait sometimes."
• "It's my turn to speak now."
• "I'm choosing the children who are sitting quietly, with their hands in their laps and sitting nicely on the line."
• "You need to sit over here today/now."
• "I'm waiting for quiet."
• "Good manners."
• "Well done, next time maybe you could be a little quieter."
• "Walking feet, inside voices."
• "The only person I should hear now is ... "

 If you know of any other phrases that work for you and would like to share with us all as well, please let us know in the 'comments' section.

FUN STARTS WHEN EGGS FINISH

 It is so enjoyable to make some fun staff out of anything in hand. It is even more satisfactory when what you make is well appreciated. I love the idea of re-using and re-purposing and challenging myself with something new every time. If I can manage 'no waste', I feel that I have achieved quite a bit. Also, I try to teach myself that it is possible to let go of my strict rules and allow my imagination to go wild. This particular activity isn't the most unique or the challenging one. However, it is fun all the same.

There are endless number of things you can do using an empty egg pallet. One of the easiest and I guess the first thing that comes to mind would be that they make great finger puppets or faces. It is possible to use your drawn faces/people/characters/shapes in teaching in a classroom environment or at home too. You could draw shapes and ask your child to name them, you could ask your child to draw a certain shape, you may draw some faces that show emotions, you can make the drawn characters a part of a family, you can ask your child or your language students to tell you about the characters, you can ask your child/student to turn their back to you and as you tell them certain things, you ask them to draw them and then check how accurately they were able to do so (for instance, ask them to draw a smiley face and big eyes with a large nose and the hair falls towards left and has a tie etc. This involves a lot of language skills. Regardless of the language you are teaching, you can use it as a teaching activity), you can write numbers and see whether your child recognises numbers yet etc.

What I did with the last week's egg pallet was that I drew those simple characters on the inside and left it in Mr. Junior's play room at night for him to find it in the morning. When he sees something different, it always makes him curious. It wasn't an exemption this time either. He found the pallet in the morning, opened it up curiously, was surprised to see my drawing in it. He first spent some time alone and then came to me (I actually watched his first reaction without him realising it). We talked about it and I asked him to tell me about them. Their emotions, their names, their occupations, their clothes, their relationships to each other etc. He is only a young child with limited vocabulary and comprehension skills but he was happy to tell me about them as much as he could. It definitely made him busy for a while and I think he liked it even better when we had a 'conversation' about it. (He had a go at drawing as well after that but the pen he was using wasn't the best and he stopped trying it. He told me what to draw and I drew them at the back.)

As I mentioned above, there can be various ways of using this activity. I have just shared what I did only a few days ago as well as some other possible activities that came to mind. Looking forward to your comments on how you use/suggest using an empty egg pallet to keep your little ones busy or while teaching.

Enjoy your weekend!

BROAD BEANS (FAVA)

Broad beans (some call it fava beans or fava) come from the pea family and are a good source of copper. They also have niacin, folate, fiber and vitamin C. They are rich in calories and especially proteins. In general, they provide similar nutrients to beans. Overall speaking, beans are so rich in protein that they may replace meat in diet but they lack some certain elements (amino acids) that they need to be able to substitute meat. That is why it is good to consume beans with some grains, for example on toast or with some rice. 

The flowers of broad beans are used for medicinal purposes but it is the pods and the seeds that we eat. The pods can be eaten when young and fresh (I can tell you that the raw pods are juicy when young) and the seeds can be consumed as dried beans (soaked and cooked well) or raw if fresh and tender (if cooked/boiled, I suggest peel off the skin before using it as it will help with digestion). We normally use the fresh ones when we have them in the garden and we eat them raw even though you can find many recipes of cooked foods made with them on the internet or via friends or family (we sometimes add it to our stir fried noodles or make salads with them. They can be pureed too and it is a pretty common dish in a certain part of Italy).  They are more digestible when they are tender.

We used to buy dry broadbeans from local groceries whenever they were in season. However, last year, we decided to plant some using the dried beans we had in hand at the time and have been enjoying some fresh ones since then. We noticed that it is quite easy to grow them (at least it has been the case for us here in Melbourne, Australia) and I may try to write about how to grow them for the ones interested in having their own in the garden when I get a chance in the future.

We simply go to the garden, pick some, open them up and eat the seeds (and sometimes the pods too). Mr. Junior really likes the idea of picking something by himself from the garden and it actually makes him more interested in the food. He is happier to consume the foods that he plays a role in planting or growing or harvesting than the ones he just sees in the fridge or in his plate. When they are in season, we also take some fresh broad beans with us when we go out for him to snack on. 

Note: Some people may be allergic to this food and it is called favism. Even the inhalation of its pollens may cause an allergic reaction.

Did you know that according to a source, a fava bean is included in a Christmas cake in Portugal and traditionally, whoever gets the fava bean has to buy the Christmas cake the following year!

Also, it is claimed by a source that in the Netherlands, the velvet insides of the broad bean pods are rubbed against warts as it is believed to heal warts (it is a folk remedy in the Netherlands).

AN EASY PEASY BABY ACTIVITY

I truly believe that those tiny human beings are the most easily entertained creatures. They are so innocent and curious that anything and everything would work when trying to get a smile from them as long as they feel the love and care (and obviously as long as their essential needs are met).

This easy peasy activity does not really require anything apart from a muslin wrap/scarf/a light piece of fabric and preferably two people. If you have an older child as well, this will be a nice little activity he/she may enjoy doing with you and the baby sister/brother (I manage to do it alone too at times). The other sibling can either help you do the activity by giving you a hand in holding the fabric or can lie down with the baby and enjoy it.

I often like to use a coloured muslin wrap or if possible a fabric with some patterns on it (Eg. some stars). However, if you only have a plain scarf, that will work too. The other thing that is optional but I like adding is a bit of classical music to the background.

All you need to do is that when your baby is nice and calm, put her on the floor facing to you. If you have a second person who can do this activity with you, the two of you hold the muslin wrap from each corner (two corners per person). So, the fabric is flat. With a smiley face, just move the scarf up and down slowly and just enjoy how much pleasure she has while you do that. Everytime the fabric comes closer to the baby, she is likely to move her arms and legs up to touch it and when the fabric goes further away from her and she can see your face again, she is likely to smile, or if lucky, perhaps even giggle. It is one easy, yet enjoyable and calming activity.

As they say, enjoy it while you can. These little moments when everyone is happy are all very precious and we should never take it for granted. It is also a period of time in life, both babyhood and parenthood, when little things can make us smile. Make the most of it!