I started giving my son paint and brushes when he was about 3 years old, just for variety. And over the months, I have also given him potatoes to stamp and different sizes of brushes for variety.

Today, I received a mail from Kid Crafts Magazine and it was filled with ideas on how to get kids different types of tools to paint.

Some ideas to substitute paint brushes are:

You can also use these as stamps/ stencils:

Isn’t this great? I am going to start collecting different types of twigs now for my son to start painting now!

Do you have any other ideas to share?

With Ryan, I tend to play Legos and puzzles with him. Alternatively, I also play with Pop-Onz with him. He likes to make and invent things.

With my little baby, I tend to play peek-a-boo and sing to her. Now, you can see why Ryan will be bored with my play with Megan while Megan will be so fascinated with Ryan’s inventions that it will be grabbed and dismantled in no time.

Sigh, this is a stage where I wish where there are dress up games which can help me transform in a flash for the both of them. That way, I can entertain them even when I am changing my costume!

I also play cooking games with Ryan when I am busy cooking in the kitchen. Actually, it is more like imaginary play where he is helping me with the cooking and washing. In reality, he is playing with water in the basin!

Thankfully Ryan is not hooked to any video games just yet. I must be careful so that he is not addicted to it and in turn put his health in jeopardy. With Megan, I am all the more determined not to let her be in it as well.

Can you tell me about any other games which I can play with my 8 month old and 4+ year old together?

I am one of those mummies who is constantly thinking of ways to stimulate my kids. I am not sure sometimes if I am over doing it and will usually take my cues from the baby.

One of the interesting ways I play with my baby is by using finger puppets. These are great tools as you can use them to create stories over and over again.

And because you can re-use them, you can also change your voice with the story you are trying to tell and therefore makes it so much more interesting for your baby.

I even used it with my toddler and now that he is a pre-schooler, he will take it out himself and start to tell stories of his own. He also uses it just as I did with his baby sister.

I believe this helps in building the baby’s eye coordination. It also helps her listening skills as she will be listening to your voice while you are moving this around. Most importantly, they will also develop a love for story telling which will help in their reading skills too.

I know Ikea carries some finger puppets although the selection is not great. Theirs by far is the most reasonably priced if compared with all the other kiddie stores I have seen. There are some which comes with a book which will illustrate the story too, but these are more costly.

I also came across this website which also tells how to make you own finger puppets. Check it out!

Have fun with your kids with this and do come back to share your experience with it.