Storyville review

Its time for a review at DFC. Last week I went with my LO to Storyville . It is an interactive early learning centre attached to the Baltimore County Public Library at Rosedale and Woodlawn. I went to the Woodlawn branch. Wow what a place! If you have a kid between the age of birth to 5 and live any where close to this area its a must visit. Its FREE! Seriously I wish I became a kid again. I personally love designing for children. This place was like heaven for any child . I could so totally see both FABLE and Tink Tank in this space.

As I had mentioned in my earlier post my LO is in the phase of pretend play she totally had a ball. You could dress up as a doctor or a policeman. They had different spaces for a kitchen,washer room, construction area, grocery store, theatre. You name it they have it. They have developmental appropriate toys for age birth to 5 Everything to entertain your LO and keep them active. They also have an enclosed area where you could play with your little one who hasn't started walking yet.

I came back home telling my husband this is a kind of space I would like to design. I checked up online and figured out this place was designed by James Bradberry. Kudos to him and his team. They have done an amazing job.The staff at this place is very kind and helpful. They keep the place so clean considering there are over 50 kids buzzing around the place at a particular time.

The story time for babies was fun too. Very interactive with lots of props and music.
Over all a five star experience. I hope some of you get to enjoying this place with your kids.

Play dough

Play dough is so much fun to play for a 1 year old as well as a 100 year old. The texture makes it so nice and moldable.It can be squished, squashed, shredded, rolled, flattened, squeezed, poked, chopped  There is something so therapeutic about it and you can make your imaginations run wild. There is so much you can learn from it math,science, language and so many ways you can play with it. Just add in some sticks and  stones , pipes and pebbles,dal, pasta and feathers etc. It helps children improve there coordination and fine motor development. 

I remember making stuff with roti(bread) dough. Specially long snakes. My mother used to make these really cute fruits and veg with wax. With which we played our kitchen set. I am sure she must have burnt her hand while making those lil fruits. What all mothers do for their children. Thanks Amma!

There is something so cute about watching children's make belief play. My LO is at that phase right now and I can see all the little things she imitates from me and her dad. She loves making lemonade whenever in a restaurant and loves cleaning thats just like her dad. Cleaning is so not my department unfortunately. 

Pinterest is so full of recipes of these play doughs and my sis had tried making some and had recommended it . So I also decided to make some.Here is just one of the many recipes.

I think all of them are really good. Here are some lessons I learnt after making them.

1. These are really cheap and easy to make.
2. They last really long unlike commercial ones. My LO leaves the container open and it really doesnt dry that quickly.
3. I made four different colours . They looked really beautiful but it didn't take too long for my LO to mix all those colors and make it into one ugly colour. So maybe give them just one colour at a time or just let them have fun and don't bother. May be sub consciously they will learn about colour mixing :)
4. The recipe I followed recommended adding cinnamon. I personally wouldn't do it as it smells so good that you feel like eating it. Though its not toxic you don't want your kids to eat it.
5. Avoid using on carpeted flooring its quiet a pain to remove.
6. If you don't have a watchful eyes over your kids while they are having a blast with the play dough you will find them stuck under their toy truck or inside the dolls nose or God knows where.
7. Be careful not to play with it around your pets as you don't want them eating this as its just a lot of salt.
But seriously play dough is so much fun . Even I practice some of my figurines on play dough first and I can see my LO imitating me.

Baby shower cupcakes

I am a lil late in putting up this pic. The baby is already here and we are looking forward to meeting the cutie pie. I am sure he is going to bring a lot of joy to the family. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend this baby shower. But was very excited to make these cupcakes for the gorgeous mom to be. My LO has one more cousin to play with :) I can't help but write this baby's Ammachi will truly be missed.

Graduation Day cupcakes

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Graduation is a special time of the year not only for the student but also for the parents teachers and friends and family.These are some cupcakes I made for my class I used to be in. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed making it for them.

Every time I go to school I am reminded how blessed I am for the simple pleasures of life. This time when I went one of the students had so many family members come to cheer her as she graduated. Her dad told us that when she was born the doctors told them to take her home and love her as she was not going to be with them for too long. Look where she is now. We are so proud of each and every student that graduated that day. Each one of us has a lil story to share .Every time you are down eat a cupcake and count your blessings :)