Reviewed: Seedling Ready to Grow Dino Egg & Spitting Frogs

Daddy Darren & I both believe in exposing the kids to electronic devices like the iPads and electronic games at a later stage possible. We enjoy engaging them in good old fashion face to face games and toys encouraging creativity and imagination. When we discovered the collection from Seedling, we were excited to introduce them to Aiden. Here are two of our picks from their Pocket Money Collection, which makes great fillers for those Christmas stockings.

Seedling Ready To Grow Dino Egg

When we first showed the dino egg to Aiden, his reaction was, 'Huh?' A dino egg?' with a really innocent puzzled look on his face. His recent obsession was on dinosaurs and from then I wasn't spared of all the questions on which species, where can we find them, what do they eat, and so on. Then as Daddy Darren explained to Aiden about the steps he needed to do to hatch the egg and how a dinosaur would hatch from the egg, he got really excited and wanted to hatch it immediately!

Aiden carefully turned the cap of the jar open, and Darren helped him to remove the nest. He filled the jar with water and decided on a favourite spot in the house to place it. In the morning, he jumped right out from bed to inspect the egg. 'Mummy mummy I can see the dinosaur's head!' Gasp, it's only 8am on a Saturday morning.

We carefully removed the shell with him and added water to the brim before leaving the dinosaur to grow. When we returned home that evening, the dinosaur has grown indeed!

Aiden very carefully took it out and dry it with a towel. I find that he's extremely gentle and am happy to see that he is extra careful with the baby dinosaur. He brought the dinosaur to the rest of his dinosaur collection and played with them. Welcome home dino!

I think this is perfect as a gift for kids who love dinosaurs and above the age of three. It teaches them the concept of time and patience, and a very fun way for young kids to have a 'pet' of their own. I gave this to a friend's son who turned 4 and his reaction was priceless. My friend enjoyed 48 hours of peace at home with her boy asking everyone to be quiet as the dinosaur doesn't like loud noises. He also told my friend that they need to bring him to the forest so he can return home to his family. How sweet.

Amazing Spitting Frogs

Ready for some old school fun? Let's race to the bathroom and see whose frog spits the furthest!

This jar of Amazing Spitting Frogs from Seedling Pocket Money Collection is really a great gift this Christmas and a good value buy at $14.95. Each jar contains 6 different colored toy frogs and they suck up water and when you push their tummies, they spit it out!

Here's why we love the frogs and recommend them for gifting:

1) They come in a handy size, and can be kept neatly into a jar under 10cm. Fits well into the kids' kiddy bags as well and does not add much weight.

2) Ideal as an on the go toy to occupy the kids during a car ride and while waiting for our food at meal times. Stops them from repeatedly asking 'Are we there yet?', 'Is the food here yet?'

3) No more screaming at the kids during bath time! They voluntarily race to the bathroom and Aiden always asks to bathe with Ava, so they get to play with the frogs together. Some good bonding session for the kids but be prepared to get wet too as you join them in the bathroom.

 

4) Trains those little fingers when they need to use their pincer grip to suck water and spit water from the frogs. Trains hand eye coordination especially for Ava as she grabs at the frogs, 'catching' them and giggling happily at it.

5) Aiden names each frog after someone in the family and uses them to narrate a scene or role play as the family of frogs swim and play together. Good old fun and imagination from a three year old.

If you haven't decided on Christmas gifts for the kids, come by PriviKids, Changi City Point #02-04 and browse our Seedling collection in store or visit Privi-kids.com today.

Disclaimer: This blog post is in collaboration with Seedling. All opinions are our own.

Review: Seedling Make Your Own Snow Globe

Love crafting? Love bonding with your child?

Discover ways to bring out the creativity in your child and indulge in quality time creating unique keepsakes together with Seedling. Aiden picked out a snow globe for Christmas, and the best part - he gets to think up the scene and put it together from scratch (with me!) with Seedling Make Your Own Snow Globe.

It helped that all the materials you need are all included in the kit (except for markers, scissors and stickers for decorating the globe's base). We love how Seedling kits foster a child's creativity and help them learn new, rewarding skills. A tip on maximizing the enjoyment out of the activity is not to worry if you don't finish the project in one session. Pack it away for another day. We all know kids, they may not have the attention span to complete the entire activity in one sitting.

Here's our step by step guide and tips on making our own snow globe.  
Note that this activity requires baking and cooling time of about 24 hours and an adult would need to help with the baking part. 

1) Spend some time thinking about the scene you'd want to create before you start. Encourage your child to visualize or even draw out the scene he has in mind.

'Cars mummy! I want to make a car! Zoom zoom....' and off he went to get me a few examples of the vehicle he would like to make with the clay.

2) Get your clay ready. Break off small amounts of the clay and rub it between your fingers to warm it up so it softens, making it easier to sculpt. It is really hard at first so your child may need some help here. It helped that Aiden learnt about moulding different shapes at his art class and he knows the shapes he needs to make for a car.

3) Prepare your base by creating a little hill as a base for the snow globe. Do this by rolling a piece of clay and use the globe opening as a cookie cutter. After which, build a hill above this, about 2cm high. This mould needs to be in the same diameter as the globe so that it won't fall out or rattle around.

Before you bake it, slot it inside the globe so that you can check that you are happy and satisfied.

 

5)

4) Bake it & cool it!
Pre-heat the oven to 130 Celsius, line a baking tray with baking paper and place your sculpture on top and bake it for 30 minutes. Leave your sculpture on the tray to cool for around12-24 hours. 

 

5) Design your snow globe base
While waiting for the sculpture to cool,  design the cardboard base with materials you can find in the house. Aiden decided he wanted to cover the base with his favourite color green, and use his stickers to decorate it.

6) Make your cap

Using the plastic globe cap provided, press down onto the EVA sheet to make a visible dent and cut out the shape.

7) Assemble your globe

Fill the globe with water and sprinkle some glitter. Place the sculpture carefully into the opening.

And...... here's our masterpiece!

About Seedling
Seedling is founded in New Zealand in 2007, bringing in activity kits that sparked hours of imaginative play. The Pocket Money collection followed in 2012 and took the international toy world by storm, establishing Seedling as the go to brand for stylish, quality children's products. Their mission is to create beautiful, innovative family lifestyle products, and they are passionate about growing young imaginations and celebrating the parenting journey one moment at a time.

A selection of Seedling products are now available in store at PriviKids, Changi City Point #02-04 (Tel: 6443 8802).

Disclaimer: This blog post is in collaboration with Seedling. All opinions are our own.

Model your own figurines, add water, glitter and shake to make it snow! This Seedling Kit contains: Plastic Globe, Make and Bake Polymer Clay, Snow Globe Stand, Glitter, EVA Sheet & Instructions Recommended for Ages 6+ years - See more at: http://www.goodthingsforkids.com/product/90/#sthash.q39IBLjt.dpuf

Model your own figurines, add water, glitter and shake to make it snow! This Seedling Kit contains: Plastic Globe, Make and Bake Polymer Clay, Snow Globe Stand, Glitter, EVA Sheet & Instructions Recommended for Ages 6+ years - See more at: http://www.goodthingsforkids.com/product/90/#sthash.e6zUjdRw.dpuf

Model your own figurines, add water, glitter and shake to make it snow! This Seedling Kit contains: Plastic Globe, Make and Bake Polymer Clay, Snow Globe Stand, Glitter, EVA Sheet & Instructions Recommended for Ages 6+ years - See more at: http://www.goodthingsforkids.com/product/90/#sthash.e6zUjdRw.dpuf

Model your own figurines, add water, glitter and shake to make it snow! This Seedling Kit contains: Plastic Globe, Make and Bake Polymer Clay, Snow Globe Stand, Glitter, EVA Sheet & Instructions Recommended for Ages 6+ years - See more at: http://www.goodthingsforkids.com/product/90/#sthash.e6zUjdRw.dpuf

A Winter Wonderland in Singapore

Changi Airport brings us a touch of Disney Magic with Mickey Mouse & Friends this Christmas right here in Singapore! Together with Aiden and Ava, we had an enjoyable morning of snow, slides and laughter.

First Stop: Lights, Snow, Action!

Gather around the main event area at T3 departure check in hall and enjoy an 8 minute showtime with Santa and experience snow right here. Watch the giant Neuschwanstein Castle come alive during this showtime.

 
For kids under 2 year old, it's advisable to stay further away to avoid the falling snow on baby's face. It was quite overwhelming for Ava so I moved aside while Aiden indulged himself in snow play.

Event area operating hours: 10am - 10pm
Duration: 8 minutes
Weekdays: 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm
Weekend PH & eve of PH: 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Bouncy Playground

Bounce your way to fun times at this bouncy playground. Slide down a 3 metres high slide, jump onto a velcro wall and get lost in the ball pit!

Opening house: 12pm - 10pm
Entry requirements: Spend a minimum of $30 in a same day single receipt for a single entry. Allowed height range is between 1 - 1.5m, and maximum weight of 55kg.

Meet & Greet: Mickey & Minnie Mouse

A chance to take pictures with Mickey and Minnie Mouse during these 3 days - 19 to 21 December 2014 at T3 Departure Check-in Row 11.

Timings: 1pm, 2.30pm, 4pm, 5.30pm and 7pm

Snap & Win: Disney plushies

Stand a chance to win a full set of Disney plushies! Simply snap a picture of your Mickey or Minnie Mouse plush toys around Changi Airport then #CHANGIXMAS14 on Instagram. Five full sets of plush toys to be won. Valid till 4 January 2015. 

Head down from now till 5 January 2015 to have some fun with the family.