Mummy lantern

This Halloween was quiet. E. wasn't so excited about it this year and Baby Sis is too little to understand it at all. The party we wanted to throw had to be cancelled as some families got ill some other went away for the long weekend.

Therefore a calm and peaceful (not at all frightening) family fun took place on the 31st.

E. and Daddy went to buy a pumpkin in the morning and after decorating our living room with some Halloween decor ...

... Daddy carved the pumpkin. (We made it lit up with led tea light inside as last year due to the flame the pumpkin got cooked on the inside and rotted away quite quickly. Not to mention the fact that led tea lights are more baby-friendly). E. drew the eyes and the nose of this year's jack-o-lantern.

Then came a little crafting. Mummy lanterns. (The original idea came from last year's Halloween party at our Helen Doron school).

At first I wanted to make only 2 mummies, but E. had something different on mind. She wanted a mummy family.

What you need:

• 4 baby food jars (2 little and 2 bigger)
• 4 (led) tea lights
• gauze rolls (cheap at the chemist's)
• 4 pairs of googly eyes
• glue
• cello tape

How to make them:

1. Wash the label off the jars
2. Fix the end of the gauze on the jar with a little cello tape
3. Wrap the gauze around the jar (make one or two layers only or the tea light won't be seen through)
4. Fix the gauze with cello tape when finished with the wrapping
5. Glue the eyes on
6. Add the tea lights

Mummy family with pet spider 💀👻

Of course, we didn't miss out on a Halloween party altogether as in our Helen Doron school a spooky-crafty fun Halloween was organised for the kids on 29th and we were invited.

The party was just as fantastic as the last year's. Here come the pictures:

E. dressed as a (pretty) ghost

Baby Pumpkin with her gourd

Healthy snacks were served: Jack-o-tangerine, Frankenstein fruit mix and ghost popcorn

Dark and scary room with some English activities was on again:

Crafty part: painting a gourd with glow-in-the-dark paint (we missed that as we were a little late) and Halloween card (see bellow)

Plus a bit of colouring

This Halloween was much more quiet and relaxed as in the previous years. But to be honest, life's hard enough with two small kids, and without the hassle of a home party (preparation, decoration, snack making, throwing the party itself, then the cleaning up) it was pleasant and peaceful for me too.

Baby Sis started a Helen Doron course

Baby Sis is a big girl now and it was time to start her very first course of her life, where she can hear English in an organised way from other people that me or her sister.

First, there was a free session for those who wanted to see what goes on at a "lesson" on the second week of September. Then I totally forgot to take photos as L. was really tired and whiny. We had to start the day early to have time to take E. to the nursery and to get to the school by 9. It was almost impossible but we made it. Luckily, the other sessions start at 9.15 which makes a huge difference.

Next time was much better as E. was taken by my mother-in-law and Baby Sis could get a wink before we got to the school. She was more relaxed and curious. She made new friends and got familiar some teaching material.

There are 6 kids and their moms in the group: 3 boys and 3 girls. The youngest is about 5 months old and the oldest is about 18 months old.

In an other post I have already written about the Baby's Best Start programme when we started it with E.

Everything goes well as for the course, though I'm a bit sad that it is not E.'s old teacher (Zs.) who holds the sessions.

Still, we'll have lots and lots of fun, like bubble blowing, swinging, shaking noisy instruments, banging and so on.

English camp for the first time - long post, loads of pics

E. took part in her very first day-time camp in the first week of August. Of course, it was an English camp. What else?

Zs. from our old Helen Doron school founded her own HD school and summer camps were organised for kids throughout the summer. On the first week of August E. took part in  fantastic adventures in English.

Every day started at 9 (with breakfast) and ended at 15:30 when kids needed to be picked up (one could arrived later and the kids were taken care of. They watched some animations until parents arrived). The age group was quite appropriate for E.: from age 4 to 8.

Here comes the detailed overview of the week:

Day 1 - Introductory day

This was a getting to know each other day. They stayed in and did a lot of arts and crafts and played games so the kids could get familiar with each other and the teachers (Zs. and Z.). E. was rather quiet on her first day, but I expected that. She always needs time to get used to a new situation.

They painted a mask

E.'s mask

There was English circle time in the morning

...and in the afternoon

They went to a playground nearby and "found" some dinos frozen in eggs

For a while E. was watching the frozen dino and waiting for it to melt... but it was BORING so she went climbing a bit...

Then returned and waited and waited patiently...

The dino is free!!!

As the topic of the day was dinosaurs, dino fossils were also made by the kids.

Day 2 - Tarzan Park

After breakfast there was some English circle time again

They always had some free playtime with lots of fun toys, books and games, too.

They visited Tarzan Park  (an outdoor fun park) after lunch. (By the way lunch was ordered for the kids from Egészségkonyha and arrived every day in the morning. As for food, kids got food 4 times a day - breakfast, snack in the morning, lunch and snack in the afternoon too - got bakery products, cereals, vegetables and fruit. E. liked them all and didn't complain at all. On the first day their chicken nuggets were dino-shaped)

The group in Tarzan Park with Zs.:

E. got really tired after this day full of climbing and moving around a lot. She didn't nap in the afternoon. (After lunch on most days they had some quiet time. Whoever wanted (needed) could sleep but a Disney film was usually shown and E. was more interested in watching it than taking a nap)

She was a little bit braver this time as for talking in English but I needed to motivate her with something. As Baby Sis didn't let me do anything creative I offered her some treats when I pick her up if she spoke more than the day before. And she did. I took her some M&Ms. A rare treat so she did appreciate it.

Day 3 - Rex Animal Farm - E.'s favourite day

They visited Rex Animal Farm where they fed the goats (as well as some rabbits)

...saw some special animals

...listened to a lady talking about how to be a responsible pet owner. 

Your dog has to be vaccinated - just pretend in this pic

They also had a dog agility training session. E. was brave enough to take the dog (called Gesztenye) through the course.

They also had their lunch at the Farm

They had time to enjoy the small playground at the farm

The whole group with their teachers Zs. and Z.

There was no English session at the farm only the HD teachers talked to the group in English but the other days were full of English from morning till the afternoon. The teachers know it well that E. is bilingual and they didn't use any Hungarian to her throughout the whole week.

Day 4 - Picnic

After the usual morning session in English (when they painted some stones and their dino fossils from day 1 with glow-in-the-dark paint) the kids went to Margit sziget (Margaret Island) to have a picnic.

They were watching the big fountain show, 

went to a playground, 

walked on dino feet 

and had their picnic (yummy lángos, E.'s favourite street food). 

The kids were really tired after the long and action-packed week so when they got back they had some nap time. At last E. slept a bit and felt more relaxed in the evening.

Day 5 - Mini show for parents

On the last day a mini show was prepared for the parents to finish the camp with.

There were some arts and crafts: kids prepared their presents for their parents by themselves (and with a little help from the teachers.

The parents received a paper basket decorated by the kids with some hand-made artwork, like an origami frog or the painted dino fossils, plus a greeting card with the best photo of the child taken during the week, stuck in it. The show was great and touching all the kids could show themselves a bit in English.

All in all, the whole camp was a great experience for E. (trying herself in an unfamiliar English environment and meeting new people), packed with a lot of fun activities and programmes in English. It was value for money indeed. We're surely signing up for the next year's camp too.