PLAYGROUP FUN WITH EGGS, POMPOMS AND GLITTER

Alhamdulillah, on 25th November 2017 we had our third KAMI Playgroup session. Like the last two weeks, this week's session was conducted by our volunteer teacher, Teacher Ami, who is an occupational therapist at  Excell Qhalif. Here's what the kids did that day:

1. Salam, Doa and Zikir
As usual, parents and chidren sat in a circle and we began the day with Salam, doa Alfatihah and a simple zikir for the children.

2. Music & Movement
Next, we got up on our feet for a warm up activity with action songs. As you can see here, Arif doesn't usually like to take part in this activity :P

3. Gross motor - Obstacle Course
After our warm up, we conducted a gross motor activity. We built an Obstacle Course using chairs, a bench, a tunnel, spoons and plastic eggs. The children took turns to make it through the obstacle course, take an egg with a spoon and put it into the egg carton. This was repeated several times to music.

First go through the tunnel, then walk over the chairs, then pick up a plastic egg with a spoon and walk on the bench, and finally put the egg into the carton.

Arif carrying a plastic egg with a spoon on the bench.

The children arranged their egg into the egg carton at the end of the obstacle course.

For the second activity, we tackled fine motor by doing a colour sorting exercise. The older children used colourful pom poms and jelly trays, while Arif used red and yellow plastic coins with clear plastic cups.

The older children separated pom poms according to their parents' instructions.

4. Arts & Crafts
For this week's table task, the children worked with glitter and glue to create a shape. We provided a stencil for younger children like Arif to use.

For this session, we prepared a star template, glue and glitter.

Arif rubbing the glitter on with his fingers. Messy but fun!

5. Clean up & Goodbye
And last but not least, we cleaned up and sang a goodbye song. It was a smooth session from beginning to end. and like last week, the children seemed to particularly enjoyed the obstacle course, table task and arts and crafts sessions.

Arif seemed to have a great time, and did very well in the colour sorting activity. He was also very particular in lining the pieces up inside the cups. 

Now that we're in our third week, we can see that the structured activities we've planned have a good flow, so we're happy to stick with it. I also hope that the KAMI Playgroup activities that I've shared through my blog will give you some ideas to incorporate into your own playgroup :)

You can help!
Interested to find out more about KAMI Playgroup @ Masjid Kg Tunku, volunteer or make a donation?  Please don't hesitate to drop me an email at adline76@yahoo.co.uk.

KAMI PLAYGROUP'S SECOND MEET

Hi everybody! I haven't been updating my blog in a while because Arif and I have been unwell (bad cough) and on top of that, I was quite busy these past few weeks. As promised, however, here's a look at our second KAMI Playgroup session, which took place on 18th November 2017. Alhamdulillah, everything went well :) Let's recap what our group did that day:

1. Music & Movement

As usual, we started our session with doa and zikir, to seek blessings from Allah SWT and to calm and activate the children's minds. The doa is followed by action songs, which is intended as a warm up activity for the children. Among the songs we did actions to was "One little finger."

Everyone singing and doing the actions to One Little Finger.

2. Indoor play (Gross motor) - Bean Bag Pass & Obstacle Course
In our first indoor play activity, we were paired up and sat opposite each other. The parents/ children then passed bean bags to their partner, back and forth.

This activity encourages joint attention and coordination. Throwing bean bags may look easy to us, but children with ASD might find it difficult to do.

For the second activity, we set up a simple Obstacle Course using chairs, a balance beam, a bench and plastic buckets. The children took turns to make it through the obstacle course and drop a bean bag in the plastic bucket. This was repeated several times to music.

Parents helped their children with balance and to navigate the obstacle course.

3. Arts & Crafts - Vegetable printing

For this week's table task and art activity, we did Vegetable Printing using potatoes and lady's fingers. I cut some patterns in the potatoes to make them more interesting. The children were given a drawing block, vegetable blocks and paint. 

This simple activity provided the children a sensory experience, as well as encouraged their hand coordination and control.

4. Clean up and goodbye song
After the arts and crafts session, the children helped to clean the tables with wet wipes. We closed our session with the Goodbye Song :)

The children enjoyed wiping the tables down at the end of the session.

The Goodbye song is another opportunity for action and movement.

Here are some of the children's vegetable printing creations!

Arif's reaction in this session

Arif found it difficult to settle down and participate in group activities like music and movement, as well as the Bean Bag Pass. He is usually quite restless during these activities, preferring instead to just walk around the room. Thankfully, he doesn't try to leave the room.

However, he was able to participate in other activities, like the obstacle course. He also seems to enjoy table tasks the most, particularly the arts and crafts sessions. At first, he felt uneasy touching the wet vegetables (new texture) and used daddy's hands to hold the vegetables and print instead. But soon, he was able to hold the vegetables himself and complete his artwork. Good job Arif!

You can help!

Interested to find out more about KAMI Playgroup @ Masjid Kg Tunku, volunteer or make a donation?  Please don't hesitate to drop me an email at adline76@yahoo.co.uk.

OUR FIRST PLAYGROUP SESSION :)

In my last post, I introduced you to KAMI Playgroup, a special playgroup that my friend and I started for children with autism. Last Saturday (11th November), we had our very first playgroup session, which was attended by 10 parents and 8 children. Here's a breakdown of the activities we conducted:

1. Introduction
To begin our session, I gave a brief introduction to the team behind KAMI, and explained the playgroup's objectives and guidelines. This was folowed by a brief welcome address by Puan Salmah and a doa session led by Teacher Ami from Excel Qhalif.

2. Music and movement
As a warm up, we did our first music & movement activities while sitting down. We sang Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, and One Little Finger.

For the second part of the music and movement activity, we got on our feet and danced to the popular Baby Shark Doo Doo song.

3. Indoor play (Gross motor) - Bean Bag Pass
This was followed by our first gross motor activity for the day, which was Bean Bag Pass. We sat in a circle and tossed bean bags to the friend on our right. Then, we were teamed up in pairs and tossed bean bags to the person sitting opposite us. This gross motor activity is aimed at preparing the body, before we prepare the mind with table tasks.

4. Table Task (Fine Motor) - The Coin Drop
For our first table task, we did The Coin Drop, which is a fine motor activity. The children took turns to pick up plastic coins from a tray and drop them into a jar. Parents assisted by prompting and encouraging their children.

5. Arts and Crafts - Apple Collage
Our final activity for the day was arts and crafts. The children tore their coloured paper, with help from mum and dad, and pasted the paper pieces onto the apple template given. This activity encourages fine motor skill, focus on a task, joint attention and also sensory stimulation to different textures (paper and glue).

6. Closing 
Once everyone was finished with their arts and crafts activity, we cleaned up together and sang the Goodbye Song.

My son Arif with his father working on their apple collage.

Did Arif like it?
In the beginning, Arif didn't want to join in the activities. He preferred instead to explore the space. It wasn't until he heard the Baby Shark song that he came into the activity room and stuck around. He was a bit resistant at first to the gross motor activities like Bean Bag Pass, but he really enjoyed the table tasks, like The Coin Drop and collage.

What will KAMI Playgroup be up to next week? Stay tuned!





You can help!
Interested to find out more about KAMI Playgroup @ Masjid Kg Tunku, volunteer or make a donation?  Please don't hesitate to drop me an email at adline76@yahoo.co.uk.

The Launch of KAMI, a special playgroup for Children with Autism @ Masjid Kg Tunku, Petaling Jaya

In an earlier post, I mentioned a community project that I was working on, and I'm happy to announce that it was launched two weeks ago on 4th November 2017! 😤 It gives me great pleasure to introduce - KAMI Playgroup!

KAMI, which means "us" in Malay, stands for  Kumpulan Anak Autisme Masjid (roughly translated to "The Mosque's Children with Autism Group"). It's the brainchild of my friend Hasniyati, who works with Masjid Kg Tunku and is a mum to an autistic child. She got the idea to start a playgroup for children with autism, after hearing an radio interview by En Adli Yahya, the founder of Autism Cafe Project (ACP).

Our Special Guest, En Adli Yahya, presenting a speech to the mosque's committee members at our launch. Arif sat quietly for a few minutes, and then made his mission to explore the area, especially the sink behind the podium.

Pn Salmah giving her opening address at the launch.

With support from the Mosque's Head of the Education Bureau, Pn Salmah, Hasni started to find ways to bring the playgroup together. However, things didn't go so smoothly, as she had no one to assist her. Thankfully, fate brought us together and I volunteered to help her with the playgroup.

I did some research and put together a working paper for the project, as well as suggested the types of activities that we could do. After my first meeting with Pn Salmah and Hasni, we decided to just go ahead and get the ball rolling. In the words of Nike - JUST DO IT!

Teacher Alma, who runs Fun Factory (the mosque's kindergarden), very kindly agreed to let us use their space and equipment on Saturdays.

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Not long after we set a date for the launch of this project, Hasni received a message from Excel Qhalif. They were willing to lend us one of their teachers cum occupational therapists for two months, so that we can learn from her hands-on experience. Alhamdulillah! 

And when I announced the upcoming launch of our playgroup on my FB page, En Adli messaged me to say that he would like to be part of it. Alhamdulillah!  So I wasted no time in inviting him, his son Luqman and the ACP team to our launch as our Special Guests. Things were starting to fall into place, like a beautiful puzzle 💙

Chairs all set up, waiting for guests to arrive. Fun Factory also has two classrooms that we will use for our the activities.

Our itinerary for the launch and Committee Members.

During my brief speech at the launch, I spoke about why this playgroup is so important:

1. Mosques can play a vital role in supporting people with autism and their families.
2. Children with autism need a safe and understanding place where they can learn through play and try new things without being judged for their unique characteristics and behaviours.

3. Play can help in the development of skills that can be a challenge for children with autism, such as: gross motor, fine motor, socialising, communication, cognitive, flexibility, emotional regulation and self confidence.

4. It enables autism parents to get to know each other and learn how to engage with their children through play activities. 

Currently, our playgroup caters to 8-10 families, with children aged between 2 and a half to 9 years old. Alongside the children with autism, their neurotypical siblings also take part in the activities, which run for about an hour. If the children aren't able to, or don't want to take part, they're free to play with their parents in the play area, where we prepare open-ended toys for them to occupy themselves. And whenever they feel like joining the group activity, they can.

Our playgroup is a pilot project that will run for 6 months, during which we hope that we can prove to the Mosque's Committee that we can do it, and that it is beneficial for all the families involved. There is a lot for us to learn, particularly through experience and this will help us to grow and improve. We need all the support we can get to make this a success and to keep it going :) Please send us your prayers and positive vibes guys!

En Adli talking to En Selamat, the Mosque's Nazir, and Pn Salmah after the launch.

Arif and his friends having fun exploring the Fun Factory's indoor play area :)

You can help!
Interested to find out more about KAMI Playgroup @ Masjid Kg Tunku, volunteer or make a donation?  Please don't hesitate to drop me an email at adline76@yahoo.co.uk. Stay tuned for more updates on KAMI Playgroup!

Play ideas for parents of young children with autism by Intan Miranti

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of taking part in a workshop conducted by none other than Intan Miranti, founder of ANDI Intitiave. During my early stages of autism fact finding, I had came across her name several times, and grew to admire her due to her dedication as an autism parent and the work that she does to help others.

She is a very busy lady, so when I learnt she would be holding a workshop at Sprouts Kids, I jumped at the chance! The icing on the cake was that the workshop would be on play ideas, something that I really want to learn about, not just for Arif, but for a community project that I'm working on.

With our trainer Intan Miranti, an inspiring autism parent who I've always wanted to meet :)

Here's a brief recap on the awesome 3-hour session we shared with Intan:

* All pictures are by me and used with permission from ANDI Initiative.

Intan began by explaining the importance of play for children with autism and how we, as parents, can utilise play as a means of achieving specific goals. Parents of young children with autism (like me) need to come up with activities that are both fun and therapeutic, but we often run out of ideas on how to play and engage with our child. The key is to be creative, resourceful and flexible.

Intan shows us how to set up a simple obstacle course.

Using items that can easily be found in shops or that we may already have at home, Intan showed us how to get the most out of play activities and modify them to meet our child's level and needs. Among the purpose of play modification is to minimise the child's frustration and give him a sense of triumph.

We can use simple toys and household items but employ different strategies on how to use them.

Parents must also modify activities to fit the goal they've set for the session, for example -  gross motor/ fine motor/ vestibular/ proprioceptive exercise, to encourage communication or just to bond and have fun. As grown ups, Intan explains, we've forgotten how to play and think like a child. So we must try and put ourselves in our child's shoes to get a feel of how they might experience the play session.

For older children who can take instructions, Intan showed us other strategies for play that will encourage children to pay attention to the other person playing with them.

She also recommends recording our play interactions with our children, so that we can see for ourselves how we interact with them. More often than not, Intan says, utism parents (especially of of non-verbal children) tend to over compensate by talking too much during a play session.

We must exercise restraint and caution, because if we give too many instructions or ask too many questions, we may end up frustrating our child. Instead, we must strive to give comments in the form of parallel talking or self talking. This requires practise.

Card games like Go Fish can be valuable in teaching autistic kids about communication. Arif is too young for this activity, but I will certainly keep this in mind for the future.

While compliance is an important part of play sessions, Intan cautions parents about creating scenarios that compel our autistic children to always comply and agree to an activity. We do not want to raise "parent pleasers" who later become "people pleasers." These children are often unhappy on the inside and lack self confidence. It's a fine line. We want our children to do as they're told and most children want to please their parents, but they should not be fearful of not meeting expectations and be frustrated that they have no choice.   

Overall, we had a fun-filled and action-packed session, with ample opportunities for parents to ask questions and contribute ideas. Alhamdulillah, I took away many lessons that day and I hope to put my new-found knowledge to good use.

I look forward to attending more workshops and training sessions by Intan Miranti, one of which is coming up on Sunday, 12th November at Permata Kurnia, KL. She will be speaking about another topic that's close to my heart - homeschooling!

PS: Thanks for dropping by my blog today, but before you go, check this out:

During our break, we had delicious nasi lemak made by Autism Cafe Project Malaysia.

And if you'd like to find out more Intan's work and ANDI Initiative, please visit:

ANDI Initiative FB page 

ANDI Initiative blog 

Spectrum Awareness Campaign @ We Rock The Spectrum, Ara Damansara

Hi guys, things have been a little hectic around here, due to a leakage problem that forced us to renovate our entire master bathroom. But still, we've managed to pack in some fun. Today I'd like to share with you a special event I attended on October 14th, the Spectrum Awareness Campaign at We Rock The Spectrum (WRTS), Ara Damansara.

My Saturday morning began with a very special meeting at our local mosque (will tell you guys more about this later) and after that we took the boys to WRTS, where I took part in two workshops and met some awesome people.

The first workshop was conducted by Sherrene Teh, who is a music therapist. To be honest, this was the first time that I had heard about music therapy and the session really opened my eyes. I think it's important for parents to attend these types of workshops because it helps us to better understand the brain and how it works, as well as the benefits of different types of therapies. The word of the day, for me, was "neuroplasticity."

Sherrene Teh, Music Therapist from Oasis Place.

The second session, on Calming, Organising and Alerting Activities for ASD Children, was conducted by Joanna Hutt, a paediatric physiotherapist and Programme Director at The Energy Source. Joanna demonstrated many practical, easy and fun activities that we can do at home with our kids, using simple equipment. I simply loved the session and learned a lot from it.

Demos by Joanna Hutt from The Energy Source.

I also met two inspiring autism parents, who set up booths at the event :)

Many booths were set up as part of the campaign, but I could only visit them for a little while, because I was busy attending workshops and looking after Arif. But still, I managed to meet a couple of amazing people, including Siti of ARISMA and Fred and Andi of ANDI Initiative.

They both really inspire me, because they're not only dedicated parents who do the best for their children, but they also work hard to help other autism families. I aspire to be like them :)

Amir conducting impromptu storytelling.

While I was busy meeting autism heroes, my kids were busy having fun. Amir, my eldest, may be 13, he's still very much a kid at heart and he loves to play (perhaps a little too much). He did me proud by staging an impromptu puppet show for the little ones.

And of course, I did a bit of shopping for Arif's home activities. Here's my haul from some of the booths. I got some puzzles (from Moms and Tots Shoppe), t-shirts for my boys (from Andi Initiative) and some water beads, a sensory bottle and stress balls.

Illustrations are by Andi Miranti, do check out his Ned Dickens comics :) 

We stayed till the late afternoon and had loads of fun! Looking forward to more fantastic events like this! The next time We Rock The Spectrum organises an event like this guys, you've got to check it out because you can learn a whole lot and meet lots of people who can help you better understand the autism journey. Follow their FB page or Instagram for the latest happenings.

Sending love and positive energy out into the world... till next time guys, thanks for dropping by!

Fun with Shaving Cream: Sensory Play

I want to let you in on a secret... I love messy sensory play as much as Arif does! And playing with shaving cream has got to be one of our favourite sensory activities. For one thing, it's fun and as a mum, I am happy to say that it's 'clean.' By this, I mean there's hardly any mess and the residue is easily washed off!

There are several ways you can play with shaving cream, but this time round, we decided to give Arif's dinosaurs a foam bath :) Though it all seems like child's play, to me it's significant that Arif can play with shaving cream, because in the past, he hated touching anything that was wet and sticky. Over time, however, therapies have helped him to feel more at ease with these textures.

All that we needed was a large tray, some dinosaurs, shaving cream and a sponge. The sponge is there so that Arif can clean off the dinos.

The sponge is also handy for applying the foam onto your hair!

I also used the shaving foam to attract Arif's attention to my face and encourage him to make eye contact. I would dab some on my nose, cheeks and forehead, and he would look at me puzzled :)

If your kids haven't tried playing with shaving cream, give it a go! It also makes a good play date/ group activity, like you see below:

While shaving cream is fun already on its own, you can always flex those creative muscles and add a bit more interest. Here are some suggestions from Simple Fun For Kids :)

MasterChef Australia Season 9 Winner Diana Chan’s Homecoming Celebration of a Lifetime

I'm a MasterChef Australia fan, including Junior MasterChef Australia, so you can imagine how  thrilled I was that a Malaysian has won Season 9! Diana Chan, born in Sitiawan, Perak and raised in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, is now hailed as a national culinary hero and it's well deserved.

Last month, she did Malaysia proud by winning the popular culinary competition reality TV series and bagging the grand prize of AUD250,000 (RM834,000) in cash. The 29 year old accountant overcame countless grueling challenges and won out over 23 other aspiring amateur cooks.

Her epic three-month journey, broadcast on Lifetime, saw her garner a strong Malaysian fan-base, thanks to her cool, collected and versatile approach in the kitchen, and for spotlighting the varied and wonderful flavours of Malaysia.

And now, for the first time since her nail-biting victory, Diana is set for a triumphant homecoming to Malaysia. To share the joy of her achievement, Diana is meeting her fans in Kuala Lumpur! You can catch Diana in person too at a special appearance that's open to the public.

She'll share her amazing experiences from the competition and answer all fan questions, along with a special live cooking demonstration of one of her signature dishes. MasterChef Asia Malaysian finalists, Jasbir Kaur and Marcus Low will also be part of the celebrations, and will be cooking live at the event!

If you want to catch this culinary experience of a Lifetime, here are the details:

Date: Saturday, 7 October 2017
Time: 12pm – 6pm; Diana’s appearance from 3pm – 5pm
Venue: South Court (Ground Floor) |Mid Valley Megamall
Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Can't make it? Don't fret! The event will also be streamed on Facebook Live by @LifetimeAsia to enable as many fans as possible to join in the fun of Diana’s homecoming!
https://www.facebook.com/LifetimeAsia/

You can also relive Diana’s triumphant journey with the best of MasterChef Australia Season 9 from 14 Oct – 4 Nov 2017, Saturdays, 12pm on Lifetime (Astro Ch 709).

The smile of a culinary champion! You go Diana!