Teaching Kids To Draw Using Microsoft Paint

We don't have any fantastic drawing programs at home so we have to rely on good old Microsoft Paint. I can't draw on paper, so what more on PC using MS Paint? So how do I teach the kids to draw using microsoft paint? Nevermind, the internet is always full of resources. Today, I want to share with you a wonderful resource I found.

Here it is. How To Draw Cartoons in Microsoft Paint. I love it! This is a series of videos teaching you how to draw cartoons in microsoft paint. It is extremely easy to follow. You will be taken through the steps to draw and color a picture using MS Paint. The steps are shown in the form of video instructions on how to draw in Ms Paint. At the end, the presenter even shows you how to animate your pictures. All this using good old Microsoft Paint.

So you see, you don't need any fancy tools to teach kids how to draw using Microsoft Paint. Just show them the instruction videos, then let them experiment themselves. This is what my boy came up with, after watching the video.

Cartoon boy drawn using Microsoft Paint. According to his sister who is always ready to point out his mistakes, he forgot to draw in the body. 

Cartoon Car with special weapons. My boy drew and colored this picture himself after experimenting with the first by following the instruction videos on how to draw cartoons in microsoft paint. He took just 10 minutes to complete this masterpiece.

The video using this picture tool to animate the picture by saving, drawing and  uploading the files frame by frame. Really nice picture tool, so I'm going to add the link here for our reference. - iaza - free online image conversion tool.

The kids don't get to play around and experiment with the pc during school days, so we do some of these things during the school holidays. :)

How To Make Learning Fun

My boy is studying for his ABRSM Music Theory Grade 2 exams. He hates it. In fact, he hates studying and memorizing and doing any "hard" work. However, he loves cowboys and robots and drawing funny figures with all sorts and manners of special and powerful weapons that can be loaded up in an instant to win over the enemy, the result of playing too many computer games.

So, I thought about it all night. How do I turn studying scales and the relationship between major and minor scales fun?

How Do I Make This Fun? How Do I Make Studying Fun?

So, I told him a story. I told him that C major was the Captain (C stands for Captain), so he didn't need to have any special key signature. A captain gives orders so he does not need any special guns or knives. Captain C has a nephew called A minor. Since they are relatives, A does not need to have any special "weapons" as well but since he is still small (a minor), he needs to keep a small knife in his 7th pocket to keep as protection.

We also talked about the other "families", F major/D minor and G major/E minor making  up all sorts of stories as we went along while relating them to the scales and the key signatures for the major or minor scales. The Father called F Major and his son named "D' has Big flat noses. So they both have the same key signature Bb while the Girl called G wants to cut up the Egg called E with a sharp knife called F, they both have the same key signature which is F sharp. My boy played a big part in coming up with the stories himself. We also came up with a silly song about the families and sang them together.

Then we talked about the sharp family and the flat family. We decided that the sharp family carried sharp knives as weapons against bad people while the flat family carries guns that shoots out flat bullets. Finally, I asked him to draw out the families. 

What fun. I had fun teaching. He had fun learning and I am sure he will remember his music scales now. Here are some of this drawings.

Captain C major

His nephew A minor

 The Sharp and Flat family

Eb major and his three guns that shoot out flat bullets. He doesn't have enough hands, so one gun is attached to his hat! lol.

 Bb major and his two guns

A major and his 'sharp' knives

How to make learning fun? It is not hard at all. You just have to know your child well. Understand his likes and dislikes and his style of learning. For a young child you can incorporate stories and songs to make learning fun. This is just an example of how to make learning fun. You can use this method for "boring" subjects that require a lot of plain reading and memorizing. At the moment both kids are memorizing their Italian terms. Soon, we will be speaking Italian at home as we incorporate those terms into our daily language to help them remember. :) 

Learning can be fun. I just wish that I have more time to teach the children in this manner. It is never possible during school days, not with their heavy homework load. :(

Where To Find Glass Bottles And Other Containers

If you are the type of person who loves to recycle and use your own bottles, jars and containers to store your own products, here is one good place to find bulk glass bottles. If you don't think you need bulk glass bottles in bulk, think again. Think of how many bottles you actually use for your craft projects for example.

You don't have to be a business to buy bulk glass bottles. You may be a hobbyist or crafter. Getting bottles in various sizes, shapes and colors with seals may be hard to find. Well, now you know where to find them. Glass bottles in various shapes and sizes are available. You can use them for your crafts or  hobbies or even use them to store your home cleaning agents as your way to recycle. You can buy cleaning agents in bulk and store them in your own bottles. You can even buy decorative glass bottles and add your own details for decoration in various parts of your home.

You can find perfume bottles and bottles accessories like bottle corks, droppers, funnels, pumps and atomizers. If you run a small business, these bottles and accessories are perfect for you because tamper evident seals are available too. So if you don't know where to go to buy bottles, now you do.

Giveaway - Hot Wheels Wall Tracks Starter Set

I am so pleased to be hosting a giveaway for this mid term school holidays, 2012.

What Am I Giving Away

I am giving away one (1) Hot Wheels Wall Tracks Starter Set to one lucky reader of this blog. It comes with one (1) die-cast Hot Wheels car, 3M Command Strips for mounting plus an easy instruction poster. You will need to help your child do the initial set up. After that your child can use his imagination to create different pathways for his track.

How Much Is It Worth?

The Hot Wheels Wall Tracks Starter set is worth RM159.90

About The Hot Wheels Wall Tracks Starter Set

The Hot Wheels Wall Tracks is an innovative range of tracks from Mattel. What makes it different from other track sets is, this track is mounted on the wall! This wall mounted track play system lets your child take his play to new heights, off the floor and onto the wall. The track is mounted on the wall using adhesive 3M Command Strips which won't damage your walls.

What I Like About The Hot Wheels Tracks Starter Set

1. It encourages creative and imaginative play. Children can use their creativity and imagination by experimenting various ways they can twist and turn the tracks into the perfect racing circuit in their minds. 
2. It improves cognitive skills. Building new and different path variations enhances cognitive learning in children as children fix and snap the parts together to form different paths and racing routes.
3. You don't have to "pick up" after your kid since there will be no tracks left all over the floor. The tracks can be left on the wall as part of your room decor.
4. It can be expanded using other Hot Wheels Wall Tracks Set to create more stunts, speeds and actions. I like expand-ability options in toys because it saves me the headache of thinking of what to buy.

Giveaway Instructions

This giveaway is open to Malaysians Only (East and West Malaysians included).

I am using a form powered by Rafflecopter to make it easier for me to monitor your entries. All you need to do is follow the specific instructions on the form.

• You do not need to have a blog. 
• You do not need to sign up to rafflecopter
• You will need to fill in a valid email address so you can be contacted if you win the giveaway
• You will need to reply to the winning email within 48 hours, otherwise another winner will be selected

There are 5 ways you can submit entries. Please use the form to submit your entry. Click "Do It" then click "Enter" to submit your entry. It is very important that you use the form at the end of this post to submit your entries, otherwise it will not be counted. Thank you.

1. Leave A Blog Post Comment in the blog comment box (Compulsory).  Then Click "Do It" in the Rafflecopter form below followed by "Enter" to confirm that you have left a comment. You may then move on to submit the other optional entries below. Remember, the more ways you submit your entries, the higher your chances of winning.
2. "Like" The Blog Post
3. Tweet About The Giveaway
4. Share This Giveaway On Facebook
5. Blog About This Giveaway

Only the first "Leave A Blog Post Comment" is compulsory. The others are optional. 

You will see entry points for each way of submitting an entry. More entry points are allocated for the more difficult ones. For example the "Blog About This Giveaway" option will earn you 5 entry points. This means your blog post will be considered as 5 separate entries for the giveaway giving you more chances of winning. Click on the "Blog About This Giveaway" option within the form to get the instructions for your blog post.

Winners are picked by random. If you are not familiar with how to enter a rafflecopter giveaway. Here is a rafflecopter video demo to show you how. If you prefer, you can ask me a question directly on my Facebook.

This giveaway contest ends 15th June 2012, my birthday. It's a nice birthday present to myself to be able to give away something to my readers.

Good Luck!

UPATED: This giveaway is over. Congratulations to Joanna.N and her little boy who is in for a surprise!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Homemade Teacher's Day Gift Ideas

First a very big thank you to the following online mommies Montesorri Mum, Chinnee, Sasha, Jaclyn and Melinda for allowing me to use their beautiful images and ideas for this post. In fact, it was their creative Homemade Teacher's Day Gift Ideas that gave inspiration to this post. :)

Here are the Homemade Teacher's Day Gift Ideas that inspired this post.

Here's one from ChinNee who blogs at Demoments.net. Talk about creativity. These little colorful birds are amazing. Do you know what they are made of? They are made of Mama Patch Flannel Cloth Wipes.

Amazing isn't it? I think they are amazing, amazingly creative! They look so adorable. Add a little card with the words "Thank you, Teacher" and what have you  got? A beautiful and adorable Teacher's Day Gift that is lovely to look at as well as useful.

These lovely paper quilling design bookmarks are perfect as a Homemade Teacher's Day Gift. They are simple, yet they look marvelous.

I just love how the string for the homemade bookmark for Teacher's Day completes the look. You can read how the Teacher called up to thank Elaine of Montessorimum.com the next day.

A simple but sweet homemade Teacher's Day Gift like this is always appreciated.



Little Pots of plants whether real or artificial make a nice gift for Teachers on Teacher's Day. Look at how Sasha from Sashablablabla.com has decorated her little pots of plants with ribbons, butterflies and caterpillars.  It is beautiful isn't it?

You can include a message that says "Thank you, Teacher for helping me grow like this plant." or "I know I will continue to grow with you as my teacher."

Here's another potted plant gift for Teacher, this time using real plants.

Just wrap the plant up in transparent paper, add a card and you are done. Quick and Lovely!

You can stick the card on into the pot, add some ribbons, or just slip the card in together with the plant. Anything goes. This gift will grow with teacher and Teacher can keep it for a long time. Image is with courtesy from Elizabeth Law.




I tried to copy Montessorimum by making bookmarks for Teacher's Day this year. I figured that Teachers will always need bookmarks so it will be a useful gift for Teachers.

While, Montessorimum patiently folded her quilled flowers, mine was a quick job. I added some beads from my girl's bead box to give our Homemade bookmark for Teacher (link shows you how to make the bookmark) a little bit of blink blink.

We always keep a craft cupboard at home so crafts like this can be completed in 10 minutes flat.

It would seem like I am always rushing. I am amazed at how Montessorimum with her 4 kids can find more time than me to make a paper quilling bookmark whereas I am so rushed, all I can manage are quick homemade cards like this one we did last year.

Last year, we did a pop-up Teacher's Day Card, also right at the very last minute as an appreciation gift for Teacher on Teacher's Day.

When the kids were younger, we did more simple cards like this cut and paste flowers in a vase card. This Homemade Teacher's Day Card is really simple to make for little children.

All you need to do is cut out simple flower and leaf shapes, then get your child to paste the leaves and flowers in a hand drawn or cutout of a vase.

This Homemade Teacher's Day Card is suitable for young kids. Older kids can cut out their own shapes.

You can also make crepe paper flowers and present these homemade flowers to teacher for Teacher's Day.

One year, that was exactly what we did. We made crepe paper flowers in various colors, then wrapped them up with transparent paper and tied them with colorful ribbons.

The homemade flowers for teachers looked as good as real flowers!

Moms who are bakers can bake up a Teacher's Day gift like this clever mom, Jaclyn Lai. She has baked up boxes of cute Teacher's Day cupcakes.

Each box is decorated with a ribbon. It's all in the presentation.
You can bake these cupcakes as a gift for anyone, not just Teachers. Just package them nicely like how Jaclyn has done and it is the perfect homemade gift, not to mention, it's yummy too!

I really admire those mums who can bake. Cute cupcakes are the ultimate gift for any occasion. Just decorate them according to the theme for the occasion.

In this case, this mommy blogger from Family First Confections has created a wonderful and delicious way to say "Thank You" to Teacher for Teacher's Day.

I wish I could bake like that!

Finally, even if your child is very young, you can still encourage them to make their own Teacher's Day card for Teacher.

Just provide them with pens, punched out shapes, glitters, stickers and anything else you can think of.

Then let your young child decorate his or her Homemade Teacher's Day gift.

Children's art are masterpieces and will always be loved by Teachers. Thank you so much, Melinda Low for sharing your child's masterpiece with us. Her 3 1/2 year old son made his first Teacher's Day Card all by himself. She only provided him with the materials.

No time to make your own? Then you might have to shop online for some last minute Teacher's Day Gifts.

SHOP FOR LAST MINUTE TEACHER'S DAY GIFTS