New: 3Dots Artlab

We are an alternative art lab situated in larnaca, from med high school going towards the tennis courts, 2nd turning to your right.... the little white house to your right!

The subjects we teach vary, we have painting for all ages (a variety of mediums), illustration (character design, story board making and book/comic making) craft lessons, and finally experimental arts which is a lesson using using colours, sounds, as well as visual imagery and body expression to create art!

Tel: 96 590 324
Email: 3dotsartlab@gmail.com


STARTING IN APRIL!

3DotsArt Lab are opening new classes  on Saturdays from 11:00-13:00 for all ages ...

https://www.facebook.com/threedots.artlab?fref=ts

Oyster Mushrooms in Garlic Wine Sauce with Pasta

I do love mushrooms but at the moment I'm just loving these beautiful oyster mushrooms and on the look-out for recipes and this is one of the first ones I found and now is my favourite pasta dish, just so delicious, and so perfect with pasta coated with a buttery lemony wine sauce, a quick and easy dish, served with garlic bread, I'm sure will be on your favourite list too!! Enjoy!!

Ingredients

• 500g Oyster mushrooms, cut into bit-sized pieces
• 1 cup flour
• Garlic powder, salt &pepper
• ¼ cup Lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• Basil and Parsley, chopped
• A couple of cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup white wine
• Cooked pasta, I like to use Spaghettini

Method

1. Season the flour with garlic powder and salt & pepper,
2. Dredge the mushrooms in the flour.
3. Heat oil and butter in a non-stick pan. 
4. Fry the mushrooms until golden brown and set aside….you will be tempted at this stage to squeeze lemon juice on the mushrooms and munch a few….if you think you'll be tempted use ore mushrooms!!
5. Using the same pan, sauté the garlic in the olive oil and butter until softened.
6. Deglaze the pan by pouring in the wine. Simmer for 2-3 minutes or until alcohol has dissolved. Turn heat off.
7. Add lemon juice and mushrooms and mix.
8. Add pasta and sprinkle lemon zest and herbs.
9. Just delicious served with garlic bread.

Androulla 

xxx

Helping children conquer their fears

A child becomes afraid when circumstances beyond her control, or circumstances she doesn’t understand, rock her fragile sense of safety. The process of development, birth and early growth presents many moments when a child’s sense of safety is challenged.And although we consider ourselves an advanced society, many children still face deeply isolating and even life-threatening situations early in their lives. Damage is also done by the harshness, threats, and violence commonly found in movies, cartoons, and fairy tales.

To release feelings of fear, your child will choose a pretext
The situations that installed fear made the child feel helpless and powerless. To safely release the fearful feelings, she hangs her fears on a pretext that is ordinary and commonplace. This way, she can bring up the feelings at a time when there is no real threat. As a child grows, her fears attach first to one pretext and then to another if she isn’t able to get the help she needs. Your child is ready to release feelings of fear when she is acting deeply afraid of a harmless situation. So, for instance, a toddler who was once treated in the emergency room for a second-degree burn may become terrified of having his mother brush his teeth. Or a child who spent a week in an isolette as an infant may collapse, “too weak” to take another step on a short family hike in the woods.

Fear releases in laughter
Play that helps children overcome their fears starts by giving a child Special Time, during which the grownup does whatever the child wants to do (See our booklet,Special Time, one of the Listening to Children booklets.) You are the listener. Notice what your child loves to do, and support her with closeness and approval. During this time, look for opportunities to take the less powerful role.If your child is pretending to go to work, playfully cry and beg her not to go. If your child wants to play chase, try to catch her, but fail most of the time. If your child asks to jump on the beds, playfully ask her to jump “carefully,” with enough of a sparkle in your eye that she’ll know it’s OK to surprise and scare you with how high she can jump. Your child’s fears will release as she laughs while you play this less powerful role. The longer you play and elicit laughter in this way, the bolder your child will become. But avoid ticking—it is not helpful.

The Importance of Friendship for School-Age Children

Friends are vital to school-age children's healthy development. Research has found that children who lack friends can suffer from emotional and mental difficulties later in life. Friendships provide children with more than just fun playmates. Friendships help children develop emotionally and morally. In interacting with friends, children learn many social skills, such as how to communicate, cooperate, and solve problems. They practice controlling their emotions and responding to the emotions of others. They develop the ability to think through and negotiate different situations that arise in their relationships. Having friends even affects children's school performance. Children tend to have better attitudes about school and learning when they have friends there. In short, children benefit greatly from having friends.

What parents can do to help child make friends
Parents play a crucial role in their child's social development. A child is not born with social skills. He needs parents who take an active role in preparing him to interact successfully with his peers. The most important thing parents can do for their child is to develop a loving, accepting, and respectful relationship with him. This warm relationship sets the stage for all future relationships, including friendships. It helps the child develop the basic trust and self-confidence necessary to go out and meet others. It provides a firm foundation on which the child can develop social skills.

Parents also teach their child various social skills by being a good role model. That is, a child learns from how his parents interact with him and other people. He learns how to meet people and talk to them, to tell stories and jokes, and to cooperate with others and ask for favors. He learns how to win or lose well, to apologize and accept apologies. He learns to accept compliments graciously and to show admiration and appreciation. Furthermore, he learns to be patient, respectful, and considerate. Parents help their child learn how to be a person others like to be around by showing him with their own actions.

How to Develop Child Creativity

1). Allow for your child to make simple choices, such as what to eat for dinner or where to go on a weekend. This encourages them to think independently, exercising an important aspect of creativity.

2).Encourage independence from caregivers and media. A child that is constantly entertained by others or the television will struggle to find things to do on their own without access to media.

3).Provide items in your child's environment to stimulate their imagination.Drawing supplies, blocks, books, and random craft supplies can all contribute to elaborate dramatic play schemes.

4).Brainstorm different uses for items with your child. For example, a cardboard tube can be a telescope, tower, or person. Validate all of your child's ideas, praising him or her for such an impressive imagination.

5). Ask your child open-ended questions to stretch their understanding and help them to postulate ideas.

Ask your child "what if" questions. "What if people could fly?" "What if people lived in space?" "What if dolphins walked on land?"
Involve your child in figuring out ways to make an improvement upon something. "How can we clean up the living room faster?" "How could we get water to the flowers without spilling any?" "What could we do to make the ball bounce higher?"