Preparing for our weekend #PracticalLife activity : Mortar & Pestle work.Mortar & Pestle is a tool that has been existed since a long time ago, we use it all the time … Esp. In #Indonesia where the food are rich in flavors and various kind of #spices and #herbs are involved in #cooking business today, I prepared four different items with different textures and shapes for dear son to “crush” and “mash up”

 1.#coriander (ketumbar) Coriandrum sativum which is the dried seeds part of coriander which is also known as#cilantro (my fav) ;

 2. #sesame seeds (Sesamum indicum) which is one of the oldest oilseed crops known. (Be careful, some people are allergic with this seed) which we find on many of #japanese cooking…as they are the world’s largest sesame importer ; 

3.#Candlenuts ( #kemiri ) (Aleurites moluccanus) that is very popular and mostly used in #indonesian #cuisine#nom like ayam goreng kalasan, rempeyek, nasi goreng , etc (yes, I am hungry right now) ; 

4. Rock Sugar ( Gula Batu ) which has a rocky, densed, hard texture (will add challenge to mash up) .

The direct purpose of this activity is to mash up all the ingredients to be used for cooking later . The indirect purposes of this activity is to practice#grossmotorskills and strengthen hand grip and muscles, hand-eye coordination, intrigue #olfactorysense, introduce dear son to #indonesian spices and seeds as he learns the indonesian name of the spices and seeds …as the #cultural aspect of this activity and let he smells the fresh freshly crushed seeds , learning about cause and effect (before the seeds were crushed and after.. The textures and shapes are changed) . 

Enjoy!