Holidays are stuff that dreams are made of. No fixed routines. No schedules. No rush.
At least for now.
I’ve made it the goal of this year’s March, June and September holidays that the kids play and play only. Apart from the older kids’ Chinese home tuition, I promised myself that they would not get any sit-down-with-mama-and-let’s-do-some-work sessions because this is pretty much the very last year Ben is gonna be a preschooler. Which makes it pretty much a very, very precious year for all my pre-schooling children to be having fun with one another with no other demands on their time and no other expectations on their lives. We all know how life starts to get hectic and time becomes a little more screwed up and messed up when a child makes his foray into the formal education scene, and whilst we are all bracing ourselves for the new journey to come – first for Ben next year – we are so not looking forward it.
These are golden years, my babies. Play and go wild as much as you want.
~~~
So during the March holidays (yes, I’m backtracking here a bit!), we had the time of our lives at this place:
Bouncing up and down, left and right
Slam-dunkin’
Shooting a basket
Aiming for the sky
Rock climbing
Racing to aim and throw
It was the wildest we ever got to do as a family. Not even Legoland was this wild.
Think non-stop bouncing, with Mom and Dad, and getting a seriously serious workout.
This is ZoomPark Asia (200 Pandan Gardens, #01-14, Singapore 609336 | Tel: 6334-4615). The healthy, bouncy folks there tell me that 10 minutes of being on a trampoline is equivalent to 30 minutes of jogging.
You bet I was jumping hard at this mega trampoline park. If we didn’t live so far, I would have made it a weekly affair to get a workout here.
Takes a lot of hand, feet and eye coordination, this one
Gives a whole new meaning to peng-san!
Resting on foam blocks after free falling from the rock climbing
We were bouncing alongside Sengkang Babies!
~~~
This June, we signed up as members of the zoo and River Safari again – because my children love the outdoors and animals! – and I had them direct their own homelearning about koalas after our visit to the koalas at the zoo.
Have you met Chan, Idalia, Paddle and Pellita yet? We don’t know who’s who though!
Someone’s awake!
We kept really quiet in there, because the koalas were sleeping!
Koala plush mania!
Kids decide what they want to do, and Mama prints them all from free printables online
Colouring begins!
Finding out what eucalyptus smells like
Making a koala enclosure and painting the leaves they picked
Wa la! Koala mask put on, koala mazes done and koala enclosure ready for visit!
~~~
We also paid a visit earlier in June to the National Museum of Singapore where Children Season is back, and checked out the inspiring and interactive exhibits at Masak Masak 2015.
Masak Masak 2015 features familiar playgrounds and interactive installations by Singaporean and international artists at the National Museum of Singapore
Becks and Nat doing a cute couple pose. The kids were super excited.
Spectrum of Paper by Mademoiselle Maurice (France): Step into a rainbow wonderland at the Rotunda and immerse yourself in a kaleidoscope of colourful, suspended origami boats and planes!
Navigating the maze that is Wanderlust by Crystal Wagner (USA), made completely from crepe paper
Stamping fun with the iconic masak masak stamps
Making patterns and lots of noise
Playing the eraser flag game, just that this one ain’t erasers but giant cushion flags!
Making our own shadow puppet
Ben’s little squirrel wants to join the fun
Becks’ little rabbit ready for shadow play with the backdrop of Jeremy Hiah’s (Singapore) Queen of the Forest
And off she goes behind the screen to tell her own story!
Simple Pleasures in Life by Jeanette Aw (yep, the local artiste – didn’t know she was so talented), which is apt indeed, because the simple pleasures in life are made of these: adding colours to our lives
The kids had their doodling dream and major graffiti fantasy come true at this installation
Opposite the colouring board is a huge black board which bids you come scratch it with all your might. A colourful background unveils. Ben is loving this – and also the fact the sound drives me nuts.
But none was as fun and wild as doing this:
Weeee!
Sliding fun at the bouncy version of the Dragon Playground
And then again on the Elephant version
Again and again!
And then climbing through the Watermelon one…
Before taking a rest on the wooden carousel swings with Momolato popsicles with real fruit inside
These brought back so many childhood memories for me, and I am glad the next generation is getting acquainted with them albeit in a different way.
If you love to museum-hop or love being in the museums, Children Season is really the best thing that happens every June.
~~~
Hope your holidays have been as swell as ours so far!
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