Apart from getting them ready for next year’s academic, there is a lot of interesting stuff that we as parents could do together with our young children.
1. Free Parks In Singapore
With social distancing measures still in place as the fight against COVID-19 continues, Singapore’s gorgeous green spaces provide a welcome respite from being cooped up indoors.
There are estimated around 350 parks in Singapore and we could not list all. Nevertheless, you could easily google for all the locations. Here are some interesting places which we would like to suggest:
Yishun Park
Yishun Park is a 14-hectare park located in Yishun, Singapore. It is within the vicinity of Northland Primary School, SAFRA Yishun Country Club and Yishun Park Hawker Centre. The park is connected to Yishun Pond Park by an 84-meter elevated bridge. Who says a hawker centre can’t be a family-fun destination? They prove the naysayers wrong with their weekend programming of Park & Play and pop-up events.
Lakeside Garden in Jurong
Singapore’s latest national garden, and features many play areas for children (adults, feel free to join) – including water play areas. The Forest Ramble area is officially for kids ages 5- 12 years to have fun with the trampolines, rope courses and adventure bridges. Younger kids will have fun at the playground and there are water and sand play park as well as a cafe. The areas are specially landscaped and designed for families and the community to come together to play, learn and bond. Clusia Cove is a water playground where children can experience water movements that mimic tidal patterns, surface ripples and directional currents similar to those at coastal shores.
Coney Island Park
Ideal for picnic and cycling. Rustic Park is known for its diverse flora, a wide variety of colourful birds species and lush coastal forests for them to discover there that we hardly get to see in the city area.
Hort Park
HortPark is a one-stop gardening resource hub that ideal for family fun-day with photography, or gardening, walking and jogging. They have a school programme called the Eco-Learning Programme to initiate gardening awareness and nature appreciation among young children.
2. Simple Household Chores
Training the kids to do household chores is to build their concentration and independence, and also to refine fine and gross motor skills.
Practical life activities are easy to replicate at home and taking care of the environment also gives children a sense of purpose, which can be hugely beneficial to a child’s self-esteem and his or her behaviour from a young age.
Simple chores such as folding their clothing; vacuuming the floor; cleaning and setting up the table for meals; sharpening their pencils and packing their stationeries, toys and books.
3. Cooking & Baking
Guiding them to cultivate passion and patience to learn how to cook simple dishes and bake cakes or cookies. This is a survival skill! They will get to understand the importance of food values and the art of cooking and baking processes.
Baking muffins or cookies to give to neighbours as thanksgiving gifts will bring joy and positive vibes to all.
4. Volunteering
Little ones can help to contribute to our community in one way or another too. Helping others takes away the emphasis on material things and remind us to be grateful for all that we have.
Young kids can make paintings, choose holiday gifts, gardening or donate their clothing, books or toys which are in good conditions for other children in need. They can also volunteer in nursing homes, or help to do food distribution together with parents. Try to make volunteering, even in a very small way, a regular tradition to foster gratitude all year long.
5. Get Them To Make A Gratitude List
Saying thanks can be heartfelt and meaningful! Sharing their gratitude and appreciation will gradually develop them to be a kind and passionate person with empathy.
Create a bonding time to chat over the meal timings or get them to write down in a gratitude journal or decorate a card as a keepsake.
Meaningful connections are about the quality of time and not the quantity of time. Keeping it simple and connecting with your child/ children in ways that make sense for your lifestyle and relationship. Every connection has a lasting impact and provides support and reassurance with the needs of your child/ children.
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