Common Spaces @ Science Centre is a hands-on play programme for targeting children between 18 months old to 6 years old. It is a joint collaboration by Science Centre Singapore and Make*Believe LLP, a company specialising in children's enrichment programmes.
Thanks to the kind invitation from the organisers, Juliana & Wee Mee, we & the whole monkies clan were down at the Omni Theatre Podium to try out the various activities there.
There a quite a number of stations, which each being specially designed to engage children's imagination and creative thinking; while incorporating the learning of mathematics, science and the arts.
The first installation which attracted the boys was this simple set-up of floor tiles with various textures, which introduced them to materials like granite, pebblewash and mosaic tiles.
The main biggie attraction has got to be the eye-catching life-sized red fire engine made out of cardboard, sitting prettily in the middle of the room.
After donning their fireman hats, the boys had a mission to accomplish: to figure out which ball will travel the fastest out of the tube - the metal or rubber ball?
Once they got the answer, they had to play firemen and snuff out fire (in the shape of a red box) by rolling the balls down the tubes.
I think it is safe to say this installation was one of their faves there.
Ale, on the other hand, was busy too.
She was at the Building Blocks Playground, where there were lots of large foam blocks for her to display her creativity.
Ayd also got down to work immediately, and came up with his shophouse.
Which sort of impressed Ale I think.
Because it inspired her to make her own window!
Haha... ok, the wifey made it for her. But she was mighty happy with it!
Ash, on the other hand, figured a tall skyscraper would be the way to go in land-scarce Singapore.
I think he must have been dreaming all the profits from the sale of his property as he built along. :P
And when all the foam blocks eventually collapsed, other note-worthy works were also seen.
Can you tell what the 2 animals in the top and bottom photos are?
The next installation makes use of the Central Fire Station which serves as a backdrop for the children to piece together puzzles of varying levels of difficulty.
There's the Shapes Sorter station, which asks children to match the various parts of the fire station to the shapes correctly.
Ash took on the Build-your-own-Fire-Station set-up, where he had to construct his own Fire Station using parts of the original station.
And if any kid loves jigsaw puzzles, he/she can reconstruct the entire fire station too.
Or perhaps something 3-D, like a cube puzzle would be more preferred?
Like Ayd, who was deeply engrossed in his cube puzzle.
The final station was the Signs in the City area - where children are given the task of city planning, and in the process learn about shapes, numbers and space.
Through the use of cards and building blocks, kids can also learn how to use a map grid too.
I thought the boys pretty enjoyed their time there, and I feel there's a need for more such installations for kids in Singapore.
Just like the museums that we had visited in Australia, it's more fun for the kids when learning is mixed with a play element. And when there is play, you can always count on my boys to be first in line! :P
View more photos at our Facebook page by clicking HERE!
Event details:
Name: Common Spaces @ Science Centre
Venue: Omni Theatre Podium, Science Centre
Time: 10.30am - 5.30pm
Charges: $9 for child, $4 for adult
For enquiries, please email contact@makebelieve.sg or visit http://www.makebelieve.sg.
Email to a friend
No comments :
Post a Comment