Kids Workshop at Army Museum

I got an invitation to a Kids Workshop at the Army Museum recently. I was surprised as I have not heard from the army since my MR parade in 2011, now they want to "mobilise" my son already? But I'm glad I brought Xavier to the workshop, he had so much fun.

The workshop is actually organised to reach out to children, to let them know what SAF is about and the meaning behind protecting Singapore. I have tried to give Xavier an insight about serving National Service before this but I think I ended up confusing him. This might be a better option, I thought.

Being my first time to the Army Museum, I almost got lost as I didn't know it was right beside Singapore Discovery Center and both shares the same carpark. The Army, Navy and Air Force have already set up their exhibits at the different areas of the Museum. Xavier immediately warm up to familiar faces like Andy's kids.

Andy had earlier "jio" me to come in my No.4 too. But I have "camouflaged" my army stuff so well that even I myself couldn't find it the night before.

We mingled around, shake hands with the other parent bloggers, spoke to the people organising behind the workshop. The program started with COL Seet addressing the kids about who they are and why they have to defend and protect Singapore. For those guys who have been through army, you might imagine a stern officer talking authoritatively, army style.

Actually it was quite the opposite. He engaged the kids in a informal way, joking with kids, asking them questions like a gentle father. And that set the tone and manner of how the whole workshop was done. All the SAF personals at the workshop were excellent in engaging children, super patient and kids friendly. Its a side of SAF I could never imagine, seriously.

The whole group was split into three, each going to the Air Force, Army and Navy "booth" to learn more about what they do and to do some crafting. Our first stop, Air Force.

Manning the "booth" single-handedly is MAJ Kenny, an F-15 pilot. And the first task for the kids was to build a paper plane, complete with their name on it. The kids had so much fun throwing the paper planes to see whose flew the furthest.

He then explained the roles the Air Force plays, the various helmets they used, etc. He kept the kids attention very well. Even when some kids playfully poked their paper planes on his head or try to "velcro" the badges onto his head, he didn't mind at all.

When he asked who wanted to try on their uniform, Xavier gamely raised his hand.

Next station, the Army. The kids were told to pick one of the kids sized uniform and put it on. Was a strange feeling folding Smart 4 for Xavier.

They were given insight of the various tanks we have, hands-on carrying the full pack and what usually goes into the full pack, how combat ration looks like, etc.

Then it was time for them to build their own leopard tank. Xavier got help from "Uncle Johnson".

Last stop, Navy. Xavier was having so much fun he just couldn't keep a straight face for photos. The navy officers explained the various navy personal roles to the kids. They also instructed the colour flags, each which represents an alphabet. Letter "M" seems to be the favourite as it means MacDonalds.

The kids then roleplayed the various Navy roles and work as a unit to spot and destroy the "pirate". Xavier took up the role of the looker to spot the pirate and inform his captain. Instead he kept directing the gunner instead. They then get to build their own submarine, complete with a Singapore flag.

Final task for the day is to put all their handicrafts together into a little project, "What Will You Defend?"

Xavier had fun piecing his project together. He decided where he wanted to place the tank & the troops, the submarine and the plane. I only helped him to "cement" the position with plasticine.

Lunch was next and the kids get to choose one of these lovely cupcakes as dessert. Xavier chose the 3-strips (chevrons, as COL Seet pointed out) which is the 3rd Sergeant rank. My rank in NS.

After lunch, the kids were free to explore the other areas and activities on their own. We checked out the mini SCO meant for kids.

Its a mini version of the Standard Obstacle Course (SOC) we are to go through during our national service (NS) days, all 12 obstacles scaled down. I didn't manage to take photos of all as Xavier was running about in excitement. I guess to the kids, its just a fun playground.

They also have an area where the kids can ride battery operated mini camouflage green jeeps, practice shooting with Nerf guns and making some more army vehicle models using pre-designed cardboard.

Overall, its been a very fun and informative day for both Xavier and myself. The program was well-organised and tailored towards educating kids about what SAF does and the roles they play, through games and fun activities.

If you are keen in the workshop above or like to have more information, please kindly contact Stephanie Chia, Senior Manager (NS Policy) at her email address: stephanie_chia@mindef.gov.sg.

Bloggers Brunch with Julia Gabriel Centre - Raising the iPad Generation

I got an invitation to a bloggers brunch organised by Julia Gabriel Centre at Seb's Bristo and having enjoyed the previous Daddy Bloggers get together, I look forward to sharing ideas and thoughts on "Raising the iPad Generation".

The mummy bloggers couldn't turn up due to personal reasons and it was another daddy blogger session, unintentionally. The other bloggers present were Winston (Dear Xander & The Blogfather), Andy (Sengkang babies), Nick (nickpan) and Daddy M (Wacky Duo).

Before the gathering, I have personally banned Xavier from using both the iPad and iPhone. He is always asking to play the game Angry Bird. I have seen too many instances where parents use them as a tool to keep the kid occupied so they can do their own things. Or worse, the kid being so engrossed in the little screen during meal time and the poor parent have to feed the kid (instead of the kid eating on his own). While I know its inevitable that Xavier would use it eventually but I wanted to delay it till I figure out how to impose restrictions effectively.

During the gathering, I think all of us see iPad as a useful tool. It's interactive and it can be both educational and entertaining if correctly used. It is definitely better than television which is more like a passive tool. Daddy M's kid actually picked up ABC from iPad.

All the other bloggers actually allow and even encourage their children to use and explore the iPad. So how do some of them make use the iPad/iPhone were used correctly?

• Use/play together with them. This way, you can supervise their usage too. 
• Allowing them access might make them less likely to fear it. Also, they are less likely to get the "forbidden fruit is sweeter" feeling. As long as they balance it with doing other activities and exploring outdoors, it's fine.
• Setting an example yourself. If you can constantly checking your emails and facebook at the dinner table, asking your kid not to do the same is not going to work.

Should parents try to stay above of your kid in terms of the technology know-how? Not needed. Given their eventual exposure to technology, they will probably ahead of us.

Youtube seems to be a concern. Unlike websites which you can resist access, its not easy to restrict what videos they can stump onto when they are in youtube.

Nick shared with us a game app called Fashion Story which his elder daughter is currently playing. He and his wife actually uses it to instill entrepreneur ideas like the need to get stocks, taking note of factors that could affect business like the number of mirrors in store, the number of cashiers, etc. His wife is also thinking of bringing their daughter to Bangkok to do actual merchandiser shopping. Very interesting.

The gathering gave me interesting insights and has opened my mind to encourage Xavier to use the iPad under supervision. Let's see how it goes.

Daddy Bloggers Get Together Organised by Julia Gabriel Centre

I got a surprised facebook friend's request recently from my university's course-mate's sister. It's surprising because we haven't kept in touch since year 2000 when she went to visit her sister in Sydney.

Actually she found me by chance as she was looking to invite daddies who blogs about parenting to a Daddy Bloggers Get Together organised by Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning. I said yes but didn't really know what to expect as I have never been to such get togethers before. I even had thoughts that it was for Julie Gabriel to promote their services since their principal director Fiona Walker will be there.

It turned out to be a great, informal and very relaxed sharing session about parenting. Andy (Sengkangbabies), Kelvin (Daddy NiVleK) and Pete (Aussie Pete) were the other bloggers who attended and together with Fiona and William from Julie Gabriel, we talked about a number of things from reading (to children) to sneaky kids who will melt your hearts (just before they get punished).

I picked up a number of useful tips and insights from the night. Here are some of them:
- Reading to your child is important, even when they can read on their own. Its a different skill set to read and to listen and often, reading to them allows them to enjoy the story more and let their imagination run while they listen to you read.

William's tip: Continue to read till they don't want you to read to them anymore. NLB has been running a program call 10,000 & More Fathers Reading and this year marks the 5th anniversary.

- Jealousy among siblings are quite common and Andy's experience is that it affects all four of his kids, usually at different periods.

Andy's tip: Explain the privileges of being older or bigger and to empower the older kid with responsibilities so he/she feels important.

- Raising a bilingual is not easy. I find it hard to consistently speak Mandarin to Xavier, even though I came from a Mandarin speaking family. Xavier only replies in English and after a few sentences, I would unknowingly reply back in English too.

Fiona says it takes a whole lot of persistency and the success stories she sees usually involves one parent speaking to the child solely in one language and the other speaking in a second language.   

Fiona's tip: Set a specific time each day (e.g. dinner time) where we would only converse in the particular language.

I totally enjoyed the session and hope I can join more of such informal sharing sessions.

Dadsforlife Sand Castle Event

Dadsforlife organised a Meet Up and Sand Castle Event for at East Coast Park recently. I was hesitant to join initially as it would mean attending with just Xavier (since Lilian is still in confinement). The thought of sand and sea and Xavier running around just didn't gel well in my head.

But Andy was going with his four kids and he said it would be fun if we all go together. So I reluctantly agreed. And I'm glad I did. It was a fun event and Xavier thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Having to keep an eye on him also meant I didn't really have a chance to take much photos and mingle with the rest to make new friends. Well I'll leave the photos to Andy (can see more at his blog), and I did introduced to Isaiah (from J Babies' Dad) and Nick (from nickpan.com). And it did boast my confidence taking Xavier out alone and I should do that more often.

Looking forward to more Dadsforlife event and knowing more parents.