Dinosaurize Me! at Plaza Singapura this June Holidays!

It's the school holidays and dinosaur season! Okay wait, I don't mean our kids are dinosaurs...or maybe they are in their little unique way!

There are a couple of ongoing dinosaur events happening around us on this tiny little island, and if you have children interested in dinosaurs the way mine are, then you absolutely must check out DINOSAURIZE ME! at Plaza Singapura just because it's the best one yet! 

You cannot miss the gigantic Argentinosaurus the moment you step foot into Plaza Singapura, because it;s feet are huge enough to crush you, and it's goes up as tall as three floors high! There are many ongoing activities for children going on at the atrium, and I actually sneaked up to the third storey while my kids were immersed in their activities to take this picture!

Let me introduce to you this replica of the gigantic specie. He is the Argentiosaurus, and no prizes for guessing where he originated! He may look huge, but he is pretty harmless as he is a herbivore! How do I know all that? Well there are shows every weekend that teaches you about the facts of dinosaurs. For a twenty-something year old, I actually learnt a lot from the show, and came home relishing what I've learnt! Don't even mention my kids, dinosaurs are all they talk about now that they know more about these creatures!

Timings: Saturdays & Sundays, 1:30 pm, 4:30 pm, 7:30 pm

Also happening at the atrium are workshops for children, facilitated by the Science Centre who is in collaboration with Plaza Singapura for this event. Hence, you can be assured that all the workshops are done pretty well with good facilitation by the staff. Each workshop cost only $5, and the kids get to bring home the crafts they made, so it is pretty worth it if you ask me!

The first booth the kids tried out was the dinosaur fossil crafting booth, where children got to try out using clay and mold to make their own clay dinosaurs. I recommend doing this craft first because it takes around half an hour to dry up and harden, and once the kids are done with the other booths, it would be just nice to collect the ready made mold. This workshop is best suitable for preschoolers, as it is sensorial and easy to do for those tiny fingers. 

The second booth the boys tried out was a geological timeline activity, which involved a lot of cutting and pasting and is best suited for slightly older aged children since apart from the cutting and pasting, it would be better if they actually knew the dinosaur time zones. My boys knew nothing about the timeline of dinosaurs but enjoyed themselves nonetheless, because they enjoyed seeing it come to live when everything was done. It was like a hanging mobile, which we have now hung up in the boys' room. 

The last booth is a superbly interesting one. It is the Dino Stop Motion workshop. At this area, my kids were given a printed paper of dinosaurs to color, which they did. After which, they had to cut their individual dinosaurs out and place it on a given background to tell a story. The facilitators will then use the mommy's handphone to download an app called Stop motion, which they will use to record the storytelling process. This workshop was by far the coolest one, as kids got to use their imagination and story-telling skills to tell their own unique story!

This was my kid's story: All the dinosaurs moved away from the volcano except two of them who decided to play near the volcano, when it erupted and they got into a lot of trouble thereafter!

If that was not all, there is also a  fossil digging sand pit that kids can pretend play as a paleontologist, and dig to their hearts content! My kids spent the longest time here, and even made friends to construct the dinosaur after finding all the bones. Definitely can't go wrong with the messy play with these guys!

I highly recommend bringing your kids down to Plaza Singapura for this fun-filled Dinosaurize Me! event at the atrium because it is really that fun! My kids spent a total of close to four hours, in a mall, which is almost hard to believe because they hate malls, and would rather run wild outdoors. 

To find out more information on DINOSAURIZE ME, visit here!

There is just two more weekends left, as the dinosaurs leave us on the 14th June, so be there or be square!

When: 29 May to 14 June 2015
Where: Plaza Singapura, Level 1 Main Atrium

The boys could not get enough of dinosaurs, so we continued with some dinosaur activities at home, which I believe could go on for quite awhile!

Build a dinosaur with blocks

A dinosaur sensory bin

Dinosaur Mulberry Paint Art

And guess what, we did another stop motion animation, this time with dinosaur stickers!

Now, go have fun with dinosaurs already!! :)

Blog Train: If I Were a Time Traveller...

Ever watched Back to the Future, where Michael J Fox was still a handsome young lad, and we were in our childhood, and travelling back in time or travelling forward in time seems like the coolest thing to wish for? Yeah, me to, as much as a lot of us do. Wouldn't it be lovely to travel back in time, or maybe even if we don't, just dreaming of travelling back in time.

What would I change, 

what would I do different?

Let's throwback to when I was a teen, many years back. I had the time of my life in secondary school, college, and even polytechnic. I went through each learning journey trying to find my niche. I did very well for my O'Levels so I did not have trouble choosing where I wanted to go to study next. I was hasty enough to choose a Chinese-ed college just because it sounded nice, and it was cool to be studying at the so-said school. After year 1, I did not like it one bit because well, let's face it, Mandarin had never been my thing to ace, and being surrounded with Chinese A-star students was a little intimidating. Furthermore, I did not quite like taking the science route even though I did very well in my math and sciences because it just did not suit the personality that I am.

So I left, and enrolled into a polytechnic instead. Well, studying in a polytechnic was vibrant enough for me, it was totally fun to be walking in school, hanging out in home clothes and carrying my laptop from lecture hall to lecture hall. There was so much freedom, I absolutely loved school. However, I chose the wrong course. Once again, I thought why not go back to my comfort zone, THE SCIENCES. I took a diploma in Biomedical Science and went on to not working in that industry at all. It just did not fit in with my personality, again. 

I am one to move about, to talk very loudly, to want to meet new people all the time. You can say, I am quite the social butterfly. Staying in the lab, wearing a lab coat, and trying out experiments was just not my cup of tea. It was way too boring for my very energetic pair of legs and my fidgety bum. I was left lost for quite a while and didn't know what career path to take thereafter. 

It was only after I became a mother, that I started sending my child to Julia Gabriel for their playgroup sessions that I saw what I liked. It was also then that I found my Eureka moment!

I love kids.

I love movement.

I love being up and about.

I love chatting, and talking, and chatting.

I love being playful.

All that just pretty much sums up an early childhood teacher in her daily job scope. Making sure children grow up loving their childhood, and learning in the process of it all. I wanted to be that person, who contributed to their fun, and joy, and be part of the wonderment of growing up. 

My second son was but a month old when I enrolled myself into school again. Since then I have not looked back, and I have graduated from my course. I am now a licensed teacher, and I am very happy with my career. The only regret I have was, finding out too late, what my niche was. If only I had known back then, I could have probably advanced in my career quicker than I can now. 

If I could travel back in time to the day I took my O'level results and searched for my career path, I would have chosen Early Childhood in a heartbeat. But you know what, perhaps also, being a mother made me a better decision maker and a more mature learner. So even if I could travel back in time, and turn the clock around, things wouldn't have happened the way I think it would have. Like they say, everything happens for a reason!

What would you change if you could travel back in time? Don't say I didn't warn you, but the thinking could set you back for a lot of thinking once you embark on it! :)

Next up on the Time Travelling Blog train is:

Jennifer or DinoMama as she is fondly known as to some, is a full time working mum who believes home cooked meals are the best and tries to cook healthy meals for her family as often as possible. When she has done coaching DinoBoy with his school work or not playing & bonding with him, she will be sitting at a comfy corner in the house busy working on something on her crochet hook. One day she hopes she will be able to be a full time stay at home mum where she can fuss over her family 24/7.