Bilingual Carnival at One Punggol aims to make learning mother tongue fun

Make family time all the more special with these ideas and activities.

Learn: Fun With Bilingualism carnival

Take part in hands-on activities, such as coding and crafts, conducted in Mandarin, Malay and Tamil.

Watch local animated shorts and snack on free popcorn and candy floss.

Your kids will be kept busy and happy at the Fun With Bilingualism carnival on Saturday, from 9.30am to 4pm, at community and lifestyle hub One Punggol.

Paper Monkey Theatre will be staging What’s Inside The Red Box?, a play adapted from the 2015 book of the same title, in Mandarin at 11am and English at 2pm.

Learn how you can encourage your kids to converse in their mother-tongue language through a panel discussion at 3pm.

Second Minister for Education Maliki Osman will share ideas together with three mothers – singer Tay Kewei and Chellamey Books founders Razmiah Banu and Usha Kumaran.

The carnival is organised by SPH Media and supported by the Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism, in partnership with PCF Sparkletots and the National Library Board.

Watch: Sherlock Sam: The Musical!

 

If your kids are fans of the Sherlock Sam children’s book series, be sure to get tickets to the stage adaptation.

Sherlock Sam: The Musical!, which runs from May 11 to 20 at the Capitol Theatre, features an original script by playwright Jo Tan and a score by music director Elaine Chan.

Root for young detective Samuel Tan Cher Lock and his robot sidekick Watson as they set out to solve a mystery at Fort Canning Park with the help of his sister Wendy and their friends Nazhar, Jimmy and Eliza.

It is presented by Dream Academy, in partnership with Epigram Books, which publishes Sherlock Sam.

Written by A.J. Low – the pseudonym of husband-and-wife team Adan Jimenez and Felicia Low-Jimenez – their series has enjoyed a successful run for a decade and been translated into six languages, including Turkish and Korean.

The authors say: “It’s the 10th anniversary of the series, and it will be amazing to see characters that we think of as real people, portrayed by real people.”

Tickets from $38 are available at sg.bookmyshow.com/e/sherlock

Read: Freddy The Dogged Rescuer

 

Freddy The Dogged Rescuer, a middle-grade book based on true events, might just inspire your kids to raise money for charity.

Freddy and his family have adopted Wally from the Home for Paws. While the dog is adjusting to his new home, Freddy receives news that the shelter is being forced to relocate.

He is adamant about raising awareness and funds for the shelter and, no, Covid-19 restrictions will not deter him.

In real life, Wally does exist. The three-year-old Singapore Special was adopted by author Swapnil Mishra and his family when he was three months old.

And Swapnil’s sons Aarya, 14, and Reyhan, 12, have raised some $4,000 so far for animal welfare charity Save Our Street Dogs.

This is his second title, following Freddy The Eager Fundraiser in 2018. According to publisher Epigram Books, the Ministry of Education ordered more than 1,000 copies of his debut book to be distributed to Primary 3 and 4 pupils.

Swapnil, who is also the founder of a wealth-tech company and an adjunct teaching mentor at Singapore Management University, says his new book is an opportunity to continue the donation drive.

Get your copy of Freddy The Dogged Rescuer at $14.90 each on April 14 at the PetExpo, Singapore Expo Hall 6, where all proceeds go to Save Our Street Dogs. You can also find it at leading bookstores and Epigram Bookshop’s website (str.sg/iZVs).