Pretend Play & Birthday Party

Pretend play is a lot of fun. Birthday is also a lot of fun. Now imagine combining the two together. YES, it is a BLAST.

The story unfolds in a magical forest where fairies live. One full moon, the fairy queen announces a grand feast. The fairies gather for the banquet. The fairy queen arrives. Each fairy presents themselves to the queen and tells her of their special talent. Little do they know that the vicious goblins are hatching an evil plan. They will capture the queen and rule the fairy land.

At the height of the festivity, the goblins pounce and capture the fairy queen. Now the fairies must work together to defeat the goblins and rescue their queen. They seek out the old man of the tree and he tells them of the mystical wands. The only way to find the wands, is to solve the ancient riddles.

Hence, the fairies set off on the quest to solve all the riddles ... together. And together they find the wands and defeat the goblins. The fairy queen is rescued and goblins banished from fairy land.

Peace reigns again.....

Janda Batik

Uncle Sam's students put his teachings into 'great' use. Each fairy batik came alive with each dab of colour. Each piece signifies their individuality.

YES, they all remembered the techniques that Uncle taught them ... light colour first. They couldn't wait for their selected colour to be mixed by Aunty Pat and handed to them.

Then they would call out the next colour that they needed. Aunty Pat couldn't mix fast enough as each of them demanded different colour for their paintings. And they wouldn't want anything else. Such is their attention to details.

Horsing Around

Horse-riding turned out to be a very popular activities for the girls during their last trip to 1Gr8Tree in Janda Baik.

The girls learned a great deal about horses. They were introduced to the Shetland Pony, the powerful Arabian steed and her foal. Our horse expert explained to the girls that horses height were measured by hand and their were shown some of the differences between breeds. They learned terms such as foals, colt, roan, mare etc.

Finally when the regal beasts were all saddled and brought out to meet them, the girls were more than a bit jittery. However, many of them soon proved themselves to be cool cucumbers and handled themselves with ease in the saddle.

All of them look forward to their next ride.

Visit to Taman Tun Fire Station

Fire fighting is serious business. You have to be properly trained to be a fire-fighter. On top of that, you have to know how to use the various equipments necessary for the job.

Kayeen and Nitarn visited TTDI Fire Station and learned some useful information about fire fighting.

After the visit, the girls now know what to in case of fire.

a) If there is a fire on your person, you STOP, DROP, COVER YOUR FACE and ROLL (to put out the fire)

b) If you are trapped inside a burning building, you must drop on all four and crawl your way out. If possible, find a towel or blanket, wet it and use it to cover yourself. Do not go into the bathroom and attempt to get water there. Chances are the water will be burning hot.

The children were treated to a ride on the fire engine and they learned the various equipments the fire-fighters use. The morning was both fun and informative.

In the Kitchen - Scrambled Eggs

When asked whether they wanted to make their own scrambled eggs, the answer was a resounding "yes". So we bundled them into the kitchen and gave them each an apron ... short of two so we'll have to put that in our project list.

With a bowl and two eggs each, the girls started cracking. Then they added milk, a pinch of salt. After that they were armed with a form and they started beating their eggs.

When the beating is done, they all lined up for their turn at the pan. Of course, they were told that they cannot touch the pan but only hold the handle. They melted butter in the pan and in went the eggs. While Elie was cooking hers, she saw Keia's finished scrambled egg and she almost abandoned hers and chased after Keia's eggs. Of course, Keia would have none of it.

When they finished cooking the scrambled eggs, they enjoyed eating it all up as well.

The girls will get a badge / drawing on their very own apron once they have mastered the dish. This is to be done by cooking it for someone in their family and getting their endorsement.

But first, we have to make the apron. Much looked forward project, I must say.

Little Yogis

Yoga is extremely good for both body and mind. But starting the young ones on it could be a daunting task.

Their first session, the girls lasted a mere 5 minutes and that was ONLY 4 sessions ago. Now they could do 30 minutes of yoga and their focus and concentration is getting better

Today they started with a few minutes of deep breathing with their eyes closed (something totally impossible for them to do at this age). Then they went on to do their stretches and bending. Their training at gymnastics / ballet helped them a lot here. Of course, our yoga master, Lay Gaik, has to do extra homework to keep the class interesting for them.

Thanks, Lay Gaik.

Batik Painting with Uncle Sam

Uncle Sam introduced the girl to some of the techniques in batik painting this Sunday.

It took a lot of patience and at various points the students were distracted and were caught looking for other things to amuse themselves.

They learned to put in lighter colours first before moving on to darker colours. Little by little they artwork was coming alive before their eyes. Uncle Sam was very patient and guided them slowly through the process. He let each of them choose their own colours and patiently mixed each one for them.

After 3 hours, they accomplished what they set out to do and their painstaking work was just remarkable.