Key takeaways:

• Starting with celebrations for Children’s Day, the Tsao Foundation invited 10 children and caregivers to join their group of 16 seniors under their Hua Mei Elder Person-centred Integrated
• Comprehensive Care (EPICC) programme for some activities.
• On another occasion, the children got to be little farmers at the Little Green Fingers Workshop conducted by Kok Fah Technology Farm, in collaboration with People’s Association.
• Not forgetting, the children also went on trick-or-treating at SPD Ability Centre and with our retail partners along Yong Siak Street in the last week of October.

The month of October was a busy month for our children from the Building Bridges Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC) Centre at our headquarters in Tiong Bahru.

Starting with celebrations for Children’s Day, the Tsao Foundation invited 10 children and caregivers to join their group of 16 seniors under their Hua Mei Elder Person-centred Integrated Comprehensive Care (EPICC) programme for some activities.

The children and seniors mulled over how they wanted to decorate and personalise gift bags using a selection of stickers. The session encouraged inter-generational bonding and social interaction between the two groups. It culminated to a game of piñata and the children could not hide their excitement when they went for the goodie-filled piñata made by the seniors.

“I wish to give a shout out to the awesome bunch of EIPIC teachers from SPD for getting this collaboration off the ground! I really appreciate their commitment and resources. Our elders and staff alike were touched by the effort and by the children. We started something special here and we look forward to bringing this further next year”, said Don Tan, senior social worker and centre manager of Hua Mei EPICC.

On another occasion, the children got to be little farmers at the Little Green Fingers Workshop conducted by Kok Fah Technology Farm, in collaboration with People’s Association.

The workshop provided an opportunity for the children to be in touch with nature in our urban city. Aimed at helping young children appreciate the different types of plants and farming methods available in Singapore, the children had fun trying their hands at planting seedlings, up-righting stalks as well as salad-making.

The children were also eager to start growing their own gardens when they were given a patch of soil to seed lemongrass, onion and mint. Through this activity, the children were introduced to small-scale farming and learnt to appreciate the effort that went into growing plants for food.

Assistant senior teachers, Png Jia Min and Ng Qiu Yan found the workshop engaging as the trainers provided hands-on experience for the children, such as salad-making and planting of seedlings. They commented that having the children play a part in making the salad certainly increased their chances of eating them. The use of live plants was also a good idea as the children got a chance to engage their five senses as they handled different parts of the plants while learning their functions.

Not forgetting, the children also went on trick-or-treating at SPD Ability Centre and with our retail partners along Yong Siak Street in the last week of October.

It was a busy but eventful month for our little ones and we look forward to their teachers taking the classroom outdoors next time.