Expert tips on creativity

We all want our kids to be creative, but may not have the know-how. Here are some expert tips on how to get their creative juices flowing!

Electrolux Singapore is sponsoring an art competition open to children under 12 years old, to educate and highlight the very real issue of marine debris and its impact on marine life and the environment around the world. The top three entries win a total of S$8,000 worth of eco-friendly kitchen products.

Click here for more information on Dreaming of a greener Singapore competition

To get our budding designers started, Senior Interaction Designer at Electrolux, Tan Chin Chin shares these tips:

• Create the right environment for children to be creative; make sure they have a clear table to work at and remember to protect it either with newspaper or a plastic dustsheet
• Encourage them to look at the environment around them and draw what makes them happy and what they wish to keep forever e.g. trees, parks, a clean seaside, happy and people and pets etc.
• Children work better on large pieces of paper, as they tend to draw large scale; give them at least A3-size sheets of paper to work from to achieve the best results
• Provide young designers with as many different types of paints, brushes and crayons you can get your hands on – as far as they will be concerned, bigger is always better
• Encourage your little ones to have a few practice attempts and remind them that they do not have to produce the final version in the first sitting – that way you spread the fun and they will enjoy the exercise even more

When you are ready, help your child tap into his/her creativity by following these instructions…

Step 1. Don’t be afraid to let your imagination (and pen or brush) run wild –close your eyes and draw the first thing that comes to your mind. Art can be an expression of yourself – what you are thinking about, what you feel, what your dreams and aspirations are. Draw whatever you think about when you imagine a Singapore that is friendlier to our environment.

Step 2. One of the best ways to be inspired is to look at the environment around you- draw what makes you happy and what you wish to keep forever e.g. trees, parks, a clean seaside, happy people and pets.

Step 3. Be creative – anything goes! Substitute your brush, crayon or colour pencils for shapes cut from potatoes (potato stamps) or dip some dried leaves in paint of different colours and print them all over your canvas. What better way to express yourself than to use what is natural.

Step 4. Remember, practice makes perfect – Have a few practice attempts, or as many as you want to! You don’t not have to produce the final version in the first sitting – that way you spread the fun and you will enjoy the exercise even more!

Step 5. Last but not least, have fun! Your artwork doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, as long as your painting makes you happy, be proud of it! Enjoy yourself and put your heart into it.

This post first appeared in theAsianparent.com

Halloween in Singapore: costumes and supplies

There's nothing scarier on Halloween night than a bunch of little devils, ghouls and witches roaming around your block, demanding for treats.  

The Bride of Frankenstein and the Evil Witch 

Typically falling on the last day of October, Halloween has become a huge event in Singapore.  Kids and adults alike love this occasion where they get to fantasize, put on make-up and play dress up in their favourite characters and let their imagination run wild.

The Devil and The Angel

Most adults usually make do with Halloween accessories which they can easily get at any supermarkets (NTUC, Cold Storage or Carrefour) or department stores like Isetan Singapore or Robinsons.  Or they can rent a costume from speciality costume shops like Number 1 Costume Costume, Talent House Studio, Foreigners House of Costumes (Tel: 62823110) and one of the oldest suppliers in town, Costumes & Mascots (Tel: 62990882).  Depending on the quality of the costume, rental costumes may cost you between $50 to $200 for a 3-days period, and terms and conditions vary with each company.

For children, it is simply easier to purchase costumes as you don't have to worry about wear and tear and the forfeit of your deposit.  Also, if the costumes are of a more generic nature (like princess or pirate), they can be re-used on other occasions (birthday parties or school performance etc).  Plus, it is also economy of scale if you have kids of the same sex - you can recycle the costumes for the younger ones or exchange with friends who have children of the same sex.

So, where can you buy costumes for kids in Singapore? 

1. Almost any places that sell party supplies will have some costumes or accessories for you.
2. Toys "R" Us - catering to the various needs of kids, this toy retail chain offers a range of costumes for children the whole year round.
3. Spotlight - you can buy a range of costumes here, or if you are good with needles and thread, get the materials and make one yourself.  In addition, Spotlight has a range of supplies and decorations for you to choose from; a definite must-visit when preparing for Halloween.  
4. Mini Princess - a great concept store that lives up to its name, this store sells the prettiest dresses for your little girls, including princess and fairy outfits at very reasonable prices.  You will also love the lovely 'girly' shoes and accessories to complement the outfits.
5. The Internet is a wealth of resources for your shopping needs.  Check out these websites to get your costumes.

• www.ebay.com.sg
• www.bugsparty.com
• www.halloweencostumesonline.com
• www.buycostumes.com

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Tips for shopping online

1. Give yourself sufficient shipping time for the costumes to arrive.
2. Make sure the website you are purchasing from has good on-line safety features to protect your credit card and personal details.
3. Clarify the return policy before making a purchase.

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Even if you are not a big fan of dressing up, you may wish to decorate the entrance of your home to join in the fun. Click here for the list of party supply places and have fun when the little tykes come around with their face-painted or masked outfits begging for tricks or treats.

Happy Halloween!

Party: supplies list

Whether its a birthday party, an occasion, a celebration, a get-together or an event you are putting together for your company, school or family, party supplies are a must.

Here is a list of the best places to get your party supplies from.

1. Party with Us - there are 2 outlets, one at  The Centrepoint (#05-14), and the other at Valley Point (#01-10), 62350221
2. Party City - Holland Village, Tel: 6462-6011 and Raffles City Shopping Center (#03-28), Tel: 63362161
3. AZ Gift & Trading  - 116 Middle Road, #01-01 ICB Enterprise House, Singapore 188972, Tel: 62913130 and 390 Victoria Street, #01-39 Golden Landmark, Singapore 188061, Tel: 62989311
4. Heartlink Trading - 116 Middle Road, #01-02 ICB Enterprise House, Singapore 188972 - also provide balloon sculptors, face body painters, magicians, clowns and inflatables Bouncy Castles. Contact Sam at 62974939 or 91477801.
5. P&G - 116 Middle Road, #01-03 ICB Enterprise House, Singapore 188972, 63968208
6. ABC Bargain Centre Pte Ltd - 63 Queen Street, Bugis Village, Singapore 188542, 69935807
7. Yeo G M Trading - Blk 1 Rochor Road, #01-550, Singapore 180001, 62955545 - has a retail outlet and is also the wholesale supplier to some of the other party retail outlets in town.
8. Chin Giap Soon Trading - The Verge (Tekka Mall), 2 Serangoon Road, Level 5, Tel: 62970075
9. Hsen Global Pte Ltd - 312 Lavender Street, Tel: 62995510
10. SKP - has 46 Branches island wide and is the largest supplier of party wares in the country.

If you don't have time to physically visit the shops, do your shopping online at these websites:

1. Kidz Party Store
2. Bug's Party
3. Harvest Well Enterprise - is a balloon wholesale distributor that branched out to party supplies. They also have a small retail space called Party Joy on the second level of Parkway Parade.
4. Fantastic Party Supplies 
5. Kidforte Pte Ltd
6. Bouncy Castles

Other retailers were selling this White Unicorn Pinata at S$55 but I found this at Kidforte for only S$27.  

This large Disco Ball was sold at most of the party supply stores at varying prices between $50 to $120.  But I got it at a steal of S$30 at Yeo GM Trading!

In the news

Discovered I was quoted in this article by theAsianparent.com; check it out.

By Anjali D'Mello | October 5, 2011

Nanoboy Mission Health Cover

Teach your young ones about how to keep clean and healthy in a fun new way! You might just see all their bad habits disappear.

If you’re having a hard time trying to get your little ones to brush their teeth or cut down on TV time, you now have a superhero who might just do the job! Meet Nanoboy, the world’s smallest and Singapore’s first superhero. He battles the world of bacteria on a microscopic level and teaches young ones about the importance of health and personal hygiene. Pick up a copy of the new Nanoboy comic, based on the hit TV series, for your kids. Boys are certain to fall for the action packed, adventure-filled pages, and girls will marvel at Nanoboys secret identity and the Nanosquad.

Keeping things clean

The visual aspect of the Nanoboy series really speaks to a young audience, and they can relate to the characters that are around the same age as the comics target audience – six to nine year olds. This is the perfect age to make them aware of the negative impacts poor personal hygiene and damage to their health, can have. The Nanoboy Mission Health series does this in a very graphic and cleverly plotted manner. The storyline starts off with depicting how the main character neglects his mum’s advice and then learns why his mum was right through an adventure.

Go graphic

Carol Loi Pui Wan, taught her two girls how important personal hygiene was with the help of a picture book about germs. “They loved it, and we often referred back to it”, says Carol. There are ways of scaring your kids into believing bugs might attack their teeth, or that they might get diseases if they don’t clean themselves, but instead of using scare tactics, many graphic descriptions can help. Meiling Wong-Chainani printed out a step-by-step guide on how to wash your hands, had it laminated and placed it over the sink to teach her kids. She says this worked effectively. Check out another little Singaporean who got graphic here.

For their eyes only

There are various ways of getting your kids into the right habits, especially getting them to follow what you do on a daily basis, but they might just respond better to an outlet that is speaking directly to them and from their point of view.  The first issue of the Nanoboy Mission Health series is available at all major bookstores and convenience stores. Future issues will deal with how to teach your kid about healthy eating and how to use the Internet. You can also check out their range of online activities here: www.nanoboy.net

Record Breaking Event - Longest Line of Flower Pots

If you are sitting at home, and bored of watching the same re-runs on cable, and don't want to do the usual shopping and dining weekend routine. Why not do something that will make history?

Singapore's first eco-friendly mall, City Square Mall, is hosting a record breaking event for the Singapore Book of Records - "The Longest Line of Flower Pots".

In conjunction with the National Environment Agency (NEA), the mall has organized a series of "Shiny Eco Workshops" over the last 2 weekends to encourage the public to display their creativity by decorating reusable plastic containers.

At the same time, to commemorate the Mid-Autumn Festival,  the flower pots will be transformed into lanterns for shoppers to bring home after the record breaking event,.  

“We are encouraged by City Square Mall’s creative idea of using these reusable plastic containers to engage the community for the Mid-Autumn Festival and fully support them in this green cause. Furthermore, these containers will be used to form the longest line of flower pots to set a record in the Singapore Book of Records and NEA will also be sponsoring the plant stakes with dengue prevention messages. We hope that through this initiative, shoppers at City Square Mall can help spread this important message and take up personal responsibility to clear any stagnant water in their flower pot plates at home to prevent breeding of mosquitoes,” said NEA's Central Regional Office Senior Manager for 3P, Mr Brandon Low.

When: 10 September (Sat)
Time: 8:30pm
Venue: City Square Mall's Basement 1 Fountain Square

Here are some of the quirkiest records made by Singaporeans:

• Tampines West Constituency Sports Club broke the world record for the most number of people sitting on a chair with 1,058 participants. (2008)
• 1,314 Singaporeans, including Greenridge Primary pupils and staff held the record for the most number of people drinking milk at the same time (Sep 30, 2009) 
• Biggest number of Singaporean students (1,082) performing a Bollywood Dance (May, 2009)Longest Karaoke Session 
• by Eunos Citizens' Consultative Committee (CCC) and its Grassroots' Organisations (GROs) - The residents sang for 50 hours 50 minutes and 50 seconds -  13 Aug 2010

As part of the festivities, there will be exciting stage performances, games with prizes and 600 goodie bags to be given away. Whether you want to part of history or to see history in making, head on down to City Square Mall this weekend.  

Are We Running Out Of Time?

Don't you wish you could just stop time from flying away or have more hours in a day to fulfil your professional, parental and personal commitments? 

And when you become a parent, are you constantly trading your time to be with your family or to be at work?  How many times have you uttered these words to your child and then felt incredibly guilty right after: “Not now, honey, I’m busy.  I’ll make it up to you later.” But you never seem to find the time to do so.

And that's what the new Dimension Film Spy Kids 4: All The Time In The World seeks to do.  Do we really have all the time in the world?  While we are chasing time, are we making the right priorities?

Wilbur Wilson (Joel McHale) is a famous spy hunting television reporter, married to Marissa Cortez (Jessica Alba), a homemaker with their new baby and stepmother to Wilbur's kids Rebecca (Rowan Blanchard) and Cecil (Mason Cook).  

He wishes to spend more time with the family but is under constant pressure by his work to make new discoveries for his television show.  What he doesn't know is that the woman he shares his bed with - his wife - is a retired super spy.  Things get interesting when maniacal Timekeeper (Jeremy Piven) threatens to stop time with his Armageddon machine and Marissa is called out of her retirement by the head of OSS to deal with this threat.

The competitive and bickering siblings are thrust into action when they learn their boring stepmom was once a top agent.  And the step kids, with the help of former Spy kids Carmen (Alexa Vega) and Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara) must work together and use their wit to fight alongside their stepmom against the Timekeeper and his sidekick, "Tick-Tock".

Will the world run out of time?  

This is a feel-good movie on sibling rivalry, acceptance and family unity.  It has many funny bits of dialogue which I shall leave you to discover.  We love the family pet, a dog named Argonaut, who talks with a British accent (sounded very much like Ricky Gervais of The Office UK fame). And of course, there's Jessica Alba!  She has got to be the hottest, sexiest, kick-ass pregnant mama EVER! 

The first movie to introduce a 4D: Aromascope; the Aroma Card distributed at the beginning of the show was a great hit with the kids.  Personally, it smelled more like strawberry bubblegums to me, but my son swears he could smell all eight different scents on the aroma-card!  

Do expect lots of idioms about time such as "time flies when you're having fun" and “spend your time now or you'll always find time later for regret.” 

Spy Kids 4: All The Time In The World is scheduled for release on 1^st Sep in Singapore.

Musical Performance: Elmo's Green Thumb

Hey mom and dads, bring your camera and catch Sesame Street's favourite teachers this September with "Elmo's Green Thumb"!

Television's celebrity teachers Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie star in Sesame Street Live's latest production, Elmo's Green Thumb, to teach your little ones about nature and how to love and live with nature.

Elmo has raised his sunflower, Sunny, from a seed, but his floral friend has outgrown the flower pot. Elmo and friends find Big Bird’s garden the ideal place for Sunny to flourish and grow but they are too excited to wait. Rather than let Sunny follow nature’s course, Abby Cadabby,  Sesame Street’s fairy-in-training, casts a spell to make Sunny grow. The spell does just the opposite and, instead of growing, Elmo and all of his friends shrink! 

While Abby searches for just the right words to reverse the spell, Elmo, Zoe, Telly and friends explore Big Bird’s garden from a smaller perspective and learn some big lessons about patience,  overcoming their fears and appreciating the role that each creature plays in our ecosystem – from dancing ladybugs and beautiful butterflies to grouchy beetles that scavenge the garden floor.

When: 30 September - 2 October 2011
Show Time: 9 shows only

30 Sept 2011 (Fri)

1st Show  - 3.00pm
2nd Show - 7.00pm

01 Oct 2011 (Sat)
1st Show  - 11.00am
2nd Show - 3.00pm
3rd Show  - 7.00pm

02 Oct 2011 (Sun)
1st Show  - 11.00am
2nd Show - 3.00pm
3rd Show  - 7.00pm

Venue: Kallang Theatre (closest MRT: Stadium MRT)

Ticketing: S$48, S$68, S$78, S$98, VIP and Private Box tickets available at S$988 and S$1,288 respectively (includes entry pass to a Meet-and-Greet session with the Sesame Street Live characters) 


Discounts: 

• OCBC Platinum MasterCard and Arts Platinum Card - 15%
• OCBC Credit and Debit cards (applicable on selected card number only)- 10%
• Popular Card - 10%
• Toy "R" US - 10%
• HomeTeam  NS - 10%
• Passion Card - 10%
• NTUC Members - 10%

*Price inclusive of GST; ticketing fees.

Get your tickets from www.ticketbooth.com.sg or a AXS station TODAY!

Food: Best Cha Kway Teow in Singapore

Singaporeans love to EAT. Follow our series on favorite food haunts and irresistible dishes as we scour the island and consult expert foodies on their recommendations for the best in town.

Char Kway Teow

There’s something about this sinfully delicious dark horse of a dish that makes fans salivate like babies and hunt the island in search of the best.

Whatever your preference - with plenty of Lap cheong (Chinese sausages), cockles, vegetables, wet or dry, laden with dark sauce, with or without lard – there’s one that will surely satisfy your palate.

According to our food experts from HungryGoWhere.com, ladyironchef.com, and makansutra.com, here are the best Char Kway Teow stalls in Singapore.

1. Hill Street Char Kway Teow – THE BEST

Blk 16 Bedok South Road
#01-187 Bedok South Road Market & Food Centre
Tel: +65 9042 1312

2. No 18 Zion Road Fried Kway Teow No18炒粿条面

images courtesy of ladyironchef.com

No 18 Zion Road Fried Kway Teow
Zion Road Riverside Food Centre

3. Heng Huat Fried Kway Teow

121 Pasir Panjang Road
Pasir Panjang Food Centre
Stall #01-36
11am to 9.30pm
Closed on Sundays and PH

4. 928 Char Kway Teow

726 Clementi West Street 2
#01-124 Market And Food Centre.

5. Katong (Peter) Fried Kway Teow

Tanjong Pagar Plaza
Stall #02-14

6. Lau Fu Zi Fried Kway Teow

Blk 51 Old Airport Road
Stall #01-12

This post first appear in theAsianparent.com in April 2011.

Best places to get furniture for your growing child

Has your baby outgrown his cot? Is it time to replace them with more appropriate furniture for your growing child? Here are 8 retailers who specialize in kids' furniture.

Your child’s growing out of the baby crib and toddler furniture, but is not ready for adult furniture yet.  So, where can you find great furniture for your little darlings and still hold on to the magical innocence of childhood?  We found these great places for you.  Check them out.

1. Ni-Night – 7 Joo Chiat Place, S427742, S, Tel: 9829 7961; Opening Hours: Tuesdays, Thurs, Sat 9am to 5pm

2. Piccolo House - 10 Ubi Crescent, #01-63 (Lobby D), Ubi Techpark, S408564, Tel: 6743 8884; Opening Hours: Tues to Sun 11am – 7pm (close on Monday)

3. iBenma: Kids Furniture – 3 Coleman Street, #04-32, Peninsula Shopping Centre, S179804, Tel: 94839206; Opening hours: 12:30pm – 8pm daily

4. Baby Zoo - 2A Hoot Kiam Road (Upstairs), S , Tel: 97591465; Opening Hours: Wed-Sun 11am-5pm. Mon and Tues by appointment only.

image courtesy of Babyzoo

5. FBT Furnishing Pte Ltd - 62 Sungei Kadut Loop, S729507,  Tel: 6363 2259 ; Opening hours: 11am – 8pm

6. IKEA - 317 Alexandra Road, S159965, Tel: 6786 6868 OR 60 Tampines North Drive 2, S, Tel: 6786 6868; Opening hours: 10am – 10pm

7. Flexa - 101 Thomson Road #01-43, United Square, S307591, Tel: 6354 1310; Opening hours: 11am – 8:30pm (weekday), 10am – 8:30am (Sat /Sun)

8. Little Wode – 105 Tampines Road, #01-01A, WING TAI CENTRE, S535127, Tel: 62806773; Opening hours: Tues to Sun – 11am to 7.30pm

This post first appeared in theAsianparent.com in April 2011.