My Preciouz Kids

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

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Harry Potter Maker Camp – Quote summer5 for 5% of 2021 summer camps

After the highlight of 2020 year end school holiday of the Harry Potter Science Camp by Newton Show, my boys were back for another Harry Potter camp but this time with Maker.sg which is the sister company of Newton but focuses on coding and stem based activitiest

With the plethora of camps offered by both Newton Show and Maker.sg , my boys still insist to be potterheads and continue their obsessions of Harry Potter. No thanks to phase 2 Heightened Alert, instead of attending on the first week for the local June school holidays, they only managed to attend the camp on the last week of the school holiday. Thank god for phase 3 Heightened Alert which started 1 week before the school holidays ended, not going holiday is already depressing enough, the pandemic almost took away their summer camp.

Instead a science based camp over at the Newton Show, Maker.sg offers a more stem based and robotic camps for kids age 5 to 14 years old and their current summer camps run til 27 August offering 2 different camps – Harry Potter and Hands and Brain Camp

These are what my kids experienced during the 5-day Harry Potter Science School last week. In fact, my boys preferred this camp over the Newton Show as there are more hands on and tinkering to do. From the photo perspective, it may not seem as wow compared the many science experiments over at the Newton Show but from this camp, the kids get to think, invent, create endlessly throughout the 5-day camp and most of which they get to bring home to continue to tinker and play.

Day 1

-STEM magic world of unicorn and dragons

-Wind creatures

– Doodle hypogryph

Day 2

-flying toy

-magic electronic wand

-steady hand game

Day 3

-math art web

-static snake with balloon

– merry go round music box

Day 4

-robot kingdom of the world

-Hogwarts map with ozobot

-Quiddith ozobot

Day 5

-camera obscura

-newton’s cradle

-optical illusion

These are some photos taken during camp by the facilitators which were shared with the parents daily (photo credit: Maker.sg)

My 2 boys had once again had graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and learn about about code, tinkering, robotics, engineering and many more stem related activities. In fact, my boys said that they prefer this camp over the science camp as there are more hands on activities and many of their creations can be brought home. They also get to use premium equipments during the entire course of the camp!

For the camp fee of SGD 630, it is an all-inclusive camp – all materials, 2 snacks, lunch, t-shirt, photo, certificate and prizes included and they will provide daily video (the only camp in Singapore that sends you a daily video). I totally appreciate their effort to compile and update the parents on a daily basis of the happenings in camp so that we can talk about it at the end of the day and share their excitement too!

Besides the Harry Potter camp, if you are not so much of a potterhead like my kids there is Hands and Brain camps at 3 location – Center, East and West (addresses below) or the 5 summer camps (3 new ones – Tomato Cooking School, Drama Lama and Visualize Art and Design happening over at Newton Show too .

Quote summer5 for 5% of all summer camps at Maker.sg and Newton Show .

For more information or registration,

email: info@maker.sg

phone: +65 8264 6655

232A River Valley Road
175 Thompson Road
887A Bukit Timah Road

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Heart Studio Term 2 – online classes

We only managed to start the first lesson of the final 4-week for term 2 when phase 2 heightened alert started. Given that this was not the first time we did home based lessons, I was not apprehensive about having term 2 completed online. Given that small C is very familiar with Teacher Jay and vice versa, it was actually easy executing the art lessons online. Having picked up the unfinished art work and some materials from the studio, we were all set to finish the remaining 3 art lessons for term 2. Term 2 theme was the underwater world, and small C drew a shark as the main focus of his artwork.

The first lesson was drawing and painting of the shark which we managed to do to in class while the remaining 3 lessons of this 4-week artwork were done online – completing the details on the sea creature, painting on the cardboard background pasting the cut out of the shark on the background.

If there is anything I needed to help was pouring and mixing the paint to minimise mess, or than that, small C was pretty independent, taking instruction from Teacher Jay and executing on his art work. Even though the kids are painting at different level of completion , Teacher Jay was very experienced and organised ensuring progress in every kid. I do hope that the kids are able to go back to the studio by term 3, but said from the online classes, I was very heartened to see small C painting almost independently at home , how he has grown by being able to focus and take take instruction on a virtual setting – all these comes from the no hand-holding concept that Heart Studio focuses very much in their art classes.

This was how we did it all at home!

Heart Studio

1 Charlton Lane #01-04, Singapore 539631

(65) 6554 7563

Wed-Fri: 10:00am to 8:30pm, Sat: 9:30am to 6:00pm, Sunday: 9:30am to 4:30pm

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Heart Studio Term 2 2021 – close to our hearts – neighbourhood

After 2 weeks break, small C couldn’t be happier to be back at Heart Studio for another term. His weekly Sunday art classes with Heart Studio are undoubtedly his favourite class of his entire week (he does have quite many classes for a 6 year old, swim, badminton, Chinese, phonic and abacus, but all these do not give him the same joy as what he gets from Teacher Jay class at Heart Studio)

For the new term, the kids in Little Dali start with a 4-week project to the neighbourhood theme, something relatable to them. As with every new art project, Teacher Jay will introduce all the possible elements that you can find in a neighbourhood – roads, buildings, vehicles of different shapes and sizes. It was very interesting to see Among Us shaped buildings, animal shape buildings -all up to the creativity of the each kid.

Week 2 is to put all the ideas and elements into the actual art paper. This time, small C is exposed to the use of watercolour as most time they use acrylic paints instead. Due to the smaller details, it is easier to paint using watercolour than acrylic for this artwork. As for the smaller details, small C uses marker to outline the details so that all his imagination will come to life.

This theme may not be as interesting as the circus or the stacked burger, but this is definitely something closer to heart and more relatable as kids are love transportation especially, and having roads as base give him more room to expand on his imagination and creativity.

Almost 1 year update: In the blink of an eye, it is almost 1 year since small C start his journey with Heart Studio since middle of last year and this current term is small C’s fourth term! I still remember when small C started Teacher Jay mentioned that he was raw in terms of motor skills and maybe more suited for a younger class. However, given that Small C was able to focus in class and the small class size ratio, he was always able to catch with the older kids in class and draw and paint independently. I noticed that he has improved in his motor skills development and also his focus and concentration (though sometime he still chit chat with kids from his class). The most heartening to see him doodling what he has learnt in class during his free time. He is very much into art and drawing, so the art classes at Heart Studio were able to truly explore and expand his interest and potential.

Do check out Heart Studio wholesome art classes for kids as young as 3 and you will know why this is small C’s favourite class of the week!

Heart Studio

1 Charlton Lane #01-04, Singapore 539631

(65) 6554 7563

Wed-Fri: 10:00am to 8:30pm, Sat: 9:30am to 6:00pm, Sunday: 9:30am to 4:30pm

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Heart Studio Term 1 2021 – It was wild fun at the circus

After complete the stacked burger art work , Little Dali had a two week technical drawing to learn to draw all Chinese Lunar New Year inspired drawing – lion dance, firecracker, couplets etc.

Quickly they move on to their next 4-week project – another theme that small C loves – Circus ! Pre-covid, we had attended to two circuses which came to town – Cirque du Soleil and The Great Moscow Circus with fond memories and to recreate it through drawings , it was really a nice recollection of memories

As with every new art project, Teacher Jay will introduce all the possible components of the circus – elephants, animal, big top, human cannon ball , clown, jugglers etc. For the first week, the kids were exposed to drawing and sketching the components that the kids wanted to include into their artwork.

Week 2 is to have it all on the actual art paper, followed by painting

and detailed painting on the fourth week. Some may think it is slow to only churn out 1 art work over 4 weeks, but it is the process of appreciating each step of drawing and painting that is more important than churning out completed art work week after week.

I think I said previously the stacked burger was my favourite to date, sorry, I just had a new favourite!

Do check out Heart Studio March holiday programme, many are full already due to small class sizes, but I am sure there are still slots here and there to slot it for your child.

Heart Studio

1 Charlton Lane #01-04, Singapore 539631

(65) 6554 7563

Wed-Fri: 10:00am to 8:30pm, Sat: 9:30am to 6:00pm, Sunday: 9:30am to 4:30pm

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Learning Beautiful Singapore – learn coding without screen in the comfort of home

Coding has been one of the more popular enrichment classes in the recent decade. Benefit of coding are aplenty – promotes logical thinking , help in creativity, perseverance , improve communication skills , problem solving skills.

However, most if not all coding classes entail looks at the screen though some programming language Scratch etc. So when there was a beautiful home learning wooden kit that is developed at MIT and tested in Montessori classrooms, to teach children ages 3 to 9 computer science without screen, I was most intrigued to try this with my younger boys. With the use of this kit, the children are introduced to computational thinking without computers.

My eldest did a term of coding through primary school, my no 2 has done it for a holiday camp before but my younger 2 boys have little idea what is coding is about. With a full weekly schedule for my 4 kids – sports, music, art, enrichment there is simply no time to add on coding to their enrichment classes but it is definitely on my wish-list if the kids or myself can afford the time, typically on during the school holidays if any.

Very often myself as a parent lack the resources nor strategies to teach computer science or coding as I am not an IT graduate. With the Learning at Home set, I can now confidently plan and engage my younger two boys to explore the world of coding and computer without the use of screen- introducing many concepts such algorithm, binary, encryption, pattern and mapping.

I totally love the idea how such simple and beautiful hands on materials , marrying Montessori Methods, this kit can break down fundamental of computational thinking to be simple enough for me to guide and teach and to be understood by children as young as 3 years old.

Let us explore what is in this Learning at Home Set comprising 3 books and 4 tactile sets.

1. Binary Tree Playbook

Exploring the concept of binary and exponential growth, even as an adult who is not in the IT field, I may vaguely understand this but how do I explain it to the kids at their level of understand. This beautifully illustrated book did just that bringing the concept of binary and exponential growth to kids as young as 3. I must say my 8 and 10 years understand it more easily than my 6 year old but I have definitely i prefer money that grow exponentially than linearly.

2. Binary Tree

To further enhance this concept, what better than hands- on activities and this beautifully crafted binary tree did just that and more. Starting from a single trunk to 2 branches, which gave 4 branches, then to 8 branches – this exponential growth concept cannot be better illustrated than when building this binary tree.

3. Pixel Board Playbook

This play book gives a good introduction to the concept of pixels and computer representing images with numbers. Thereafter, using the pixel cork boards, you can follow the design cards to form the images or even create your own images .

4. Small Pixel Board

More suited for younger kids , this 4×4 pixel cork board, allows children to place white tiles (represented by 0) and black tiles (represented by 1) into the pixel boards. After finishing the design cards, children are encouraged to try to create own images too!

5. Medium Pixel Board

For older children, this gives a higher level of difficulties but also more room for creativity as there are more empty squares to build a more refined image. Comes with its own set of design cards as well to build according to given codes.

6. Alphabet cards

There are many ways to play this -matching, classification (the first chapter of science in primary 3!) or even sorting algorithm (which is the core of coding). All these activities are guided in The Learning at Home Handbook.

7. The Learning at Home Handbook

Consisting many activities using of the above tactile sets and playbooks, this handbook also introduces new concept like mapping, grid coordinates and polar coordinates which are all fundamental concepts to computational thinking.

My younger children from 6 to 10 years old do not have much coding experiences, so I am surprised how easily they get to learn abstract concepts like binary, exponential growth, pixel, etc through the playbooks and tactile sets. I love that I can be their teacher to engage them on concepts that I am not familiar with personally, all thanks to this home kit and with zero screen time.

This is one beautiful home learning kit like no other and one of its kind introducing coding to young children (recommended age 3 to 8 years old) without the use of computer. This set is available at www.learningbeautiful.com.sg , get 15% OFF when you sign up for their newsletter with free shipping.

There are also many free home based activities to download from their website too. https://www.learningbeautiful.com/learning-at-home

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

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Going into 2021 with Heart Studio

Small C was over the moon when I managed to slot back his favourite class at Heart Studio in the my kids’ 2021 weekend schedule. He totally loved the first theme of the year, stacked burger!

Over 4 weeks for the first art project of the year, Teacher Jay will introduce all the components of the burgers and the kids will get to choose what ingredients they want to include in their burgers. I realised that the choice of ingredients was very much dependent of what they like to eat. I have seen a burger artwork with zero greens, hence I guess the kid doesn’t like his greens.

I am glad that small C was open to suggestion to include not just ingredients he fancies but some other that he does not eat ie onion and pickles for more colour variety of the entire art work.

This artwork is different from the past as there are lots of cutting after the drawing and painting. After cutting out of all the ingredients, now it was time to stack them on a black paper/background and you see all the colours and components popped up! I think this is my favourite Heart Studio art piece from small C now!

If you are thinking of adding an art class for your child, I cannot recommend Heart Studio enough as I can see a different small C whenever he is drawing and painting at Heart Studio .

Heart Studio

1 Charlton Lane #01-04, Singapore 539631

(65) 6554 7563

Wed-Fri: 10:00am to 8:30pm, Sat: 9:30am to 6:00pm, Sunday: 9:30am to 4:30pm

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Sudio NIO – affordability without compromising quality, comfort or connectivity – time to experience #sudiomoment

I have a big fan of Sudio and had own many Sudio wireless earphones. It was Sudio that introduce me to the world of wireless earphones. This time I will be reviewing the Sudio NIO earphones. Undeniably one of the best wireless earphones makers currently, come the latest SudioNIO for those who value superb sound quality, versatility and high-comfort fit at a comfortable price.

At first sight

What is also unique about this latest edition is a new colour – their newest neutral hue colour: Sand.

Why Sand? Sand is solid, versatile, and light perfectly representing Sudio NIO’s sound performance with flexibility and inclusivity.

The latest design also features detachable wing tips with 4 sizes for custom fit for any ear. I must say the fit of this pair is the best among the many pair of Sudio that I own.

A quick side comparison of the charging case vs ETT and TOLV, NIO’s charging case is clearly more compact than latter.

Using it

Just like the Sudio ETT and TOLV, it is an automatic switch on and pairing upon removal from case – gone are the days you need to click to pair it with your phone. NIO offers up to 5.5-hour play time that can be extended for up to 20 hours with the charging case.

It also offer reliable IPX4 rated protection which means the music is uninterrupted even with presence of sweat or rain, making NIO perfect for commuters, runners, and music lovers.

Loving it

The sound quality is amazing as always, even though I am not an audiophile, I can definitely tell a good and crisp sound streaming to my ears! The audio quality of Sudio products has always been its selling point and of course its nifty design – fashionable and functional! You have to own a pair to truly appreciate Sudio at its best.

And this is truly made for the cost conscious consumers who still need good sound quality, as the pricing is most affordable of the entire range of Sudio wireless earphones without compromise to the sound quality, make or seamless pairing.

There is no better time to invest in a pair of wireless earphones from Sudio especially if you have been holding out due to price. Frankly, holding it next to ETT or TOLV I cant really tell price wise which is the cheapest.

As always, all Sudio wireless earphones comes with 3 years international warranty with all products on the websites, free shipping and no questions asked.

Sudio NIO comes in 4 colours – black, white, green, and sand

Quote mypreciouzkids15 for 15% off, Sudio NIO is priced at SGD119 after using discount code, it will be at SGD101.15. What a steal especially if this is your first Sudio ! Stay tune for their launch on 11 January.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

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One-of-a-kind experience of creating your own perfume with Maison21G – discount code included (for all last minute gifting)

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I have owned many brands of perfume, hits and misses, some were memorable, some were just left on my shelves even before finishing the bottle. Of late, I tend to steer towards smaller bottles ie 30ml/50ml so that I can have a variety of scents for different occasions and time of the day too.

When the invitation by Maison 21G to create my own perfume, I couldn’t be more excited as this is my first time creating and my own perfume.

Maison 21G is a House of Scent Designers, they believe that no matter your age, race or background, everyone is able to create their own unique individual scent. Their perfumes are also safe as they are made with essential oil blends, it’s great for expectant mums and mummies with babies and young kids as there are no preservatives or chemicals and at the highest concentration of 21% in the industry.

You can also design and customise your own perfume online based on personality, perfume preference or ingredients, but I would recommend you doing it at their boutiques (addresses listed below) especially if you are a first timer like me – I totally enjoy the one-hour doing something different for a change.

I dropped by at Maison 21G flagship boutique at Duxton Hill and had the most amazing experience of creating my own perfume with Amanda. Their flagship shop is a sanctuary in the middle of the leafy and lush Duxton Hill – stepping into their boutique was a reprieve from the busy street of restaurants and cafes.

There are so much more to perfume creation than how lay man like me appreciate it – purely which scent I prefered ( I will share more later what I learnt from Amanda after 1 hour spend creating my own perfume)

There are an extensive range of 34 scents for you to pick, choose and blend. It may get overwhelming for the creator ie you and your senses , so there is always a perfume expert like Amanda who will need to find out more about your preferences and usage pattern so that you can narrow to between 2 to 4 essential oils to mix and blend. For my creation, I only tried less than 10 scents before narrowing it to my own blend.

Of course you don’t need to know all these to be able to create your own perfume as Maison 21G will have perfume experts like Amanda to introduce and explain all these but these are the little interesting facts of a perfume which totally make me sound like a perfume expert in an afternoon.

All perfumes, regardless of where, are made with 3 notes.
Top Notes: First thing you smell when you spray any perfume. Most volatile molecular structure, lasts for about an hour

Heart Notes: Makes up the body/character of your perfume. Lasts longer, 6 – 8 hours

Bottom Notes: Most complex molecular structure, what you smell at the end of the day. Basically lasts for 18 – 24 hours.

You will also need to decide if you are creating a day perfume, night perfume or one that takes you from day to night (for eg, if you want a day to night perfume, you will need to load more of the bottom notes as it lasts the longest)

For myself, after making my sense of smell do the work and some suggestions by Amanda, my perfume’s formula is a below

Top Notes:
Muguet 1.5g – positivity, anti-depression and improves complexi

Heart Notes:
Patchouli 1.0g -enhances weight loss, relaxing and calming
Rose 1.0g – anti-aging , aphrodisiac, harmonising

Bottom Notes:

Tonka 0.5g – relaxing, aphrodisiac and alleviates anxiety

Next we moved on to this laboratory-like setup – complete with weighing scale, pipette to fill up your very own bottle of bespoke perfume with alcohol as a base, and adding the above formula and letting it set for a few minutes.

The final step, is to have your name and blend printed on the bottle at no additonal charge. Now that I created my own perfume, I do not think I will ever purchase a store bought perfume any more.

The experience of creating my own perfume is truly a unique experience and probably the highlight of my December! And I get a new bottle of my very own bespoke perfume.

Here is a quick tour of this beautiful sanctuary and the steps for creating your own bespoke perfume.

Besides individual creation session like the one I tried, there are many other packages for bigger groups – couples , family, bridemaids etc. I am most keen in exploring the family atelier as you get 2 full size bottles and two smaller bottles for the kids (additional SGD 55 for additional child) and apparently kids will ask for the most out of this world scents like chocolate, vanilla, marshmallows etc. I am sure my little missy at home would love to have her own bottle of perfume too.

This overall experience (a first for many I would reckon) and the personalised end product makes this a one-of-a-kind gift for family and friends this Christmas and the recipients get to take home their very own perfume – complete with their name and blend.

For all products quote M21Gjaime15 (to enjoy 15% discount on all products)

For for perfume workshops quote M21WSjaime21 (to enjoy 21% discount for all workshops) – no appointment required, just drop in at their boutiques (listed below)

Address

Flagship Store, 77 Duxton Road, Singapore 089536

ION Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn, #B2-48, Singapore 238801

BHG Bugis Junction, 200 Victoria Street, Singapore 188021

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Review: Term 2 with Heart Studio – small C’s happiest time of the week (part 2)

This is a continuation of term 2 review , see part 1 here

After completed the first 4-week project and a 2-week technical drawing, the Little Dali went on to explore carnivorous plants. There is a bit of science being injected into art as well. The kids were introduced to 3 common carnivorous plants – Venus flytrap, pitcher plant and sundew with week 1 bring initial sketching and exploration. The art teacher shared fun facts about carnivorous plants and about anything that will piqued their interest in the new theme.

Week 2 , will be translating it into the actual art paper , choosing with carnivorous plant to feature, small C only had place for 2 -Venus fly trap and pitcher plant, and to add colours into the back ground. Small C had used chalk for the clouds.

Week 3 will be to paint more colour details on to the subject and even outlining with paint. There is no handholding, no dictating what is the right colour or how it should be drawn. However, the art teacher will advise on using different colour tones to differentiate the different plants

Finally, to put it all together on the final week, here is another masterpiece done and completed by small C at 5 years and 5 months, his 4th from Heart Studio – ending his second term with Heart Studio.

Next week, I have enrolled big C and small J for their holiday classes, as they do not have the luxury to indulge in regular art classes like small C.

If you are thinking of enrolling your child for a regular art class or even for holiday art classes, look no further, details are as below.

Heart Studio

1 Charlton Lane #01-04, Singapore 539631

(65) 6554 7563