St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017

Remember my DIY Carnival Games? It started with me making the games for my three kids to play. Then we brought them to a few family gatherings where they provided much amusement... Next we tried it out with our church group gathering of more than ten families and it was a hit! And because our church group loved it (pictures here), we decided to give it a try using these carnival games as our main contribution to our Church of St Mary of the Angels' Feast Day celebrations last year. 

Our biggest attraction, literally, was the bouncy castle. It was HUGE! In fact, we had to carefully position the bouncy castle so that the lights and fans suspended from the ceiling would not be disturbed. We had the bouncy castle the previous year in 2016, which we manned, together with our jumble sale store. In 2017, we decided to try out combining Bouncy Castle with the Universal Arcade carnival games, rather than jumble sale. We wanted to still run a bouncy castle as it was a huge draw for the kids - they loved it!

St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 - Bouncy Castle 

We quickly realised that our teens were all still kids at heart - they wanted to play too! So for the safety of our customers, we decided to split the sessions to segregate the jumpers by age. This way, we have jump sessions for younger kids, and sessions for teens. Thus, we ensure that our toddlers and young kids would not be in danger of being trampled on by the rowdy teens!

Our Sub-Committee in charge of the bouncy castle also planned ahead of time, for cleaning of the bouncy castle in between every few sessions of use. We stand by buckets of clean water and rags, to give the bouncy castle floor a wipe down every hour or so. All of us parents are all too aware of how dirty a bouncy castle can get with all the kids and teens getting more and more sweaty with every jump - thank goodness the hall is air-conditioned!

Come, let's go on a tour of our Universal Arcade games! Our awesome Children's Liturgy Team worked together to beautify the carnival games I made - which on hindsight, looked skeletal and drab in appearance. The people you see in the pictures are mainly our Children's Liturgy Team members tending to the game stalls. Yes, the kids too! We have our kids help out as well for they are useful members of our team and it takes a lot to tire them out :) So we adults are mighty glad of the help they could provide during this busy weekend.

St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 - Villain Busters and Mini Mayhem

In Mini Mayhem, throw the hoops to loop the yellow monsters to earn stamps! It's that easy! My children hand drew the pictures of them and coloured them meticulously before I had them laminated. The laminated pictures are tied around a 1.25 litre soft drink bottle which we half filled with water to weigh it down.

In Villain Busters, players would be handed some squishy toy animal, and they throw it at the pictures of the villains! The pictures are actually flaps which will move back and let the item through when it is being hit! This game was made by the good people at Paper Carpenter.

St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 - Flush It! 

One of our most popular games is Flush It! Just throw the toilet rolls into the toilet bowls! The top picture was posed for - the toilet bowls certainly don't stink!?!?! The toilet bowl covers were kindly loaned to us from Sinbor Company, and have never been used before, only for display. We simply attached it to cardboard boxes which we wrapped up nicely in fancy, snazzy wrapping paper! People simply loved this game coz it looks so cute! :) 

When we were planning our games for Universal Arcade, someone in our team saw a picture of such a carnival game online, and suggested we make a similar one. So we asked in our group whatsapp chat:"Does anyone have any spare toilet seat covers in their storeroom that we can use to make this game?" To our surprise, Edyll replied almost immediately, saying that the company she works for would be able to sponsor us the toilet bowl covers. We were astounded! Ask and you shall be given, says the Lord! :)

St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 - Poke Kart

Another game which drew many onlookers was Poke Kart. Themed after the Poke Go game, players control a remote control car to certain checkpoints indicated on the track. Reach more checkpoints, score more stamps! The Poke theme is a little passe by now, so we're likely to re-theme this game into a Formula D racing car game.

Most of the walls of our Poke Kart track are actually bed slats which we found at the void deck. It wasn't ideal as the slats couldn't stand properly and we had to tape them to the floor. The shorter walls are made of thick cardboard protectors that came in some of the cartons of board games that I import to sell online. These weren't ideal as well, since they were relatively lightweight and would move when a car ran into it. We had to tape these to the floor too.

Now, once again, God provides! Just as we were thinking about how we were going to obtain suitable pieces of wood for us to construct a new race track for Universal Arcade 2018, we came across an opportunity for us to obtain such wood for almost free! Thus, thanks to an awesome stock of wood we got from Triple Eyelid Studio which they sold for very reasonable rates, we're working on constructing the new game track right now! So come visit our Universal Arcade 2018 to see the new track and play our games!

St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 - Nerf Wars

What's an arcade without some shooting games, eh?! Well, we have two! In Nerf Wars - we use original Nerf Guns, of course. Shoot the figureheads of the dark villain and his soldiers to earn stamps . The figureheads were actually from a Christmas party bag that used to contain candy within. I saved the little containers coz I thought they looked so cute, and now they've come in handy!

In Howdy's Shootin' Range, you use Rubber Band Guns to shoot a target. Our home made target shooting range was made from cardboard, and Yakult bottles. Hit the targets to earn stamps. We generally don't promote violence, but a little shooting practice is good fun! Look, even a granny, and Fr Justin gave it a shot - pun intended! :) The shooting games were naturally a hit with boys of all ages! What's with boys and guns?!

St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 - Howdy's Shootin' Gallery

Do you remember the flicking games Asher and Shawna helped me with? The twins loved the games they made so much, they asked if we can make a new one to use for the funfair, instead of using theirs! We made a new one which was bigger, and it got re-themed into "Feed the Ants". Flick the bottle caps onto the holes with ants' pictures on them to 'feed' them and earn stamps. Made entirely of card board and beautified by some good painting skills!

"Poo and His Honey Brunch" was a spur of the moment invention, using a mini catapult to bounce little bears onto the board in search of honey. Land the bears on honey spots to earn stamps! Once again, cardboard is our friend! So is Google :)

St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 - Feed the Ants game, and  Poo and His Honey Brunch game

Eggs Run was inspired by an Easter Week activity that I helped helm at my kids' primary school the previous Easter. Easy enough to play, throw the eggs onto the egg trays and aim for the coloured spaces! Our Team gamely ate many eggs and collected many egg carton trays for us to paint and use in this game. No chicks were harmed in the making and playing of this game - they are plastic eggs! :)

St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 - Eggs Run

You would have probably realised by now, our Universal Arcade games are very easy to play, but not necessarily easy to score - you need a bit of skill in most of them! This makes it fun and challenging for our players! You have to come experience them for yourselves! Like this game below, we have Park Your Car! Players need to send their car into the garage. Park your cars and earn your stamps! The facade of the garage buildings is a scrap collage project by Pauleen made of cardboard and coloured paper! Awesomesauce!

St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 - Park Your Car

Another perennial favourite of ours are the hand mazes that are made entirely out of cardboard! I made the ones in cardboard brown, and the other two were done by Francis & Renne - what a stroke of genius to have a background image! Inspired by You Know What, players have to navigate the mazes to get to various checkpoints, in the shortest time possible. We have four mazes in all, two are simpler than the other two. So depending on your age, you get a different one. You're welcome to come try them all! Many people do! They are that fun!

St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 - Handy Mazes

Last but not least, we have the Shield of Faith! Good Ol' Capt can throw his shields with unwavering accuracy so he must have put in many hours training his throw at a training facility like the one we have set up here! Throw the small shields into any of the rectangle holes, and earn your stamps! The small flying saucer shields are made up of some corn ware disposable plates that Ivy and I taped together with duct tape. We made sure they were decorated like Capt's shields. The banner is hubbs' expedition banner from the year before that was headed for the bin. I rescued it and it came in handy when we made this game. This time, it was Ivy who gave it an aesthetical facelift by taping up the holes in different colours and added the pictures of the shields.

We strongly believe in Reduce, Reuse, Re-purpose, Recycle. You can see that most of our games are made from cardboard boxes we have re-purposed. We reuse and re-purposed many things such as cardboard, plastic bottles, bottle caps, and wood. We're a green bunch, right here! We're learning and trying our best to be as green as we can be - to show God how we can be good stewards of His creation!

St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 - Shield of Faith

You must be wondering what is this "earn your stamps" that we keep mentioning? Well, what are games without prizes to be won, right? So we have a huge Prize Redemption Booth full of prizes to be won! The bottom left hand corner of the collage below shows a St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 Game Card which you purchase with your coupons.

Each Game Card gives you an entitlement of playing three different games - yes, any three different games of all the games listed above - not including Bouncy Castle. You need to buy a Bouncy Castle Ticket to have a go inside the Bouncy Castle. So after getting your Game Card, you look for a game which you wish to play. Wait for your turn, and hand the Game Card to the people manning the game booth. For each game, you will definitely get one stamp - for participation. Then, you can earn up to three more stamps per game you play.  You will be awarded stamps accordingly, depending on how well you play the game you have selected. Thus, in one Game Card, you will get a minimum of 3 stamps, and a maximum of 12 stamps.

St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 - Game Card & Prize Redemption Booth

You may come to the Prize Redemption Booth at any time to check out the prizes still available for redemption. They will have a Stamp Value marked on them. So for example, the huge Transformers below needed a total of 200 stamps to have it redeemed. The collage below shows some of our biggest winners in 2017, look at their grins!

But worry not, there is something for everyone! We have small prizes available for redemption for as few as 3 stamps. So even if you only buy one Game Card and don't play the games well, you'd still be able to get a small trinket, at least! However, that hardly happened at all! Our Universal Arcade games are such good and wholesome fun, that many families came and had so much fun! We overheard people saying that "THIS IS WHERE THE REAL FUN IS!"

St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 - Nestle Breakfast Cereals, Singapore

Not only do we have good fun, we have good value food too! Nestle Breakfast Cereals was so kind to send us cartons of cereal that have a few more months to their Best Before Date. They are simply awesome greensome to do that! Did you know that as estimated $200 million of worth of food are discarded in Singapore annually? Well, we're happy to say that Nestle Breakfast Cereals try their best not to contribute to that figure! We were all fairly familiar with Cheerios, but many of us were introduced to the Nestle Fitnesse range of cereals for the first time. Apparently, they contain over 40% wholegrain nutrition, essential vitamins and minerals including folic acid and dietary fibre. These healthy cereals were a big hit! Thank you, Nestle Breakfast Cereals!

St Mary's Universal Arcade 2017 - Grand Prize Winners!

Our Children's Liturgy Team had put so much effort, time and energy into making and sprucing up these games, sorting of prizes, worrying over logistical issues, manpower scheduling, marketing efforts and photography - all good photos in this post by Brian Ng :) As such, we were all ecstatic to see how well the Universal Arcade games were received. It gave us joy, and hope too, to see so many kids and adults alike, having fun with good ol' fashioned carnival games - with no electronic gadget in sight! Many a kind parishioner praised and thanked us for running these games, as they had enjoyed themselves thoroughly.

So, if you have enjoyed reading about the games above, you MUST come and experience most of them at our Universal Arcade 2018! In fact, it'd be most of these games, and more! We're planning and making them now, as you read this post! The main St Mary's Feast Day Funfair (tonnes of delicious food and other game stalls run by other parishioners) would be on Sunday 5th August 2018 from 8am to 3pm. However, Universal Arcade is also open on Saturday 4th August 2018 from 5.30pm - 8.30pm! So if you wish to beat the crowd and yet check out Universal Arcade - come on Saturday evening!

Church of St Mary of the Angels Feast Day 2018

Last but not least, in addition to our awesome Team, we had loads of help from our own personal friends and family, as well as parents of the children attending Children's Liturgy at St Mary's! They helped stock our Prize Redemption Booth! Not a single prize was bought by us! The prizes were all crowd-sourced from family, friends, parishioners and friends of friends. Our Universal Arcade would not have been the roaring success it was without the contribution of the awesome prizes we received. 

We believe, and we know, that many of us in Singapore are a privileged bunch of people that actually have a surplus of many brand new things that we still keep holed up in our cupboards and bomb shelter. These may include toys, games, bags, household appliances. Bring them out and donate them to us to use as prizes for our Prize Redemption Booth! We welcome used items as well, if they are in excellent, working condition. 

NOW is the time to declutter and send your good stuff our way! Small items such as stationery sets, small toys, and books, are also welcomed, but we are sorely lacking in big prizes that our big winners happily carted home last year. So now we need more! 

If you're in the West, drop off your items at the St Clare Hall at Level 2 of the Church of St Mary of the Angels at 5 Bukit Batok East Ave 2, Singapore 659918 - every Saturday in July from 3 - 4pm. If you know of any friend attending our church, pass it to them and ask them to drop off the stuff for you! :p Alternatively, whatsapp 94301421 - and we'd see if we can arrange something. 

Let the miracle of Five Loaves and Two Fishes, 2018 edition, begin!

Auntie Pam's Carnival Games

I've always loved to play games. Any kind of games. Board games, carnival games, yard games. All sorts of games. I've also always loved to make stuff. Especially making stuff out of other stuff - reusing and recycling things. But the trigger was Isaac, really. It'd been happening one too many time, when we were at a funfair or a carnival where there are game stalls, and we would only be willing to buy the family at most $10 worth of tickets and had to ration that between the three kids for them to "play stuff" at the funfair. As you probably know, $10 doesn't get you very far. You could, possibly, at best, play 5 games at $2 a pop. Or more likely only 3 times if each game costs $3. Even $20, or $30, or $50 would honestly be insufficient to sate the appetite of the young ones seeking to play their fill at a funfair. 

We had this conversation once, when Isaac begged us to get more tickets so he could have another try at the game booths. You know, the ones where you invariably get three balls to throw at some target, or three shots with a toy gun, or something like that. 

Isaac:"Please Mummy... one more try..."

Mummy:" Why do you want to play the game?"

Isaac:"Er... because I want to get a prize?"

Mummy:"What prize? Those small toy thingies? Do you really want that?"

Isaac:"No... not really... erm... I just want to play... looks fun..."

Mummy:"You pay $2 and get three tries to throw a ball to try to hit something. If you want to play, I can make many games like that for you and you can play all you like. Without paying a single cent."

In the end we convinced him and the twins to go line up for the Zorb ball experience. Even though it was $5 per head, we convinced them that they would have more fun at trying something like that, than throwing three balls. 

Another time, we gave him some tickets and allowed him to use it any way he wished. He went off, played some carnival games and came back. We asked him if it was worth it, and he agreed and said he now understood what we meant. It also helped that being in primary three now, he has at least two years plus experience of using money. This has helped him have an inkling of the value of money. He realizes that spending his entire daily allowance of $2 to throw three balls, wasn't really worth it. 

I felt bad denying him the fun of playing funfair games though. This innate sense of the need to want to let him have such fun thus provided the impetus that pushed me into action. To turn the thoughts and plans in my head, into real physical things. I started making simple carnival games. 

I wanted to make games out of everyday items we have lying around the house, stuff we would normally throw out. Also, I needed them to be easy to keep, so they had to have a small footprint, or be able to be dismantled. And this was what I came up with in The First Batch of games.

First Batch of Auntie Pam's DIY Funfair Games - Clockwise From Top Left: Shoot for Gold, Ring the Target, Bin It, Basketball, and the standees for Target Practice

Shoot For Gold - I cut plastic milk cartons, shampoo bottles and body soap bottles in half to fill the cardboard box. Players get three or five bottle caps and aim to throw them into the golden coloured bottles. Bottle caps are used instead of balls, so that the game master doesn't have to run after balls. 

Ring the Target - These are just CD spindles, which I duct-taped to make it look brighter. The mini hoops are the luminous light sticks that kids like to wear around their wrists. They don't shine anymore, but that's okay - we just need them as hoops. Players have to aim for the spines and loop the spine! 

Bin It - These bins are the covers of the CD spindles whose spines/bottoms  I used for Ring the Target. I previously used juggling balls (which were not fully round) to throw, but that made the game too difficult as the diameter of the 'ball' was slightly greater than half the diameter of the plastic bin - making it quite a challenging task. Now, we use a set of five-stones. It's like throwing something into the bin, aim for a bin and Bin It! 

Basketball - I added two more hoops (empty duct tape rolls) attached to the box with cable ties.  This one is fairly obvious too eh? Throw the ball into any of the three hoops! This game sits in the box itself, so that the game master for this game would not have to run about picking balls - the balls should drop right into the box itself, making it easy for retrieval.

Target Practice - I had the kidzes help colour in the bad guys in the colouring books we had at home. Cut them out, and pasted them on cardboard. Using scraps of cardboard and making slits in them, these formed the stands for the baddies on cardboard. I had a whole booklet of Thomas & Friends stickers that had lost its stickiness, and so I decided to just glue these on cardboard as well. Tah dah! Target standees for our highly popular shooting game Target Practice! Every time we use them, we make use of whatever chairs or furniture we have available to form the shooting range. The extensiveness of the shooting range would depend on how innovative and creative the Game Master and his assistants are for that day. Just look at the variety below!

Target Practice - Everyone loves the shooting games at a funfair and ours is no exception! The line of kids that forms to play this game is usually the longest!

So, what fun is games without prizes eh? Don't worry, we've got that covered too. I figured we all have loads of stuff at home, right? New stuff, as well as used stuff. One man's trash is another's treasure. And kids always find other children's toys more fun anyway. So we pre-empt all the parents, and ask that they bring stuff from home. Stationery, toys, books, bags, stuff - new or used is fine, as long as the used items are in good condition. And boy did everyone rise to the occasion! Most mums are simply glad to have this opportunity to declutter their homes and bring stuff to donate to the Prize Redemption Booth. We also encourage the kids to give away toys which they no longer play with. It was a great success, just look at our Prize Redemption Booth pix below - filled to the brim with loads of awesome stuff. 

At each carnival game session, we need the parents to volunteer to be Game Masters for each game. Each Game Master would be provided with a "chop" - an inked stamp. Kids would be given sheets of paper. Each time they play a game, depending on how well they fared at the game, they would be awarded chops/stamps by Game Master on their pieces of paper. Collect many chops, then proceed to the Prize Redemption Booth to use your chops to redeem prizes =) 

It was a hit. The kids loved earning the chops, and they loved spending them too. We routinely ask the kidzes if they enjoyed an event we have just been to or an activity we had just done, and why they think so. We do this as we want to understand what they are thinking. For the carnival game sessions, Shawna specifically highlights that she enjoys spending her stamps "shopping for prizes". The boys heartily agree, and we do notice Isaac often spending his chops redeeming items meant for giving to the twins. In fact, we see other kids doing that too - redeeming items for their siblings. Most heartwarming :) 

Play Auntie Pam's Carnival Games, earn stamps, and spend them redeeming your prizes at the Prize Redemption Booth!

My DIY homemade carnival/funfair games was a such a huge hit that our friends started calling me Auntie Ringo - after the once ubiquitous Uncle Ringo professional funfair operator. It was high praise, and I was most pleased. It also inspired me to make more games.

I made the Mazes. Made entirely out of cardboard, white glue, some imagination and lots of estimation. The first maze is the one on the right below, the Three Little Pigs Maze. Players are timed to see how long they take to complete the route. A marble is placed at the Start, you use your hands to tilt the board and guide the marble - the Wolf - to the 1st little pig's home, 2nd pig's home, 3rd pig's home, before going to End to complete the route.

The mazes reminded me of  the Triwizard Tournament Maze in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And being the huge Harry Potter fans we all are - the next maze is the Harry Potter themed maze! After having the experience of making the Three Little Pigs Maze, I now understood how I can make the maze more difficult to navigate. Thus I set about making a more challenging maze.

In the Harry Potter maze (below, Right), you are Harry Potter (it's a yellow & red marble!), and you begin the race at Start. You have to get to the numbered checkpoints, the last being Checkpoint 7. The checkpoint drawings are illustrated by Artist Asher, as follows:
Checkpoint 1 - Sphinx
Checkpoint 2 - Dementor
Checkpoint 3 - Acromantula (Spider)
Checkpoint 4 - Blast-Ended Skrewt
Checkpoint 5 - TriWizard Cup
Checkpoint 6 - Cemetery
Checkpoint 7 - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry

It was a pity we did't think to check that the checkpoints monsters were not met by Harry in the same order as they were in the book, but well... I loved the illustrations done by Asher, and I wanted to keep them.

Auntie Pam's DIY cardboard mazes - Harry Potter Maze and Three Little Pigs Maze

The success of our new game - the mazes - inspired the kidzes to invent games too. Thus we started to brainstorm about other carnival games we could make. I was telling them that we had a lot of Throwing games, we had a Shooting game, the mazes were a sort of "Rolling" game... what were we short of? A flicking game, I said! 

The twins caught on, and we started to discuss and brainstorm about the mechanisms and themes their games could take. I challenged Isaac to think of a different game as well. I didn't want to end up with three similar flicking games. Inspired by the real funfair his school had recently, Isaac had the idea to build a small version of a dunking machine.

I had the kidzes draw out on paper their construction plans for their games. One must always have a plan. So it was that we began the long, arduous process of designing and constructing a game. The twins drew the circles, but it was hubbs and I who used the penknife to cut out the circles. They helped with the gluing and made the decisions regarding the theme. Asher and Shawna were completely in charge of the aesthetics of the game though - a truly excellent job they did with that. Much, much better than anything I or the hubbs could have come up with. 

Do-It-Yourself! Make Your Own Carnival/Funfair Games today!!!

We spend the whole of Sunday afternoon doing this, but the kids enjoyed it tremendously, and want to do it again! Read on to learn more about their good work done!

Go Home Kids! by Shawna Tan
The kids are three small balls, who need to get past fast flowing streams and volcanic lava pits to head to the three dark blue holes which are the entrances to the secret underground tunnels which will get them home! (She rejected my theme suggestion of Moles). The marbles have to be placed on the small square depression in the middle of the Start Panel - as Shawna is adamant that you can only flick with fingers on one hand - you cannot use your other hand to hold the marble. The game is trickier than it seems because there is a "drain" depression right at the back of the board, trapping balls and preventing them from bouncing off the back wall into the blue holes. Shawna decides that players who manage to send the kids home will get 3 chops or 5 chops. Generous!

Ant Trap by Asher Tan
Players flick bottle caps and try to enter them into the holes with numbers in them. The numbers indicate the chops you would receive if you manage to flick your bottle cap into those holes. Here, you flick bottle caps which have more friction, and are less forgiving than balls which will roll and possible get somewhere by luck. Players would likely get a minimum result of at least one chop, but the three chops slot is the smallest and is quite tricky to get into. Love the ant hill scenery backdrop, ants and anteaters that Asher has drawn and painted!

Down with Goliath! by Isaac Tan
This is a toy soldier scaled dunking machine!!! The toy soldier is Goliath, and players play the role of David, who uses stones (five stones! ;p) to hit the target, which swings back, causing the other end to swing forward and topple Goliath into the Acid Moat below! This entire contraption was conceived by Isaac. And he did all the decorations himself too.

Carnival Games by the Tan Family Kidzes! Down with Goliath by Isaac. Go Home Kids by Shawna. Ant Trap by Asher. 

The kids can't wait for there to be another Carnival Games Session so that others can get to play their games. Already, they are dreaming of the queues that would form to play their games, and Shawna even asked me if she could choose the adult Game Master to be in charge of her game. The kidzes are already clamouring for another Game-Making session. As Isaac puts it "Building games is painfully slow, but the outcomes are magical!" And what magic the kidzes have done! Beautiful!

So have I inspired you to Make-Your-Own Carnival Games?! :) Try it, it's fun! The kids get to exercise their imagination and hone their STEM skills, and we adults get an exercise in self-control where we have to control ourselves to NOT tell the kids what we think is the "correct" answer and solution to everything - let them think through it themselves! You'd be amazed with what they can do!

So have I convinced you to let your kids make a little mess at home in the process to making something? If I haven't, watch this video on Caine's Arcade! It was what inspired me as well and started me thinking and forming ideas in my head! I love how innovative Caine is and how his story spawned a whole movement - The Imagination Foundation and the Cardboard Challenge! Really awesome stuff.

One challenge I had was that, unlike Caine, I didn't have a whole garage to store the games in. Neither did I want to throw away our hard work and have to remake them every time we wanted to use them.  So I needed to make sure that the games could be kept neatly and stored for repeated use. So I figured that they had to fit into certain cardboard boxes that I had. And so it is, that all the games you saw above, are all stored in the 6 boxes in the pix below.

Tan Family Carnival Games - all kept and ready for the next session!

So get on it and make your own carnival games today! Check out our other Make-Your-Own series posts below!

MAKE YOUR OWN TOYS TODAY!

Make Your Own Lightsaber Today!

Make Your Own Binoculars Today!

Make Your Own Sword Today!

Make Your Own Camera Today!

Make Your Own Car Today!

Isaac the Investigator @ InvestigateINK

If you've been reading our blog the past year at least, you'd know that we're big fans of Monsters Under the Bed. No, no, I don't enjoy scaring my kids with monsters under their beds!? I mean, the company Monsters Under the Bed who has been conducting impossibly fun and interesting creative writing workshops every school hols. We're blessed to have caught their eye and they've been inviting Isaac to their writing courses since last year.

This time round, we had friends attending as well!  Read about Ch's experience at Simply Lambchops, and Dana's experience at Life's Tiny Miracles.

Always fun to attend workshops with friends, eh? :) Isaac, Ch and Dana.

Now, those of you who read family blogs would know that we receive invitations to all sorts of events and experiences all the time. And for time-pressed families like us, we need to prioritise and be selective about accepting and attending the invites we receive. Monsters Under the Bed workshops are never one that we pass on, if we can help it! Our first was EnchantINK - which was a macabre (though original) twist on fairy tales. Then we attended MonsterHuntINK - which had the kids fashioning their own monster, habitat, and chase after them. These were both fiction writing, which is what creative writing is all about, isn't it?

Apparently not! InvestigateINK taught us that expository (non-fiction, journalistic writing) requires technique and creativity as well. I especially enjoyed the way the Monsters Under the Bed brought it to the kids. There was lots drama (the instructors doubled up as actors!), suspense and mystery - perfect for an investigative themed workshop.

There were even pre-recorded "CCTV recordings" that were being screened to the kids in "flashback style" on the projector. Groups could review the videos on their group computer to try to glean any clues they can pick up from the video. The video segments are usually only a few minutes long, snappy and full of suspense or mystery.

"CCTV" footage and other flashbacks via pre-recorded videos. A good use of technology to aid the cause, I say!

Pre-Workshop Preparation Material sent to attendees a week or so before the actual start of the workshop

If you think this workshop sounds too fun to be able to teach the kids anything, you're mistaken. A week or so before a Monsters Under the Bed workshop, you'd usually receive a package in the mail with pre-workshop preparation materials within. There's usually some information on the background theme of the workshop, and also some pointers or info sheet regarding the writing style that you would be learning for that camp. This time around, a PRESS Name Tag was included as well. The kids are all members of the press you see, and this was their name tags. And we all know what good investigators pressmen are given their insatiable appetites for juicy news...

Interspersed with all the happenings during the camp, the kids are also taught writing techniques in simple layman terms. Thus, even P1 kids like Isaac did not have an issue keeping up. I was glad I was there, I was learning some tips myself!

Photos of presentation slides by Pamela Tan of Tan Family Chronicles.
Text & content of slides in the pictures by Monsters Under the Bed.

Monsters can be very drama too.

A definite highlight of the workshops are the drama bits where the instructors and other Monsters (from Under the Bed) get in character of the background story to the case they were investigating. The kids even got to interrogate the suspects. So convincing they were at acting! At one point, one of the main suspects, Tai Po, fainted to the ground, and was dragged/carried out of the room The trainers came back in and said "Tai Po is dead!" and the kids were stunned. Later, I actually heard the kids discuss in hushed voices about the death of Tai Po. I realised that they were really frightened as they think that Tai Po really died. As in really died, for real. I quickly piped up and told them that it's just a story, an act, that Tai Po is not dead. When they gave me the "Are you sure? He really looks dead." I was like "Go ask your group trainer!"

The kids also had clues to figure out, and secret codes to decipher. Isaac managed to figure out on his own that the hidden message below is in mirror image.

A mirror image hidden message and other cryptic clues.

Another coded message!

Oooh I love all these coded messages and stuff. Reminds me a lot of when I was Isaac's age, and would read all the books on being an investigator a la The Three Investigators. I would always try and come up with my own secret language or code.

Having attended quite a number of Monsters Under the Bed workshops, I like how they pace the days out. Each day, there is usually a small lecture, exciting bits with drama, action or suspense, and then they would break up into smaller groups where the group trainers would lead their groups in small group discussion. And then guide them in completing their exercise in answering leading questions posed to them, or in formulating stories or background to their final work. 

As this was an investigative themed workshop, there was also a lot of discussion, or speculation (haha) on what happened or on the reasons behind what they just witnessed. 

The young pressmen hard at work.

Finale drama @ InvestigateINK

As with every investigative drama, there has to be a twist to the story, and a finale, before the truth is revealed - and then the journalists can write their report for the news paper. Just look at the stills above. Even the adults present were kept at the edge of their seats... well actually, everyone was on their feet, trying to get the best view of the drama that was unfolding before our very eyes. What started out as a theft, had someone die during interrogation, and now there's a gun and death threats which culminated in The Chase of the Black Lamora - as Isaac calls it! That last bit was when the culprit was revealed to be that lady in black with long hair, and she ran away, so the entire team of press investigators gave chase and ran after her. Yes, it was quite the chaos.The kids loved it!

And so all of them enthusiastically set about writing their piece for the MUTB Times. It's a good thing they get to paste them into the "newspaper" so they didn't have to spend time copying over what they have written the previous two days.

Isaac the Investigator cum Journalist, hard at work.

InvestigateINK by Monsters Under the Bed

You know how, as kids, you would write the least possible, just the bare minimum to get by and hand it in? Oh well, maybe it was just me. But these kids, they all have tons to write about! Helps that the story line was interesting too, I suppose. It certainly shows that when the kids' interest is piqued, writing a decent length of content isn't an issue at all.

Monsters Under the Bed had the kids fill out a feedback form which I managed to take pix of before Isaac handed it in. The first page were some general questions to which Isaac replied

1. That the quality of the workshop was AWESOME
2. The duration of the workshop is JUST NICE
3. The materials provided in the workshop is VERY USEFUL
4. And that he was "REALLY FIRED UP" from attending the workshop

Here's his second page of the feedback form...

Feedback Form in Isaac's own hand!

Isaac & his favourite instructor Mr "Tuna" Adam!

That's Mr "TunaFish" Adam - one of the MUTB's instructors, and certainly one of Isaac's favourite. He seems to be a favourite of quite a few of the kids actually. I heard Ch and Isaac talking about Mr Tuna and "How lucky you are to get Mr Tuna this time!!!" type of statements, at not just this camp but the next camp after this one too. He seems quiet and unassuming to me, but he must really have a natural affinity with kids to be able to connect to them so well.

Oh and if you're wondering about Isaac's vest and top hat - that's supposed to be his reporter get-up. He wanted to look like a detective, more than a reporter, really.
 
Here is Isaac's piece for the MUTB Times.

Page 1 of 4

Page 2 of 4

Page 3 of 4

Page 4 of 4

If you think that sounds incoherent... watch this video! May clear up a few things!

 
If you wondering how this creative bunch of Monsters Under the Bed are like in the flesh, you're in luck! They have a free parent's seminar coming up soon!

How To Preserve Your Child's Creative Edge
Date: 28th February 2015, Saturday
Time: 1 - 2pm
Venue: 111 Middle Road, National Design Centre (Opposite the Central Library)
Fee: Complimentary
Registration Link: http://ink.mutb.com.sg/parenting-talks.html

In this talk, MUTB addresses why the pursuit of academic excellence often destroys creativity, and how people arrive at the false conclusion that the two goals are exclusive. They will also examine the aspects of creativity that are mostly commonly repressed, and who's responsible for doing so (it's less the fault of schools than you'd imagine). Through a few simple lifestyle changes, which most children will welcome and enjoy, learn how you can maintain your child's creative edge!

Sounds good! I'm off to register right now!

EpicQuestINK by Monsters Under the Bed

And guess what? Monsters Under the Bed has released their line up of INK workshops for 2015! "Imagination N' Knowledge (INK) Workshop is a three-day creative writing programme that stimulates your child's imagination and passion for writing. Participants will be engaged in roleplaying, group discussions, and physical activities that expand their creative space." (Source: The INK website)

Epic QuestINK
Date: 16 - 18 March 2015
Time: 10 am - 1pm
Venue: The Arts House

In this workshop, you transform into heroes straight out of the Greek myths of old, and go on a journey of epic proportions! Participants will learn how to:
Utilize the Hero's Journey. Structure your story in a way that is truly epic. Create fantabulous monsters. Trainers will introduce a selection of monstrous and magical beings from classical Greek myth, and teach you how to create your own! Dream up weird settings. Learn about all the strange places the ancient Greek heroes visited on their journeys, and come up with your own!

SurviveINK
Date: 3 - 5 June 2015
Time: 10 am - 1pm
Venue: The Arts House

Spell CraftINK
Date: 7 - 9 September 2015
Time: 10 am - 1pm
Venue: The Arts House

HowlINK
Date: 23 - 25 November 2015
Time: 10 am - 1pm
Venue: The Arts House

INK To The Void
Date: 14 - 16 December 2015
Time: 10 am - 1pm
Venue: The Arts House

REGISTRATION LINK for all the above workshops. By the way, there is currently a special bundle promotion for the above INK workshops.

• Sign up for 5 workshops and only pay $1,150 OR get 1 month Story Craft lesson worth $320.
• Recommend other parents and sign 3-5 students up to get 10% discount.

And especially for readers of the Tan Family Chronicles, Monsters Under the Bed (MUtB) is giving away Journal Singapore the board game (worth $59.90) + S$10 Mubster money (can used for any of the MUtB writing programmes or 2015 INK workshops) - just quote “INK1502" when you register.

Journal Singapore the board game

Journal Singapore is a board game created  by Monsters Under the Bed in conjunction with the Singapore Heritage Board. It  is the first board game to feature the history of Singapore from its early days as a British Colony in 1900, to its Independence in 1965. Play the role of Singapore’s early pioneers and leave a legacy of prestige and influence. The rules are in the box, and there is even an online demo to help you figure it out.

You can even use Journal Singapore as a storytelling tool by talking about the different historical characters and locales (sectors) of the game. It's certainly a good tool to springboard the kids into taking interest in our local history.

So, check out the links above and go register your places now. Don't forget to quote “INK1502" to get your freebies!

Shawna the Sketcher

I've been meaning to scan/photograph and blog about the kids drawings. Isaac wasn't really one to doodle much, but the twins love sketching and drawing pictures. Asher started doodling and drawing pictures last year. I amassed a huge stack of them but didn't get around to posting about them. He liked to draw the same things over and over again, namely, superheroes. Very cute, and I still intend to write about them.

Shawna , though, only started drawing in earnest this year. Last year, she would look at Asher drawing and say "I don't know what to draw." But this year... wow, she's on a roll! She tends to draw roughly similar things as well. Usually a landscape, with the sun in a corner, clouds, a house, some people, flowers. But Shawna also liked to write. She would write statements, like below, where she wrote "Shawna: Isaac: I love my parents" It may not look like it to you, but that is what she wrote. She's still at the age where she sometimes mixes up her letters in a mirror image way, or writes backwards, or writes from right to left instead of left to right. I'm praying that she's not dyslexic!

This is the drawing that catapulted me into action to write this post. Shawna says "I love my parents!" :)

Of the three children, Shawna is in a way the least physically affectionate of them. The boys would be more likely to give us hugs and kisses if we ask for them (or spontaneously!), than Shawna would. However, Shawna appears to be more willing to write down her feelings :)

She's proud of her drawings and always wants to put them up. As you can see below, she has covered her bedroom wall, her bedroom door, the wall outside her bedroom, with her pictures. And since she ran out of space, she has started pasting them on our master bedroom wall (covered with mirror) as well. 

At first, I said "Er, why don't you colour the pictures? They'd look nicer, THEN you can put them up." Or I would tell Asher "You should use markers, I think you draw better using markers." and the like. I realised that, in a way, I was being too perfectionist - I only wanted to put up "the nice ones". But the kids shook their heads and proceeded to put up their pictures anyway. And when I saw them on the walls, I realised something... They are all nice! Just the way they are. And here, I shall immortalise them in this blog post.So even if they wither, yellow and tear, they'd still be on this blog.

Our walls full of lovely pictures by Sketcher Shawna, Artist Asher, and Illustrator Isaac!

Shawna's drawing in pink ink.

Above is a multi-story house on the right. You can see the beds/chairs on each floor. Shawna, with ponytails and a huge smile, is having a delicious cold drink in her hand. Enjoying the sun, pretty flower beside her, clouds and birds in the sky. A playground with a slide. The tree has a bird's nest in one of its branches.

Below: The sun is huge. It must be very hot. But there are clouds so it must be a nice day out. Shawna and I are out for a walk with some babies (?!) in two strollers.  Shawna tells me that the stroller is not floating in the sky - it is simply further away. There's a tall building. And a treehouse. Love the strollers!

A Walk in the Park by Sketcher Shawna

Asher in a Hot Air Balloon by Sketcher Shawna

Another lovely sunny day. Shawna says it's hot, so she is inside the house (you can't see her). That's Asher in his hot air balloon. There are two butterflies in the sky. And an aeroplane too! Look what big boosters the aeroplane has, and three doors and many windows.

Below is something Shawna has been doing a lot lately. She enjoys writing out whatever words she has learnt to write in her school. Numbers 1 to 6 in Chinese, and some simple Chinese words. The English alphabet - some in mirror image. And simple words. The "Ni" she keeps writing is actually "in". 

Shawna learns the alphabet!

Rocket & Earth by Sketcher Shawna

This picture is actually inspired by a similar picture drawn by Isaac. The twins saw it and started to draw their own version of it. I should go look for Isaac's and Asher's and put them all up in a post! Love the rocket, the sun is below and not in it's usual place, the crescent moon, the alien in his spaceship, and planet Earth with some people on it, oh and the many stars! :)

You know how the kids change best friends every so often? Well it's the same with the kidzes, but Shawna's been having a constant best friend (amongst other ones that are not as constant) - and that's Chloe. Shawna loves to draw pictures of herself and Chloe. 

Chloe & Shawna - best friends!

Shawna's quite good with colours. Shall get her to draw more using crayons and colour pencils. Markers too, though a lot have dried out when the kids forget to cap them after use, despite constant reminders. Annoys me to no end. Love the trees and rickety hut!

So there were these two pictures where she folded the sides of the paper this way. And I'm like "Why do you fold your paper this way, Shawna?" And she says "It's to make the frame, Mummy! You say got frame nicer, right?" Hahaha, yes I did.

Shawna's frame improvisation

I love my Papa and Mummy

 Yes Shawna spelt the above on her own :) Happy to know that the words "I love my Mummy/Papa" are amongst the first words that Shawna knows how to spell. She meant to write "so" when she wrote "os". It's cute how she practices the words that she knows. 

Like most other little girls, Shawna's a big fan of Frozen too. We've watched the movie more than a dozen times as we have the blu ray dvd. I like the movie too, as I feel that there are a lot of teaching moments in the show. I often talk throughout the movie, explaining to the kids why certain things happen, and why the characters are behaving the way they are. 

So Shawna drew the two pictures below. One of Anna (left) and one of Elsa (right). And in both pictures, they are crying. She also pasted the two pictures a distance apart. "Shawna, why are Anna and Elsa crying?" I asked her. And she said "They are sad because they want to play with each other, but they can't. That's why I paste the pictures separate, Mummy." And at that moment, I saw the heart labelled "Love" in each girl.

And I knew she understood all I had been telling them through the movie. I often tell the children that they are very lucky to have each other to play with (so they should not fight nor quarrel!), unlike Anna and Elsa who loved each other and wanted to play with each other, but can't.

The Crying Sisters Anna & Elsa, by Sketcher Shawna

Mummy Working on her Computer, by Sketcher Shawna

Now that I am working full time on My First Games, I actually work out of home. I try to finish doing whatever I have to do before the kids get home from school. However, occasionally I have to do some work, and so I work at my computer. Captured here in print, by my dear Shawna. That's hubbs doing work as well, as he often has to bring work home to do as well. This is a reminder for us to keep work to work time, and treasure our family time with the kids!

Oh another landscape by Shawna. A house with a chimney and smoke coming out of it. Two aeroplanes in the sky, with exhaust gas coming out of its engines. A coconut tree with coconuts dangling like earrings. The spots on the tree trunk are the grooves in the trunk for climbing the tree. Shawna's had some experience climbing a coconut tree, you see :)  Oh and clouds that have eyes, nose, mouth and spectacles! And a heart, of course!

Coconut Tree by Sketcher Shawna

Self Portrait by Sketcher Shawna

And to end of this post, we have a nice self portrait of Shawna - with a sunny day, house and tree in the background. Love the flower in her hat! :)

I love kids' art! For more kiddy arty goodness, follow these links!
*A Nugget of Joy
*Little Blue Bottle