Discussion on the value of ‘Kindness’
As the class of N1 Hope of E-Bridge Preschool @ Hougang Meadow started to embark on our ‘Start Small, Dream Big’ project, we decided to focus on the value of ‘Kindness’ and we had a pivotal discussion surrounding it. We watched a video on random acts of kindness that were being done by children as an introduction to kindness. We discussed on the kind things the children did for the strangers in the video and we also reflected on the kind things we do for our friends in school. Some of the children’s voices included:
“Help friends keep things in bag.” - Ajolin
“Pick up litter from the playground” - Wayne
“Give flowers to the aunties.” - Cayla
“Give diaper you don’t need anymore to babies.” - Jude
Making our pledges
In lieu of our launch party, the children brainstormed on what kindness can look like. The children then drew out different acts of kindness they can do during kindness week. Some of the pledges they created were also extracted from our previous discussion on what kindness is. Here are some of the children’s pledges:
From left to right, clockwise direction:
“I give donut to the firefighter and police officer. I put out the fire.” - Zeph
“After I eat, I clean the bowl.” - George
“I want to feed the cat.” - Charise
“So many coins. Give money to people. _(Donation)_” - Yvelle
Kindness Week bingo sheet
To kick off our SSDB project, we crafted the Kindness Bingo Sheet to inspire the children and their families on the acts of kindness they could do. Afterall, we believe that kindness starts at home! Some of these activities included something as simple as saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ mixed with more complex acts such as making a new friend and making something using recycled materials. We got the parents to upload the different acts of kindness done on our Padlet site so that we could share with each other the kind acts done by the children. (refer below for the entire site, contributed by the parents of N1 Hope)
Let’s take a closer look at some of the entries submitted by the families shall we?
Here we have Eliza cleaning up her bowl after her meal.
We also have Charise throwing litter in the proper place to do so — the rubbish bin.
Kaelia practiced the motto ‘sharing is caring’ with her brother at home.
In George’s family, they have cultivated the habit of collecting recycled materials and placing them in the correct bin, the blue recycling bin. George also understands the difference between the regular rubbish bin and the recycling bin.
Zeph helping his parents with the chore of folding clothes.
Something as simple and warm as a big hug can go a very long way! Charise enjoys hugging her father to show her love and affection.
**From Our Loving Hands to Yours
(Token of Appreciation for the healthcare workers at Tan Tock Seng Hospital) **
Our second event for our SSDB project was a collaborative project between the different classes in the school. We aimed to prepare 100 face mask chains and 100 handmade flowers as a token of appreciation for the healthcare workers in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. We can only imagine the burnout and exhaustion the healthcare workers face in these trying times and we wanted to show them our appreciation for their hard work and perseverance. The N2 class also graciously helped us out with our goal of a 100 face mask chains during the September Holiday Week. Here are some of our children’s processes as they created the face mask chains in school:
Collaboration with families
The parents of our class were also roped in into the big project as we handed out the beads and materials needed to create the face mask chains to them as well. They share with us their amazement at how good the children were at threading the beads through the string! The pride and joy of completing the face mask chains were very evident in the faces of the children as they proudly held up the face mask chains they created, eager to give them out to the frontline workers at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
The K1 class collaborated in this project with us as well. The children created 100 handmade flowers to be given alongside the face mask chains we have created. They also prepared some ‘thank you’ cards to show their appreciation for the healthcare workers.
Preparing the gifts and handing them over to the healthcare workers
Some of the face mask chains created by the N1 children and their families
After a month or so of preparing the gifts, the N1 teachers went over to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and handed over the gifts, from our loving hands to theirs. With this momentous event, we had come to an end to our SSDB journey.
We would like to thank all the parents, educators and children who have contributed to this project in any shape or form. We are grateful to the effective communication we had as we liaise with the Goodwill department of Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
May kindness always be shown, even in the most trying of times.
