The Wonderful World of Disney on Ice 2017

I am proud to admit that I am a kidult – an adult with a kid inside me. I loveeeddddd Disneyland…I love Mickey and Minnie…maybe not so much the Disney princesses or my girl’s favourite, Elsa but I can go crazy over all things Mickey. Last September I realized one of my biggest dreams , to bring the kids to Disneyland. It was a dream come true for the kids but more so for me as I am their biggest fan. Last year, 2016 was a year of theme parks for my family, we did Everland in Korea, Legoland and also Disneyland. All the theme parks were great, but if you ask me to choose one, it has to be Disneyland! Simply because I grew up with the many Disney characters and now I can share the same love and memories with my own kids.

I can’t be going to Disneyland every year as it already burnt a hole in my pocket last year, but we are very fortunate to have Feld Entertainment’s Disney on Ice visiting Singapore during the March school holidays every year.

This was my review last year with my 4 kids in tow. It was my third time watching Disney on Ice last year and every year, it always exceeds expectations. There is always something new every year. Last year’s highlight was the cast of Frozen especially Elsa. Just 1 song..Let It Go and the way the skater skates, dances and pyrotechnic that accompanied THE SONG…it was even better than watching the movie! I got all goosebumps all from just that song.

This year’s installment of Disney on Ice is entitled the Wonderful World of Disney on Ice.

This year’s Elsa is definitely back ( in fact’s big C birthday theme is Frozen too this Saturday!) but what I am more interested this year on behalf of the younger boys is Dory. Finding Dory will be making its ice skating debut on this year’s show and small J will be mightily pleased as he was on Dory fever last quarter of 2016 when the movie came out.

Besides the permanent fixture of Mickey, Minnie , Donald and Goofy , this year show will be featuring the perennial favourite Frozen, Rapunzel, Lion King and your favourite Disney princesses. There is a character for every kid and adult catching this.

I cannot afford for a yearly trip to Disneyland but I definitely will keep their dose of Disney through Disney on Ice.

For 10 performances only from 15 March to 19 March 2017 (which is the March school holidays especially if you are not travelling, this is in my opinion the best way to spend the holidays in Singapore), tickets can be purchased from www.sportshubtix.sg, with family friendly tickets starting at $25 online.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored giveaway. All opinions expressed are entirely ours.

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Safari Zoo Run 2017 – our first but definitely not our last!

If you have been following my blog, beside being a fervent supporter of local children productions, I am also big on exposing my kids to the outdoor events like Cold Storage Kids Run, Spartan Race etc. In our day to day, my kids have little outdoor play time as they spend long hours in school and child care. By joining such fun run, we are “forced” to go outdoors and sweat it out on the weekend!

So the lure of Safari Zoo Run was too big to resist, especially to be running at my kids’ favourite place – The Singapore Zoo! I would think that running at the zoo will bring running a whole new experience –even me as an adult was excited to be running for the first time at the zoo!

I wanted to bring along my DSLR to take photo of the run and of my kids but I decided to rely on my handphone and really run with the kids..ie not walk. And I had hopes that they will running so fast that I wouldn’t be fast enough to capture them. So I wanted to enjoy the run with my kids sans the photo-taking (of course i will still take some photos )

That was also the reason why I didn’t want to bring along the baby in the stroller, as I wanted the older kids to really run and sweat it out. When small C is big enough to run with us, I will definitely bring him along!

I was contemplating whether to do the 5.5km or the 2.5km for the longest time. With small J in mind, I decided not to be too ambitious. Big J and Big C had attempted 5km run bef0re so I am sure they will push through the end but the longest small J has ever “run” was the 800m at the Cold Storage Kids Run last year. As I am definitely leaving the stroller at home, I do not wish to carry small J if he gives up half way, hence, I decided not to be too ambitious and opt for the 2.5km family dash as it is also our first time running at the zoo.

The race started at 9.30am which was a decent time to get the kids ready as the longer leg of the run (ie the 10km and the 5.5km started very much earlier). We decided to not drive to the zoo given that the open car park was closed for the race village and the starting point. We were worried that it will be difficult to get car park lots but on hind sight, we actually saw there was ample car park spaces at the multi storey car park when we arrived, so I think we can opt to drive for next year’s run.

This year’s Safari Zoo Run theme was Run for Wildlife.The run focuses on raising awareness for wildlife conservation with the introduction of 4 animal icons, namely Ah Meng the Orangutan, Chawang the Asian Elephant, Canola the Manatee and Sunny the Hornbill. Each animal icon team supports an endangered wildlife species that we would like to raise awareness for. Each runner get to choose which icon they will be supporting!

This year, the participants get to choose between the 4 animal icons in deciding the division of funds. At the end of the race, this run has helped to raised SGD 100,000 for wildlife conservation with #TeamAhMeng coming out tops , garnering additional funding support of SGD 40,000 for Sumatran orangutan projects.

all raring to go!

every kid supporting a different animal icon

at the starting line!

we were blessed with beautiful weather!

off we go!

Throughout the race, the lure to stop and look at the animals was too huge! But I had to rally them to tell them, we can do that after the race!

they stopped as they spotted zebras!

a very good way to spend time as a family on a Saturday morning

We completed the run as a family within 25 minutes. Mightily proud of small J for persevering all the way and it was his longest run to date!

A close friend of my mine asked me if it’s worth it and I have yet to answer her. I thought I should do the review and gave her unbiased opinion here on this blog. For the price of the race slots for kids and adults, you not only get to enjoy a run , start the day early at the zoo(we finished the run by 10am) and we get to enjoy the zoo and river safari for free for the remaining part of the day – yes you could stay till the closing hours.

I do not think there is any other running events that offer free access to a Singapore attraction after the race. I say it is one of our most memorable visits to the zoo ever! The participants of the 5.5km even got to run around the Night Safari in the day time (major envy!) Typically we will not arrive at the zoo so early but “thanks” to the run we are already at the zoo way before the opening hours. Then we did a quite zoom through before the public crowd and lots of photo ops and mascot throughout the zoo as part of the run! Its killing many birds with one stone! I am actually glad that there is a 2.5km race for family dash category as I personally feel 800m run is a tad too short for a run (most kids fun run) but 2.5km is a very good distance even for the very young to attempt a fun run! (think of it as a 30 to 45 minutes activity if 2.5km sounds too intimidating)

so proud of their finisher medal!

the mascots obliging the kids for an after race photo!

After the race, we decided to utilize our free entry to the River Safari (remember to not throw away the race bibs as they are the proof of entry to the River Safari). As the kids didn’t manage to see Jia Jia and Kai Kai during out last visit(we did go to the River Safari during Safari Boo, but we couldn’t access the panda enclosure as it was a late evening event), we decided to pay Jia Jia and Kai Kai a visit this time!

off we go to the river safari

We even took the opportunity to try the Amazon River Quest for the first time. Finally big C is tall enough to ride, but poor small J is not tall enough, he had to wait outside with daddy while I took big J and big C on the ride. I didn’t have much expectation of the cruise, but it really reminded me of some rides at the theme parks ie USS and Everland in Korea except the “exhibits” along the cruise weren’t robotic creatures but real animals! After we completed our maiden ride, we are offered a free re-ride too! At SGD5 for adult and SGD 3 for children, I must say it is totally worth the price.

We would love to stay longer at the zoo but big J had swim class in the afternoon, so we spend a good half of day before heading back home. It was a morning well spent for a 2.5km run and also a visit to the zoo and the river safari. For next year, I am definitely getting the older kids do the competitive kid dash now that they are familiar with experience of a run/race at the zoo!

I shall leave you with a video my small J running! Next year, he will be the big brother to rally small C to run!

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

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I Theatre’s The Ant and the Grasshopper – a musical for the whole family!

I had watched the same musical 3 years ago with my older two kids and had loved it. It was one of the more memorable I Theatre productions to date and one of the first productions of I Theatre that I had watched. That’s big J and big C, and they looks so small then, aged 3 and 5 back in 2014.

So when I saw the 2017’s ITheatre lineup featuring this show, I have already ticked this on my t0-watch-list more for the benefit of the my younger kids (who didn’t get to watch it in 2014) as a fun and musical introduction to Aesop fables.

photo credit: I Theatre

The bees opened the show before the main characters ie Antoinette the Ant and Criminy the Grasshopper come on stage to tell the story that all have been waiting for. The bees often provided comedy in between the “serious” conversations between Antoinette and Criminy.

photo credit: I Theatre

Antoinette would work all day long without rest and always stressed. Hence, it is not all good to emulate the ant which she would later realised there should be a balance between work and rest.

photo credit: I Theatre

Criminy with his ukulele would sing and dance through summer and autumn, and ill prepared for the winter despite endless advise from Antonette and the bees. He suffered through the winter only to be saved by his friends.

photo credit: I Theatre

This is the Vanessa the caterpillar and she doesn’t like change, frankly most adults don’t like change to. Little does she know that her next change would be into the beautiful butterfly, hence it is a change for the better.

photo credit: I Theatre

Lady Coco, the ladybird had my husband laughing in stitches (despite doing the zoo run and a late night on Saturday, he didn’t doze off). Thanks for entertaining the daddies in the audience who had to follow their wives and kids along. All the kids will look forward to a happy ending and with all Aesop fables, the moral to the story. I grew up reading Aesop fables but I do notice that it is not so popular among the children nowadays. Old is gold and I am reminded through this musical that I should reintroduce the many stories from the Aesop fables to my kids.

Thanks for making this a show for the family – true to I Theatre’s conviction of producing musical for the whole family from anyone 3 and above!

The cast were largely the same as the 2014’s cast with the exception of 2 new cast members who played the Bee and Caterpillar, so they reprised their role effortless, like their second nature.

What I really loved about The Ant and The Grasshopper.

There isn’t any scary creature or evil characters for the younger ones and new to theatre productions/musicals. For newbies and kids who are newly introduced to theatre productions, some kids may actually be afraid of the big bad wolf in Goldilocks and the 3 bears or The 3 little pigs, or the troll in The 3 Billy Goat Gruff but in this production of The Ant and The Grasshopper there is no such “bad” or “evil” character. I have not such concern for small J as he is a veteran in this, but for small C this was one of his first. I wouldn’t want small C to burst into tears if the character gets too intimidating.
Relatable characters – ant, grasshopper and my favourite Ladybird!Most kids will able to relate to insects like ant, grasshopper, bees and ladybird and they have the most beautiful costumes!
Simple story line and the values from Aesop’s fables:-There is no complicated storyline , for some one who has not read this Aesop fables will be able to follow the storyline. For younger kids like small J, it is also not hard to follow. Maybe the one concept reiterated by Vanessa the caterpillar about change is harder to be understood by the younger ones, but this is one value that will be closer to the adult audience’s heart!
Catchy songs:- It is often easy to lose focus and concentration when there is too much dialogues, especially my younger kids. So, there was a good amount of songs and musical peppered through this show keeps the younger kids’ sitted and enjoying the musical.

My impression of this show as compared to the last show was the props were more elaborate and I prefer this theatre at SOTA as compare to the previous venue.

All in all it was an entertaining show for the weekend for my family…for my younger boys and even for my “old” boy!

Everyone will have a favourite character/insect. Small J loved the grasshopper…oh well, i prefer that he liked the ant more, but he say he likes to be lazy like the grasshopper 🙁 . He also understood that if he is lazy, he will never be prepared for the future (ok maybe he is tad to young to understand this fully). As for me, I loved Lady Coco , the ladybird, for adding a humourous and fun twist to the show (shall not elaborate too much because it will be a spoiler!). With all I Theatre’s performances, there is always a meet and greet for all patrons for memory keepsake , just like the first photo I had of the older kids in the 2014 productions. Here’s one for the memory, our first 2017’s I Theatre show with the younger boys!

The Ant and The Grasshopper
Presented by I Theatre
Dates:

Sat, 18 Feb – Sun, 19 Mar 2017
18 Feb – 10 Mar 2017, Thu – Fri: 10.30am
14 Mar – 17 Mar 2017, Tue – Fri: 10.30am & 2.00pm
Sat & Sun: 11am & 2.30pm

Venue: SOTA Drama Theatre

Recommended for three year olds and above
Ticket prices: $32 (excluding booking fee)

Tickets available from SISTIC.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. All photos except the photo of my kids are credited to I Theatre.

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KimKids Shop – a good selection of books at very good prices too! (giveaway)

If you have been following my blog, you may find this shop’s name familiar. Yes, I did feature this shop as one of the retailers for the Gakken Go Go Activity workbooks which my kids love , see review here. By the way, small J has been working on the books every night and love this too bits and the books keep him occupied while I concentrate on the older kids. Highly recommended for 2 year plus onwards!

I used to buy kids books locally (via online) many years ago when J was born, but in recent year I have relied heavily on Amazon and Book Depository for books for the older kids. I have not been buying any new board books or lift-the-flap books in recent years but I remember buying Fisher Price lift-the-flap board books for J when he was younger through sprees and motherhood forum marketplace. I never knew if the board books I purchased were genuine as I purchased from unknown sources online.

I have always loved Usborne books and I can’t really find them on Amazon or Book Depository. Many of the Usborne books are lift-the-flap version (which are the popular ones) and if you are ever lucky to borrow one from the library you will know the state of such books. Recently, I came across some titles suitable for my younger kids. I didn’t have to search further as KimKids, besides carrying the full range of Gakken Go Go books, it also carries a good range of Usborne books.

I had used the Shopee platfrom to purchase books from KimKids and it was simple and straightforward. Frankly, this is my very first time buying from Shopee, I guess this platform is similar to the more famous Q0010 in term of concept. They will hold the money until the customer has confirmed receipt for the items before releasing it to the seller.

I always relied heavily of sample pages before making a decision to buy the book. We can see sample pages of the books and also the complete description of the book using the Shopee platform. KimKids also show the price comparison between her price and retail price at the bookstore. Rest assured, you get it cheaper from KimKids.

And it is a flat SGD 2 dollar delivery to your door step irregardless of how many books you purchased. So it is worth purchasing many books at a go especially if you are buying as gifts for birthday or for Christmas.

These are the five books I ordered from KimKids through Shopee. I really loved books, new books, books arriving at my doorstep, and it was just before Christmas! Especially the Usborne Lift-the-Flap books, they are very good quality book with excellent contents. And they made great birthday gifts too instead of toys.

And I ordered to 2 Julia Donaldson’s books because because of this event. So I just had to buy a few more than what we already had at home and not to mentioned my kids looooovvvveeee stories by Julia Donaldson. I shall not elaborate any further on Julia Donaldson’s books are they are bestsellers on its own rights already! Hope that she will carry more of her book including her books with songs!

I also took the opportunity to order two board books for small C. Only big J had the luxury of having new board books. The subsequent kids had been using the hand-me-down board books during big J time but I thought its time to refresh my collection of books for the younger kids especially for the baby(ok he is 19 months old already so technically he is not a baby).

So I chose Let’s Get Dressed by Caroline Jayne Church and Usborne’s Lift the Flap Counting book. The baby is not able to articulate yet so I show some pictures of him “enjoying” the books that I chose for him. He was clearly enjoying putting on his socks as part of the dressing up process in Let’s Get Dressed book and was busy lifting all the flaps in the Usborne book. They are such hardy books that I am not worried that small J will rip a page off the book etc (he has a history of doing that before and to some library books too, I was actually warned by NLB before:( )

Leaving the best first for the last, my FAVOURITE book of the five books has to be Usborne’s Look inside your body. When I saw the content in the sample pages, I already knew it was a good book. But when I actually received the book and start lifting the flaps…the book is “interactive”. There are many layers to lift and there was a section where you can move the knee bone too! super cool and its not an apps or on the ipad, its from a book! I don’t think I can elaborate by words, so I did a video of all the beautiful pages in this book!

Kimkids

A bit about KimKids Shop, it just started half a year ago by a mother who has left the corporate world to become a full time stay at home mum. In search for good quality book for her little one, she started this home-based business to provide a wide range of amazing children books from renown publishers such as Usborne, Scholastic Asia , Gakken and 童悦坊.

Targeting at age group 0 – 7, KimKids provides a wide range of amazing children books including:

Board books including those for the very young (since birth), touchy-feely books that develops baby’s senses, lift-the-flap books for toddlers, and toy books that children and play with (Usborne Wind-up books)
Story books, picture books
Flash cards to learn basic math and alphabets, Chinese words
Activity books including Gakken Go Go series

Why purchase from KimKids Shop?

* All books are GENUINE copies (quality assured and safe for kids)

* CHEAPER than traditional book store as no rental cost, warehouse storage cost etc

* Books purchased will be delivered to your door step at a low flat rate charges ($2 flat rate, as books are heavy, those postages exceed $2 will be absorb by KimKids!)

* KimKids Shop is a registered entity in Singapore (COMPANY REGISTRATION NO.: 53327602X)

There are 3 platforms to view and purchase books from KimKids

Carousell: https://carousell.com/kimkids_shop/
Shopee: https://shopee.sg/kimkids_shop
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KimKidsBookShop/ (Currently the owner is updating the product listing in Facebook Shop! Full listing at : https://shopee.sg/kimkids_shop)

NEW PROMOTION with Shopee

The promotion given by Shopee to KimKids Shop customers (valid 9 Feb – 9 March):

For NEW Shopee users : $5 off with min purchase of $20 (promo code kimkids5)

For existing Shopee users : $3 off with min purchase of $10 (promo code kimkids3)

So I guess this is no better time than now to shop at Kimkids using the Shopee platform. https://shopee.sg/kimkids_shop

GIVEAWAY

KimKids has kindly sponsored a very beautiful books from Usborne especially to toddlers experiencing their life’s first experiences to one lucky reader. Trust me the illustrations are so beautiful with hard cover, some books like this one, you will never give it away even when your kids outgrown them.

1. Liked FB pages of mypreciouzkids.com and KimKids

2. Followed mypreciouzkids on Instagram

3. Followed Kimkids on Shopee and Carousell

4. Liked and shared this Facebook post and tag 5 friends.

Please ensure the Facebook shared post is public (as indicated in step 4) in order to qualify so that I can locate your entry.

I will be picking the lucky winner using random.org . The giveaway closes on 26th February 2017 (Sun), 2359pm.

The lucky owner of this beautiful book is Chengling Tan.

Disclosure: I received a set of books from Kimkids for the purposes of my review. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

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Our evening with Julia Donaldson that we will never forget – Kidsfest 2017

Sometimes the best story telling is not about having the most elaborate props or costume, but an engaging story teller and what makes it more surreal if the story was narrated by the author herself.

It was probably THE most memorable one hour story telling session that we ever had since we have been visiting the theatre for more than 5 years.

Frankly as I am doing the pre- event blog, I did try to research and how Julia Donaldson will present her stories with her cast of 5 which includes her husband and her sister. How would it differ from the other shows from her books that we have been watching thus far? But besides the once in a lifetime opportunity to meet Julia Donaldson, I wasn’t quite sure if the show will be as entertaining as the typical shows that we used to watch.

The set of simple, 3 boxes and 2 big panels , and to watch how cleverly all the props, scenes and costumes for the 5 stories cleverly used and reused by the Julia and the cast was simply astounding.

Gruffalos, Ladybirds and Other Beasts with Julia Donaldson is one show that kids growing up reading her book should NOT missed.

The cast started by introducing the stories that will be featured in the one hour long performance / story telling and introduced Julia Donaldson, her husband and her sister. I have heard that Julia has musical background and they started the show with the song Funny Face. (after the show, I not only need to buy her books but her music cd too, the last I search I do find them at bookdepository)

The first story was Jack and the Flumflum tree. The kids and I are not familiar with this story but the storyline was typical Julia’s Donaldson style . Each cast including Julia played different character of the story and it was word for word coming out from her book. (I can’t attest for Jack and the Flumflum tree as I had not read this story but for the rest like a story teller reading the books but with songs, actions, props and costumes). Next , was What the ladybird heard. And the cardboard animals were placed through out the stage and each and every word that I read to my kids at night I could hear it being dramatized by the cast and Julia as the main story teller.

what the ladybird heard

Then, 6 kids were called upon from the floor to be the dragon students in ZOG and C bravely went up to become of the one of the dragons. It must be a dream come true to be sharing the stage with Julia Donaldson (at one point she was sitted beside Julia herself). I am sure she will remember this day for a long time to come.

that’s C in blue next to Julia

There was a puppetry in A Squash and a Squeeze and it was a musical performance throughout for this story with her husband on guitar.

A squash and a squeeze

Finally, the story and the character we’ve been waiting for….Gruffalo to end the unforgetable hour we spend with Julia Donaldson. It amazes me how an ugly creature created by Julia Donaldson can be so well loved by kids of all ages. With Julia in her mouse costume, she narrated the story and literally having the story come out of the book.

Julia as the mouse with Gruffalo

I have watched Gruffalo on stage where the story will be stretched to a 1 hour long performance and its not word for word from the book but what Julia did was what story tellers do, read word for word from the book. Would I say its less entertaining ? Obviously not, especially for younger kids with shorter attention span , the 15-20min performance per story was just perfect!

And Julia ended the show with another song, I would preferred that she and her cast did the Gruffalo’s song but she called 8 kids and did an action song. My girl was so entertained throughout the show that for the very first time she went “I want to watch this again”! And she also wanna meet Eric Carle (ok, darling that abit too difficult) My boys too were eager to meet Julia outside to have autograph on our Julia Donaldson’s books. Even as a adult I was very entertained and honoured to meet Julia in person having read so many of her stories to my kids. I am definitely inspired to be a better bed time story teller to my kids.

You can also purchase Julia Donaldson’s book from Closetful of books before or after the show and have Julia autograph on them too!

Victoria Theatre
Thu, 19 – Sun, 22 Jan 2017 (only 8 performances)

Thu:3pm, 6pm
Fri:3pm, 6pm
Sat:11am, 4pm
Sun:11am, 4pm

Tickets are now available at any SISTIC outlet, the official SISTIC website at, or at the hotline 6348 5555. Prices range from $42 to $62.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. All photos except the photo of my kids and the story book are credited to ABA productions.

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The Ant and The Grasshopper – ITheatre’s first production to kickstart 2017 (giveaway)

I must say kids living in Singapore are one of the luckiest lot, there are so much to see, do and watch throughout the year. Kidsfest 2017 starts in January, and in February, I Theatre will kickstart their 2017’s lineup with the perennial favourite, a very famous Aesop fable, The Ant and The Grasshopper.

One of the first shows that my kids or at least the older kids caught with ITheatre was The Ant and The Grasshopper back in 2014 when C was just turned 3 and watching one of her first live theatre shows. I was worried about her level of understanding or if she will be distracted, but my fears were unfounded. She was mesmerised by the puppets and the songs even though she may not fully understand the moral behind the story which is the essence of any Aesop fable.

I Theatre always have a meet and greet after the show with the cast , it is great compilation of the shows we have watched throughout the years

Once there lived an Ant – a hard-working and ever-busy Ant who never seemed to have time for play or relaxation. And then there was Grasshopper, with time on his hands and nothing much to do all day.

And visiting from time to time, there is Caterpillar!

Somehow they were friends. All day long Ant would work hard, without stop or rest, collecting grains of wheat and storing them carefully in her larder.

And Grasshopper would laugh, and say. ‘Why do you work so hard, dear Ant? Come, and rest awhile, listen to my song. Summer is here; the days are long and bright. Why waste the sunshine in labour and toil?’

Whilst Caterpillar calmly carried on, doing what caterpillars do best…

But Summer does not last long – and soon Winter and the frozen cold will come…

What will happen to Grasshopper then?

What exactly will Ant do?

And where will Caterpillar go?

These are the stills from the 2014 productions , after watching the show you will feel like its the summertime in the garden! Watch it and you will know what I mean!

The Ant and The Grasshopper
Presented by I Theatre
Dates:

Sat, 18 Feb – Sun, 19 Mar 2017
18 Feb – 10 Mar 2017, Thu – Fri: 10.30am
14 Mar – 17 Mar 2017, Tue – Fri: 10.30am & 2.00pm
Sat & Sun: 11am & 2.30pm

Venue: SOTA Drama Theatre

Recommended for three year olds and above
Ticket prices: $32 (excluding booking fee)

Tickets available from SISTIC.

And to kickstart my blog’s 2017 giveaway, ITheatre will be giving out 2 set of family package (4 tickets each) for the 19 Feb 2017 (Sun) 11am show.

1. Liked FB pages of mypreciouzkids.com and ITheatre

2. Followed mypreciouzkids on Instagram

3. Repost this visual on IG(tag 3 friends) with hashtag #mypreciouzkidsgiveaway and like and share this FB post (tag 3 friends).

4. Comment on this blogpost which is your must watch show from ITheatre this year.

http://itheatre.org/index.php/category/2017-season/

Please keep your Instagram profile public and the Facebook shared post public (as indicated in step 3) in order to qualify so that I can locate your entry.

I will be picking the lucky winners using random.org. The giveaway closes on 5th Feb 2017, 2359pm (Sun). I will pick 2 winners( 1 from IG and 1 from FB).

Winner on FB – Elly Tan

Winner on IG – Vivilover2

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Kidsfest 2017-featuring Julia Donaldson herself in Gruffalos, Ladybirds and Other Beasts

I can’t contain my excitement that me and my 3 kids will be meeting Julia Donaldson herself in person in when Kidsfest 2017 opens in January 2017. I grew up reading Enid Blyton’s book and the LM Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series but my kids grew up reading Julia Donaldson’s books. I do not have a slightest clue of Julia Donaldson or her books until I had kids. The first ever Julia’s Donaldson book we owned was The Gruffalo. It is amazing how such an ugly looking creature is so well loved by my kids and also the kids all over the world. And the illustration by Axel Scheffler is amazing (one of the most awesome pairing in the current children’s literary world).

J has gone on another range of Julia Donaldson’s book -fiction series while C is starting with the early readers series. Julia Donaldson is so versatile, that she is not just doing picture books but the kids growing up with her picture books will go on reading more advance series.

We have been to shows at Kidsfest watching predominantly Julia Donaldson’s stories – The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo’s child, Room on the Broom and many more but Kidsfest 2017 will be extra special and memorable as we will be meeting the author herself.

Having ignited the imagination of young children worldwide, Julia with a background in song-writing and performance graces the stage to perform at a brand-new show, Gruffalos, Ladybirds and Other Beasts. The show will feature some of the most iconic characters from five of her best-selling books – The Gruffalo; What the Ladybird Heard; Zog; A Squash and a Squeeze; Jack and the Flumflum Tree.

The five members strong cast which include Julia herself, her husband and her sister, they will sing-along and incorporate snippets from the 5 stories and there will also be plenty of audience participation. The kids will get to meet all the different characters from the 5 stories all in 1 show!

After the hour-long show , the audience can look forward to meeting Julia in person at the book-signing session.

I will have each kid bring a different Julia Donaldson’s book for the book signing session. I am sure J will be inspired to meet the author herself having read many of her books. How often do we get to meet an award winning author!

In addition to the brand-new Gruffalos, Ladybirds and Other Beasts, three other classics by Julia Donaldson – Gruffalos, The Snail and the Whale and The Stickman will also be part of the Kidsfest 2017’s lineup.

Victoria Theatre
Thu, 19 – Sun, 22 Jan 2017 (only 8 performances)

Thu: 3pm, 6pm
Fri: 3pm, 6pm
Sat: 11am, 4pm
Sun: 11am, 4pm

Tickets are now available at any SISTIC outlet, the official SISTIC website at, or at the hotline 6348 5555. Prices range from $42 to $62.

I did a search on youtube and I found one of her performances last year which featured Room on the Broom. If you have to pick just 1 show from the 9 world class productions for Kidsfest 2017, I highly recommend Gruffalos, Ladybirds and Other Beasts with Julia Donaldson. We do not get to meet author of books we grow up with everyday. I am sure my kids will remember meeting her till they have kids of their own.

For the rest of the lineup of Kidsfest 2017 , do click on this link for the complete schedule.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. All photos except the photo of my kids and the story book are credited to ABA productions.

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Smart Mathematicians – maths magazine for primary school (giveaway)

From the publishers of the ever popular Young Scientists magazine (read my previous review here), come the latest magazine targeting at mathematics concepts, Smart Mathematicians. The magazine was launched early this year and similar to the Young Scientists magazine it is divided into lower primary and upper primary version. This is the only comic based mathematics magazine that complies to Singapore MOE syllabus in Singapore.

I will share some sample pages of the magazines. I am sure all kids will take a liking into the colourful pages and simple script of the comic and yet it will deliver some mathematics concepts at the same time. Even C is able to read this as the scripts uses simple English, and yet beneath the story, some mathematical concepts are introduced in a subtle way.

Especially for the school holidays, when making J do mathematics workbook seems to make me look like a tiger mum, I am sure he will see this as just fun reading not knowing that he will probably be learning some of the new maths concepts in primary 2.

What I like about this is the introduction of mathematics concept through stories and comics. Some concept like division and fraction may look alien and uninteresting if merely taught by mathematics symbols and numbers,but once the concept is weaved into a comic, the understanding becomes easier to relate and understood. It helps that the pages are so full of colours , make it more attractive to read also unlike their primary school textbooks.

Besides the comics, in the middle of the magazines are pages of worksheets for primary 1 ,2 and 3. For J, he does the primary 1 worksheets to revise and strengthen his understanding and the primary 2 to see how much he knows. He may not know all of it but it was a good try. However, primary 3 is beyond him, so we will leave it for later.

There are even pages for Olympiad Maths standard for kids who wants to be challenged further.

Do subscribe to next year’s edition via this link to enjoy the current promotions. For those who do not want to wait for the monthly copy in 2017 and want to have an early read especially during the school holidays, you can also subscribe to the full set of the 2016 which is the one that I have reviewed via this link .

The publisher has kindly provided me 4 set of Smart Mathematician 2016 edition (you can choose lower primary or upper primary) to be given away to 4 lucky readers. I hope that it will reached the winners before the holiday ends for some fun reading and learning. The usual drills of my giveaway……

1. Liked FB pages of mypreciouzkids.com and The Young Scientists

2. Followed mypreciouzkids on Instagram

3. Repost this visual on IG(tag 3 friends) and FB post (tag 3 friends) with hashtag #mypreciouzkidsgiveaway

4. Comment which set you prefer on my blogpost

5. Please keep your Instagram profile public and the Facebook shared post public (as indicated in step 3) in order to qualify so that I can locate your entry.

I will be picking the lucky winners using random.org . The giveaway closes on 20th Dec 2016, 2359pm (Tue). I will pick 4 winners( 2 from IG and 2 from FB).

Disclosure: I received a set of Smart Mathematician lower primary 2016 for the purposes of my review. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

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Gakken New Blocks and Gakken Go-Go Series work book (giveaway)

You may find the Gakken Go-Go series familiar when you are browsing and stocking up books at Popular, but I am sure if you have not heard of the Gakken New Blocks.

And I am sure you didn’t know that they are from the same companies and its from Japan.

Gakken New Blocks

Recently , I opened a new toy for baby C, a birthday gift which obviously I forgotten. It was those battery operated toys and baby C lost interest with it within 5 to 10 minutes. Many a times, I will end up with battery leakages on those battery operated toys which is one of my pet peeves. So I have stopped buying battery operated toys in a long long while. I preferred non battery operated toys and with no fix way of playing ie open-ended. Of course , the first type that came to mind are the Lego blocks. Recently, I got the kids Magnatiles and they spent endless hours building whatever they come to mind. So I am always looking out for such “toys” and when I came across the Gakken New Blocks , I knew it will be something that my kids will indulge for many hours and I wont be plagued by future problems like battery leakages.

The set that I gotten for the kids is the mixed sets meaning this set includes parts to create vehicles, dinosaurs, etc. Gakken New Blocks are comes in sets with specific themes like vehicle, tools, flower and even based on The Hungry Caterpillar. You can find the full series here

What I really like is that the blocks are soft and made using safe materials (no PVC or Phthalate plasticizer is used in a block )

Even if baby C is in his nasty mood, and threw the blocks to his older siblings, they would not get hurt by it. The size of the blocks are big enough for young children to play with it and big enough not to be “swallowed” by the baby. Yes, he is now in the phase of putting non-food items into his mouth too!

The set comes with instruction booklets more for clueless and uncreative parents like me , who does not have an ounce of creativity but wish to impress the kids by my creations. But frankly as this is an open ended toy sets, it is best to let the child unleash their creativity and imagination and you will be amazed by their creativity.

Even the lid of the set is designed to hold the pieces and the kids’ creation!

I initially thought that J, being 7 years old all would find the blocks big and kiddish, but he enjoyed building with them too. I guess there is no age limit to such blocks just like Lego I guess. This is probably one for few toys in my household that all my 4 kids (age ranging from 1 plus to 7 plus) can play together.

Gakken Go Go Series workbook

Besides the Gakken New Block, the company also produces a wonderful series of preschool activity books. The Gakken Go Go series may not be as popular as the Kumon books (in my opinion) but after going through several of the Go Go workbook with small J, I dared say its actually more packed with activities for about the same price as Kumon books. Actually , the Gakken workbook has a big as a market share in Japan as Kumon books as I found out from the local distributor. I guess the biggest difference is that Gakken workbook are target at the preschooler aged 2 to 6 years old while Kumon goes way beyond preschool.

Let me share some sample pages of the Go Go cutting and pasting book which involves cutting, pasting and folding.

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so apt for the upcoming year end festivities

I knew that small J would totally love this particular book as he has finished practically all the Kumon series book for cutting/pasting.

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a few of the small J “masterpieces” from the Go Go Cutting and Pasting

There is also a sticker sheet and a write and erase page included in the book as well.

The pictures below show the pages from the Intellectual Skills and Life Skills book. I would say that Gakken Go Go Series books are perfect for the 3 years olds who are learning how to read which is the stage where small J is right now. He absolutely loved all the activities in the workbooks and insisted on completing it every night.

I loved this series so much that I actually purchased these books as Christmas presents for my friend’s preschoolers. I hope they will love this book as much as small J does.

I can’t rave enough of the wonderful products from Gakken Japan. And if you are scratching your head what makes a good (and educational) Christmas presents for your kids or your friends’ kids, you are looking at it! KimKids (link below) is having Christmas promotion too! Do check it out for bundle prices.

The Gakken New Blocks and Go Go series activity books are available on sale at the following

All Popular Bookstores (https://www.popular.com.sg/catalogsearch/result/?q=gakken)
Openschoolbag (USE GAKKEN10 for a 10% discount when checking out) https://www.openschoolbag.com.sg/search-products?keys=gakken
Times The Bookshop (http://www.timesbookstores.com.sg/Search?s=gakken)
KimKids Bookshop (https://www.facebook.com/KimKidsBookShop/) Christmas promotion now on!!!

You can also download the digital trial version (IOS only) on https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/gakken-go-go-educational-interactive/id1091487932?mt=8.I am unable to test the Apps out as I do not own an Iphone. So I hope they will have an Andriod version soon!

Thanks to the kind sponsors, 4 lucky winners can win Gakken Go Go Series Workbooks for their kids.(1 workbook for each winner).

1. Liked mypreciouzkids.com on Facebook

2. Followed mypreciouzkids on Instagram and regram this photo using hashtag #mypreciouzkidsgiveaway and tag 5 friends on IG. Please ensure your IG is on public view.

3. Followed mypreciouzkids on Twitter (no worries if you don’t have Twitter account)

4. Liked Gakken on Facebook

5. Like and share this Facebook post. Pls comment “Done, Twitter: ?? , IG:??, and the age of your child and which workbook interest your child , see website for complete list of book here ” on the same post for my easy tracking. Do set your post to PUBLIC so that I can verify your entry. Entries that are not shared publicly on your timeline will be disqualified. Giveaway ends 11th Dec 2016 (Sunday) 2359.

Disclosure: I received the Gakken Go Go series workbooks and Gakken New Blocks from Gakken Asia for the purposes of my review. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

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Safari Zoo Run 2017 : Run for Wildlife (giveaway – ended)

Media invite

If you have been following my blog, you would know that my radar goes way high high up when there is a kids sporting event. With the annual Cold Storage Kids Run as a must do every year and I just started the older kids on their first Spartan Junior Race (this will be a must do as well from now on), we are always looking to keep the kids active and “sporty”. We are going to start the new year with the Safari Zoo Run. Which kids do not love the zoo? I have lost count of the number of times we went to the zoo that i can practically memorize the location of the animals but it is and always will be their favourite place to visit, rain or shine. The team at Wildlife Reserves Singapore does a wonderful job keeping their parks interesting with activities like Safari Boo (if you saw my instagram photos in Oct you will know how much fun we had) and their yearly Safari Zoo Run. Did you know that the Safari Zoo Run was conceived to commemorate Ah Meng, the famous Orangutan who died of old age in 2008? To be able to do a sporting events in the heart of the zoo, well, that is going to be one notch above what they have experienced at the zoo!

For the 2017 edition, themed “Run for Wildlife”, the run focuses on raising awareness for wildlife conservation with the introduction of 4 animal icons, namely Ah Meng the Orangutan, Chawang the Asian Elephant, Canola the Manatee and Sunny the Hornbill. Each animal icon team supports an endangered wildlife species that we would like to raise awareness for. Each runner get to choose which icon they will be supporting!

This will be our first ever “long-distance” family run, I am still undecided whether to do the 2.5km family dash or challenge my older kids for the 5.5km family run (details below).

Let me share with you some pictures from last year’s race. I am all excited even though race day is 3 months from now!

However, do note that for safety reasons, for all family run, each child participant need to be accompanied by an adult participant. This is especially important for big family like mine where kids outnumbered adults, or perhaps J can run on his own for the 2.5km kids dash!

SAFARI ZOO RUN 2017

18 FEBRUARY 2017 (SAT)
SINGAPORE ZOO

RACE VILLAGE OPENS AT 6AM

For more information of the run, please visit

website/ facebook

From now till 30 November 2016, all registration made for the Safari Zoo Run will enjoy Early Bird Rates. And if you use this discount code – SZR2017BGPMPKIDZ10 (its a pretty lengthy discount code , so do copy and paste when doing the registration), you’ll be able to enjoy 10% off current rates as long as you register by 15 January 2017. So to maximise the discount, do register before 9 December 2016! Register here

GIVEAWAY

Do join me for my family’s first ever Safari Zoo Run next year and I am pleased to be giving away two race slots (in any category) to a lucky reader. Please complete all 5 steps to ensure entry for the giveaway

Liked mypreciouzkids.com on Facebook
Followed mypreciouzkids on Instagram
Liked Safari Zoo Run on Facebook
Leave a comment in this blog post with your name, email address and tell me which is our favourite animal icon for the run and why.
Liked, shared and tag 5 friends (on my FB post) who are interested in the Safari Zoo Run by using this Facebook post. Pls comment “Done, IG:??” on the same post for my easy tracking. Do set your post to PUBLIC so that I can verify your entry. Entries that are not shared publicly on your timeline will be disqualified.

I will be picking the lucky winner using random.org . The giveaway closes on 11 Dec 2016, 2359pm (SUN).

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My Preciouz Kids

Sharing the fun, the fashionable, the functional for kids in Singapore through the eyes of my precious kids!

The Wonderful World of Disney on Ice 2017

Safari Zoo Run 2017 – our first but definitely not our last!

I Theatre’s The Ant and the Grasshopper – a musical for the whole family!

KimKids Shop – a good selection of books at very good prices too! (giveaway)

Our evening with Julia Donaldson that we will never forget – Kidsfest 2017

The Ant and The Grasshopper – ITheatre’s first production to kickstart 2017 (giveaway)

Kidsfest 2017-featuring Julia Donaldson herself in Gruffalos, Ladybirds and Other Beasts

Smart Mathematicians – maths magazine for primary school (giveaway)

Gakken New Blocks and Gakken Go-Go Series work book (giveaway)

Gakken New Blocks

Safari Zoo Run 2017 : Run for Wildlife (giveaway – ended)