Do you know that trees, like all other living things, will grow old and become weak? Hence, there is a need to constantly plant new trees and take care of them. Teachers and children in YWCA Bedok South Child Development Centre have embarked on a project to discover the beauty of trees and plants and how children can do their part in the conservation of nature.
To kickstart the project, the Centre organised a trip to Gardens by the Bay whereby a variety of activities were planned to guide children in recognising the importance of trees and plants. In the Indian Garden, children were tasked to identify the banana trees and henna plants. They received a henna tattoo as a reward. Teachers and children formed a circle around the Banyan Tree singing “I love nature” and ”茉莉花” to the Jasmine plant. In the Malay Garden, children got to taste the jambu fruit and find out the origin of the fruit. Children picked up some dried leaves and shared their observations with one another - “It looks like a butterfly!“Mine has two wings.” With teachers’ help, it was compressed into a bookmark.
At the Flower Dome, the colours and fragrance calmed the children down. Some boys stopped to smell the flowers and they discovered that not all flowers smelled nice. Children learnt that water is stored in the trunk of the baobabs as they need water to grow. Some children do not like the idea of having a cactus as a chair in their classroom. “We are inside the waterfall!” One boy discovered this when he got out of the lift in the Cloud Forest. They were introduced to the waterfall and the concept of vertical gardening.
The second part of the project will be conducted in June using the Project-based learning. It is conducted based on the children’s interests in finding out more about trees and plants and ways of conserving them. Children will also be making crafts using dried leaves, twigs and folding paper flowers. These handicrafts will be on sale to raise funds for the Garden City Funds. A parent-child workshop will be conducted to teach both parents and children to make their own terrarium using recycled bottles. All proceeds will be donated to the Garden City Funds.
The finale of the project will be a “Plant-A-Tree programme” whereby some children will help to plant a tree along East Coast park.
