A special Father’s Day at this preschool!

Dads are special and deserve to be celebrated! Inspired by this, early childhood specialists MapleBear Singapore organised a special day on 26 June. It was an online event for dads and their kids of their school to bond while they celebrate Father’s Day.

Enjoying a toy-making session

One father and child pair was selected from each of the 43 MapleBear preschool centres across Singapore to attend an arts and craft workshop focusing on the life cycle of a caterpillar. A box filled with curated items was delivered to each dad before the day of the workshop.

Within the box was a play mat, an activity book, an instruction book, materials and decorations required for the activity such as a caterpillar toy, stuffing and a felt butterfly. Plus, a DIY party eye mask for the younger member of the pairing!

On the Saturday morning, the 43 pairs were grouped into three time slots. They worked together to create their toys under the guidance of another staff member, Ms Michelle Ting. The workshop was hosted by MapleBear Singapore staff member Ms Sia Jia Chin. The dynamic duos completed their stuffed caterpillars within an hour, then everyone took turns to show off their completed creations.

These lucky dads enjoyed the Father’s Day celebrations and bonding time they had with their children. They also tucked into two bottles of cold brew coffee from The Enchanted Café and two slices of cake that came in the box. There were smiling faces all around!

Some welcome surprises!

For one father, the invitation to join the workshop came as a surprise – his wife had registered him for this Father’s Day celebrations without his knowledge!

Percy Luu is the father of Brandon, who is five years old and in Senior Kindy at MapleBear. He says, “I had no idea what I was in for but spending time with my son was amazing. Our lives are often busy. So I thoroughly appreciate the opportunity to participate in this workshop with my son. Seeing him have so much fun was the highlight of my day. In fact, the entire experience was magical! The cold brew coffee was perfect, too; I liked how the bottle labels were customised with heart-warming messages such as ‘Super Dad’ and ‘Lao Pei’ (a local teasing term of endearment for fathers). It was a personal and authentic gesture!”

MapleBear’s Education Ambassador, Mrs Patricia Koh, also wrote a song to celebrate Father’s Day for the fathers called “You are My Special Friend”. The song was pre-recorded and sung by MapleBear graduands.

A final word

At the end of each session, all the dads said that they had a great time with their children in this Father’s Day celebrations – and, if there’s another workshop again next year, they’re looking forward to participating again!

This is the first time that the school has organised a combined Father’s Day celebration across all the centres – in previous years, each centre held their own celebration.

Written in collaboration with:
MapleBear Singapore
maplebear.sg

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Patricea Chow

Having lived 10 years abroad, Patricea has been rediscovering Singapore through fun events, street photography, and museum tours. She’s also partial to reading, education, spending time with family and kids, and armchair travelling.