In comes ibu's 1st Special Themed Playgroup of the Year - The Chinese New Year Playgroup!
No, there were no firecrackers so we did not usher in the New Year with a bang, but we tried to do it with as much flair as possible!
All the children were greeted traditionally at the door and given the must-have item, the Ang Pow and two mandarins each.
The day got off to a slow start as families trickled in. But by 10.30am, the party was in full swing. In total the ibu house was packed with 25 kids and 24 parents.
Artwork was on hand to keep the artistically inclined ones busy. Chinese Fans and Lanterns were coloured, sparkled up, and stapled together by Mum or Dad.
For the younger ones, colouring Chinese designs on paper and the face painter, Camille kept them occupied.
A right spread was laid out for all the hungry little mice. This included pineapple tarts ( of course! ) love letters, peanut biscuits, jelly, mini mandarins and gorgeous Chinese themed cupcakes with Mice, Gold Coins and Auspicious Calligraphy on them!
A mid morning break with Anne Ooi our ever-so-enrapturing ( if there is such a word ) story teller, saw the children thrilled by a story involving a rat and a turnip.
And the highlight of the day was the ‘lion’ arriving at 11am. Since I personally remembered as a child, being scared silly of the whole lion dance performance, drums and all, I had instructed the troupe prior to the day that this performance had to be tailored to ‘little kids. I certainly had a hard time getting it across to them. They could not understand why I did not want the drums and all the instruments. Why was I opting to play a CD of Chinese music instead? ( I was too embarrassed to tell him the truth ) Anyway Danny the troupe leader finally got my drift, and I was very happy that it went the way it did on the day.
The ‘Lion’ entered the house slowly but surely, toyed with a few of the children and then headed straight to get his ‘Ang Pow’.
With great agility he removed, from a hook hanging up high, the red packet which was attached to a head of lettuce.
The Lion then lay down and proceeded to ‘munch’ on the lettuce. Suddenly it spat out the lettuce! It looked like a Caesar Salad!
The Lion then bowed down to eat a bucket of oranges. Wow it was a big bucket too. It seemed to take the longest time but actually what the guy inside the ‘Lion’ was doing, was stuffing all the oranges down his T-Shirt!
It then got up, and went around the room, to every single adult and child, laying a mandarin on its’ lip for us to remove from his mouth. I must say, some of our ibu kids were braver than their parents!
Once done, The Lion took a break and lay down on the floor to get its’ tummy scratched. Most of the kids were fearless, touching its’ head, tail, stroking it and looking down its’ mouth. Once all the kids were done, the lion made its’ exit. This signaled the end of the Playgroup.
This was a great way to introduce a Malaysian culture to all the ibu kids, local and expat. I am planning to do a Hari Raya and a Deepavali one too. But before then, I look forward to the next Special Playgroup which will be on the 22nd March – The Easter Playgroup. See you then!
Many thanks go out to the volunteers who helped make this day happen:
Kate Healy
Tammie Morris
Birgit
( who helped tidy up after all the fun was over )
Amelie Langdon ( Photography )
Paige Head
Phillipa Yoong
Melissa Smith
( who manned the tables )
Camille ( Face Painter )
Nikki Smith ( for the great cookies you baked ! )
and of course, Alison D'Cruz & Rufa for all the help.
apologies if I have unintentionally left anyone's names out.
Written by Karen Loong-Thomas
ibu Activities Coordinator
PHOTO GALLERY OF THE GORGEOUS KIDS WHO CAME! ( and their Mums and Dads of course! )
This little one has the honour of being the youngest ibu member there!
No comments:
Post a Comment