Astronaut Training Camp at The Little Executive

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I have always wanted my kids to be creative and imaginative. The  opportunity came with a Galactic Invitation from The Little Executive (TLE).

Boon Xin attended a 3 Days “Astronaut Training Camp“, which offers her (and parents) an opportunity to live an Astronaut’s life!

Astronaut Training Camp

 

I knew she is enjoying her class when she cannot stop sharing about her Space Academy and Diy Projects.

 

Hey, everything will sounds FUN when you have prefix Space, Galaxy, Cosmic, or Moon, Mars and Alien.

Space Helmet, Cosmic water(which is plain water), Galaxy Banana treat, Get it? We are not even talking about Houston or NASA yet haha.

Only Smiles and giggles in her Astronaut Training Camp. Boon Xin proudly displayed her improvised Space Helmet and Jetpacks! Parents will be impressed from Day 1 of workshop.

 

Kids learned about recycling too. Using everyday products to construct their space accessories. (Disclaimer : I told Boon Xin Nasa’s space “requirement” would be more stringent) 

Space Shuttle, from conception to construction. Kids let their imagination brought them to Jupiter and back! (just like TLE’s logo From Classroom to Boardroom)

 

Teamwork is highlighted at Astronaut Training Camp too. Engineers and commanders guide each other to mission completion. One can only feel, the other can only give instruction 🙂

 

There are some worksheets too, but mostly Fun and entertaining for participants.

 

Happy Diy projects, this is Alien slime (What!?) Parents are amused but kids will tell you about the ingredients and glow-in-the-dark effect. Cool!

 

 

Hey, they got to prepare dehydrated banana for their snack too. Although, I would still prefer my traditional goreng pisang. 

How do I know Boon Xin enjoys her class? She was so eager to share her projects with me while we walk back 🙂

Imagination runs wild, her “constellation scope” helps her identify another Star. She could bring a milo-tin drum to play some beats in space too.

There are some space-themed Movie screening too. Kids can better relate to space exploration and the science behind (instead of only LightSabers and Beam me up, Scotty). Perhaps I can bring her stargazing at Science Center soon.

Other FUN interactions:

1)What do Astronauts eat in Space? (Nutrition and space-friendly food, eg no hor-fun or the gravy will be floating around)
2)Do they float all the time in the International Space station? (Learns about gravity)
3) How do they sleep in Space?
4) Astronauts can stay in Space station for up to four years
5) Showering in space is quite elaborate (no Grohe showerhead, astronauts have to gently squeeze every droplets and soap.

Fortunately, I got YouTube to enlighten myself, example Nasa’s shower clip.

Many of the things which kids pick up are new to adults too. To impress my girl, I shared with Boon Xin two structures which can be seen from space, Great Wall of China (man-made) and Great Barrier Reef.

It was Fun to explore new things together with my girl 🙂

Her logbook indicated her favourite warm-up activity is MoonWalking, not the Michael Jackson version :p

Kids were simulating slow-motion MoonWalking on the Moon’s surface.
To quote Neil Armstrong : “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind“.

 

Coincidentally, on the way home, we came across this space setup at KKH. My little astronaut wanted to press the Intergalactic GPS for Mars.

 

At the end of Day 3, parents gathered to watch their kids present their best experiences from the Galaxy.  Boon Xin chose Alien Slime because it is gooey and fun 🙂

The kiddos were really immersed and intrigued with their Space Astronauts role!

They rollout their Spaceships, one for male and another for female. Suited themselves with spacesuit and jetpacks before “blasting off”.

Cute and adorable, parents were impressed with the space assortments, and we enjoyed the kids role-playing characters as Engineers and Commanders.

Today, it is a make-believe workshop. In a few decades, Space tourism would be as common as our bus, train and Plane commute today.

Video (YouTube link from TLE) : See the Junior Astronaut Space cadets in action!

Parents can only wait outside the classroom, so the kids are totally on their own. It was actually a good opportunity for kids to explore their independence and networking skills.

The fun observations we got from the 3 days course:

– When did Boon Xin learned to use WhatsApp? She managed to text Mum during tea break
– She sweet-talk teacher to let her use her phone for some “blog” photos (Yup, she is a blogger’s child haha)
– She is a team player, helping the smaller kids to complete their tasks

Thank you to our passionate Teachers, Jim and M.

Brovo Boon Xin! You are now a certified “Astronaut” from The Little Executive.

Commander :Astronaut on the deck!

We would like to shoutout “Thank You TLE” for the Fun invite. It was definitely a Fun and enriching workshop for Boon Xin.

The Little Executive’s Astronaut Training Camp is designed for kids 5 to 10 years old, a 3 Day course will cost $580 (9am to 5.30pm). Lunch and tea breaks are inclusive. Checkout more School Holidays curriculum on their Website and Facebook.

Address : 144 Bukit Timah Road S229844
Tel: 6908 1889
Email Address: knockknock@thelittleexecutive.asia

Trip to Emergency Preparedness Centre

When I am eating fish balls, I make sure my boys are around. In case fishball gets lodged in my airway, kids know how to perform abdominal thrust on me.

At Emergency Preparedness Centre, kids had fun clearing the airway from a mannequin. However, I need to emphasize that kids should not anyhow practice on each other!
Abdominal Thrusts

If a fire should break out in the kitchen, our kids know how to use the fire extinguisher. Remember P.A.S.S (Pull.Aim.Squeeze.Sweep)

You have no worries when Boon Xin is around. She knows how to spray the watermist gun too.
Todal Defence Day

Smoke inhalation can knock one unconscious, so keep low. Follow the kids as they crawl their way to the exit.

They know CPR too, but are not certified. I would prefer them to call 995 in the event that they discover someone unconscious and not breathing. From my first responder training, we can only try our best to assist, it is tiring to administer CPR, and even a trained paramedic might not resuscitate a person.

1&2&3&4&5 1&2&3&4&10 and so on. Reminder for kids, do not practice on your slumbering siblings!

We visited Emergency Preparedness Centre last Sun 15th Feb. It happened to be Singapore’s Total Defence Day too. The little ones might not understand that Singapore surrenders to Japan on the same day during World War 2.

EPC aims to showcase life saving tricks and skills to more people. We need to reinforce to our kids that protecting Singapore is everyone’s responsibility, not only the military.

The three students who survived Typhoon Haiyan shared their experience.

Situated on the 2nd floor of Central Firestation Heritage Gallery, book your next edutainment session at this link.

Besides the life savings mentioned above, EPC has a lot of interactive panels for kids. They will showcase the Do’s and Don’ts during Lighting, Tsunami or an Earthquake.

Video : Emergency Preparedness Centre (EPC) provides interactive Fun all around, and kids learn new skills

You can even experience natural disasters in a simulation, the 3D setup got a bit of USS feel 🙂 Pretty realistic!

Fire incidences can be easily ignited all around our home vicinity. Faulty plugs or daisy chaining all the plugs at one socket! The number 1 fire spot is the common rubbish chute, why would anyone flick their cigarette butt down?

Fire needs three components to ignite, identify them (Oxygen, Fuel and Heat) and you can then proceed to stop (starve) the flame. Always Safety first, and if we need to evacuate, SHOUT loudly and ensure everyone wakes up.

Hopefully, we know how to respond when Singapore encounters threats of Bombs and Terrorist attacks. In worst case, we are supposed to coop ourselves in bomb shelter, but do remember to clear the packed storeroom first :p


Other tips which might prove useful in day to day incidents

We stayed on at the Civil Defence Heritage Gallery after our EPC orientation. Our valiant SCDF folks had volunteer themselves for many oversea missions too.

We have some tips for house hold. Leave a torch light (with batteries) next to your circuit breaker. Do family members know how to use it? Do label the rooms too.

Know your escape route. In the event that lift is not usable, we have to walk down the stairs. Does everyone know where are the hidden stairs?

Fireman or paramedic, kids can choose their own HomeTeam assignment.

Everyone plays a part in defending Singapore. We highly recommend EPC for school going kids.

In case you are not aware, most firestations will have open house every Sat from 0900 to 1100. We will recommend you make it a two in one event when you visit EPC.

Salute to our Civic Defence Heroes!

More details here :
– remember Fireman and Ambulance is 995, Police 999 (991 is Hollywood)
SCDF Fanpage
– register for your Emergency Preparedness Centre session (1 hour duration)
– Do pop by our Central Firestation open house in 2009, and how SengkangBabies hope to stay prepared during an emergency.

– download a First Aid app, it has a comprehensive list of life-saving tips

*updated 2016 April – With SG Secure, we believe EPC will be a good venue for all to pickup life skills and knowledge.