Kids were wrapped around by blankets to get a taste of how global warming is like for Planet Earth.
The February Parent-Child Bonding class was postponed to the second Sunday, 13 Feb, in lieu of the Chinese New Year. On this breezy morning, 111 children and 96 parents arrived at Jing Si Hall in a relaxed mood.
When the teachers revised the Jing Si Aphorism taught in the previous lesson, ”Speak kind words, think good thoughts, do good deeds, and walk the right path” with the class, the kids were eager to respond: “I helped my mummy with the dishes!” “I said all good words during Chinese New Year!”, and even “I queued patiently when entering the hall just now”, which brought laughter to everyone.
The teachers then related the heavy downpour before Chinese New year and that the weather pattern was rare for Singapore. The fact that even Singapore will experience flood just showed that global climate has become abnormal: many countries are experiencing longer summer and shorter autumn with longer winter and shorter spring. Natural disasters are happening one after another with recent floods in Malaysia and Australia, and storms in the USA. What is wrong with our planet?
From the cartoon version of the environmental documentary, "±2℃", and "The 2 Eco-Bears" educational skit, the children understood that it was the excessive carbon dioxide that had caused greenhouse effect and brought harm to the Earth.
“What is greenhouse effect and what should we do to reduce carbon dioxide?” the host teachers asked.
Lian Wen Xuan of the Perseverance Group raised his hand and answered, “It's because there are too many cars and factories”, while Liao Cheng Feng of the Confidence Group covered the latter part of question, “Eat less meat and more vegetables, then we can cut down our emission!”
“How, then, shall we do our part for the environment?” the teachers walked around the hall to ask the children. Tian Shu Hao remarked, “Don’t play with water when we shower, and don’t bathe for too long!” “Use the rain water to clean the floor,” responded Lee Jin Xiang.
A green lifestyle starts with me
Master Cheng Yen once said, “To mold the heaven and earth we must first mold the foundational mind.” In the same way, to save Mother Earth, we must first adjust our living habits and refrain from unnecessary spending.
After "The Blue Planet" drama, the children were divided into groups to have a role play session.
Children from the Confidence Group were wrapped around by blankets to get a taste of how global warming is like for Planet Earth, while the Perseverance and Courage groups stayed in rooms with no air conditioning to experience sultriness.
Though some may find the scenarios fun, the kids quickly felt the uneasiness caused by the "fever-like heat".
Following that, the class then played an Eco-Bingo game. Questions like “What helps to reduce UV rays?” was responded with confident answer ("Ozone") by the smart children.
Each group then received a piece of construction paper, a box of crayon and one marker pen. Their mission was to illustrate with drawings and words to express how to advocate environmentalism in everyday life.
Lee Chia Ling, a class mummy, shared after watching Master Cheng Yen's video teaching, “When I worked in a hospital in Taiwan, I always bring my own lunch box to buy takeaway. We cannot avoid using Earth's resources, but we could practice green habits like recycling and shun Styrofoam to save our environment.”
Interaction time!
The parent-child bonding session then began with music and movements to make everyone relax and interact intimately with warm hugs and sing-along.
“My two kids are here for the second year, but my younger sister’s three kids are new to the class so I accompanied them here to help them settle into the new environment," said mother Huang Ming Hong.
The new Tzu Chi volunteer did all she could to engage her timid niece and nephew during the bonding session, hugging and kissing them continually. The affection led her son, Tian Shu Hao, to come to her after the session, asking, “Mummy, why aren’t you accompanying me?” Huang gave her son a hug and explained to him that it’s his cousins' first lesson so she wanted to make sure they could fit in well. Nodding his head, the sensible Shu Hao accepted his mother's explanation.
Before the class ends, every child was surprised and happy to receive a handmade “Rabbit Ang Pau (Red Packet)” made by the adult volunteers. Through that day's lesson, it is hoped that these young minds and their parents will make environmental awareness a part of their daily life, and our Mother Earth will soon regain her smile.
Teachers having Q&As with the children after screening the environmental documentary.
The programme team put up a lively drama called "The Blue Planet" to illustrate the human destruction caused to Mother Earth.
Parents enjoying "free massages" from their kids during the interaction session.
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