Teachers and children of Learning Vision @NUHS embarked on a project, ‘Appreciating Singapore’s Nature and Culture’. This project aimed to inculcate a value of appreciation towards grown food like vegetables and explore different food across different cultures in Singapore. It will also increase children’s awareness and respect for diversity.
The N1 children joined in the project through their little ways. They initiated on growing their own indoor vegetable garden which is relevant in Singapore as most houses do not have spaces for gardening outdoors.
To start off their project, they planned what vegetables are they going to plant. They made a garden plan and a checklist of tools and list of things to do that are needed for their vegetable garden. The children also drew and coloured the vegetables that they wished to plant.
Children were exposed to the importance of growing own food and appreciating the benefit of eating vegetables to their body. The activity will also let the children realised the efforts of farmers or planters to bring fresh vegetables to our tables.
The K1 children were also involved in this project in which they focused on diffrent food across diverse culture. First, children were introduced to different singapore cuisines such as Malay, Indian, Chinese and Eurasian Cuisines. Children illustrated their favourite local food and write what they like about it. Also, they were encouraged to share their prior knowledge about the local food through K-W-L chart.
Children were exposed to different indian foods such as chicken curry, indian rojak, thosai and roti prata. With that they decided to focus on Roti prata. They investigated through various activities such as guessing the food, food tasting, prata dough making and they even cooked their own versions of roti prata.
Children’s exploration of different food gives them an opportunity to discover a taste of each culture and appreciate something that may not be part of their own. This way, they can learn how to respect and value the differences and uniqueness of each culture and race in Singapore.
