Besides participating in the “Playtime with Shelly the Hawksbill Turtle” activity to support NParks’ biodiversity efforts, our K2 children experienced the beauty of our environment firsthand in our collaboration with Wu Wo Yuan (无我苑). Wu Wo Yuan (无我苑) is a nursery located near BLK 607 Hougang Avenue 8 that is started by a group of residents living nearby to grow vegetables and herbs for sharing with residents in need.
TCC (Hougang): Decomposing Leaves to make Fertilizer
On 8 May, Wu Wo Yuan kindly hosted 21 K2 children and 4 teachers from TOUCH Child Care (Hougang) on a session of decomposing leaves to make fertilizer for plants. Before they embarked on the garden project, they watched a video on decomposition and how earthworms play an important part in the process. During the session, the children had hands on experience where they learnt to mix the dried leaves and plants for decomposition. They also got to touch the earthworms!
Left: Children listening attentively to Auntie Iris explaining the importance of earthworms.
Right: Children looking on in fascination at the earthworms in their hands.
Left: Our little helper here scopping fallen leaves into the decomposing bin.
Right: It’s action time! Children helping to add fertilisers into the soil.
TCC (Clementi): Planting Orchards in the Nursery
On 18 June, 22 K2 children and 3 teachers from TOUCH Child Care (Clementi) also visited Wu Wo Yuan. This time they had another task to fulfill, and that is to plant orchids in the nursery to enhance the garden aesthetics and to celebrate Singapore being a garden city!
With a shovel in their hands and their teachers gently guiding them, the children poured in shovel after shovel of wood shavings compost, a special and essential orchid potting mix into the plot of soil dedicated to the flowers.
Top: Children in awe of the fruits and vegetables planted by the very (green) fingers of the residents Bottom: The satisfied and cheerful looks on the children’s faces tell it all!
For both visits, Wu Wo Yuan conducted a garden tour for the children and it was a great eye opener for everyone. All of us were dazzled by the different herbs and vegetables planted by the residents’ green fingers – the winter melons were so huge that it was half as long as the children!
Overall, the garden experience was extremely valuable for the children, where they acquired the values of graciousness and thoughtfulness towards the environment. It is only then that we can continue to enjoy biodiversity in Singapore.
