What is Start Small Dream Big?
That was the exact question we had in mind when our teacher said we would be involved in a project called Start Small Dream Big. We had so many queries and doubts about it as that was our first time being involved in such a project. Nonetheless, we were very excited to learn more and could not wait to get involved in it.
We collaborated the SSDB project with our school’s yearly project; Star Project. Our theme this year is ‘Flavours from the Little Red Dot’. We had to come up with with a unique, signature dish for all. We decided to have this project in the form of a carnival, as we had to integrate food and entertainment.
We want it to be a day of fun filled with games and food for all - Enrico
We decided to do up our SSDB project based on the topic ‘recycling’. After looking at pictures of the Earth ‘dying’, we really felt like we needed to do something to save it.
I want to help save the Earth - Gracia
We therefore put on our orange thinking hats (literally and metaphorically), and got started. What shall we do? How to get started? Hmm 🤔 We then decided.. Why not collect recycled materials and do art and craft and sell? That way, we can educate adults around us on the importance of recycling. Rather than throwing things away, we can make something useful out of it.
We asked parents of all classes to ‘donate’ and recycled materials to us. Our parents were so nice. They gave us so many things that we had to keep changing our boxes as it got filled up so fast! One round of collection was definitely not enough! When we got all the recycled materials given by parents, we separated what we wanted from what we didn’t. After choosing what we think may be useful for us, we put the rest we did not want in a big, black trash bag and headed to the nearest recycling bin to throw them away.
We got ideas from our Teachers, as well as the help from Mr Google. He showed us many things we could do from recycled materials. We then chose what we wanted to make and sell, and got our hands started. We used mainly toilet rolls and vitagen bottles for our crafts. Have a look at some of our work 😄
We even made a house and tanker (and a cute monster as well) made from recycled materials, specially for our carnival, for parents to see 😊
We also made the games using recycled materials. We helped our teachers to make the game. We did not want to use any commercial items as we wanted to advocate and raise awareness on the importance of the 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle). We also wanted parents to know that recycling is very important and it can help to save the Earth if everyone does their part, no matter how small or little. Additionally, we wanted to save as much money as possible, so that we can make the most out of our profits. We wanted to donate all our profits to the Children’s Cancer Foundation (CCF).
We want the children to have money to buy toys for themselves - K2 children
We managed to raise a good amount from the carnival. Our parents were very supportive and they understood more on the importance of recycling, and that was what mattered most to us; to raise awareness. We believe that one is never too young or old to make a difference, however small it be ❤️
Thank you SSDB for letting us be part of this journey! We hope you enjoyed reading this and hope to see everyone again next year! With love, Star Learners @ Ang Mo Kio ❤️
