Eleanor's Learning Fiesta at Gan Eng Seng Primary School

 In April, Eleanor's school hosted a Learning Fiesta one Saturday afternoon. All the students from Primary 1 through 4 were invited to visit the school with their families to play games, make some crafts, learn new skills, have snacks, and watch some performances.

Each child was given a passport and they would collect stamps after completing each activity. If they completed enough of them, they could earn a prize. We joined the festivities a bit late and took Zoe and Wyatt along too so we didn't collect enough stamps for a prize but still had lots of fun.

Each classroom was sponsored by a different group like Boy Scouts, Malay language teachers, or Health teachers, etc. There were 3-4 activities in each room to complete before earning a stamp. One of the first rooms we visited was a vocabulary classroom.

We walked upstairs and found these math problems on the way.

One of my favorite activities was Guess the Dish! Some of the teachers made the little dishes out of clay in their spare time. The objective was to figure out what the dish was and then categorize it correctly into Malay, Indian, Chinese, or Wester

The Boy Scouts had a fun room where students could learn to tie knots, something Eleanor was already learning in her PAL extended day program. I loved that the older students were the teachers in every classroom. Teachers and/or parents were only there to supervise.

Eleanor and her classmate spent most of the day together. They loved eating this treat and sharing its two different names: cotton candy and candy floss.

This is Eleanor's canteen where she gets her lunch at school. Here are three of her stall choices. She says she usually goes to Noodles Delight, which is not in this picture. Sometimes she gets chicken rice from Rice Paradise pictured.

Zoe made a pretty necklace.

While we snacked in the canteen, the P1-P4 band members gave a performance. It was outstanding. Here is a piece, including the girls dancing.

Gan Eng Seng Primary School Gangnam Style (45 sec.)

After our snack, we headed up to the hall and went fishing for some letters.

We also learned about recycling.

Eleanor showed off her knowledge of the food pyramid.

They all painted pretty magnets too.

We settled into a spot in the hall to watch the talent show. Several of Eleanor's friends joined us.

If you're interested in seeing some of the talent performances, I have some excerpts here. The last two videos are the most fun for friends and family because they show the kids joining in.

First, here is a dance by some older kids, P4 I think.

GESPS Talent Show 1 (17 sec.)

Here are some of Eleanor's friends dancing along with a performance of "That One Thing."

GESPS Talent Show 2 (44 sec.)

Here is an amazing P1 student playing the piano.

GESPS Talent Show 3 (12 sec.)

Some of the performances were in Tamil or Korean. Yeah, there was a lot of K-Pop. This one is in Chinese.

GESPS Talent Show 4 (33 sec.)

The next two are from the same act. Some girls in Eleanor's grade, P2, performed their favorite song by One Direction. She and her friends can't resist. Even Wyatt joins in.

GESPS Talent Show 5 (57 sec.)

And from the front:

GESPS Talent Show 6 (32 sec.)

Like usual, we returned home exhausted and sweaty so it was another successful outing in Singapore.