August 6, 2012

Climbing High at The Rock School

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Reviews The Rock School

Warm up activity

A few weeks back the boys went for a free play session at The Rock School. It was the 2nd time that they have been to the Rock school and they were looking forward a fun climbing session.

The session started off with some warm up activities in the form of parachute play. The kids had to hold the handles of the parachute and guide it up and down as instructed by the instructors. They had lots of fun playing with it and trying to ensure that the little dolphin remains on the top of the parachute.

Hiding in the parachute

The kids hiding from the great “black” shark in the safety of the parachute.

After the warm up activity the kids were briefed about the safety rules of climbing and how to move from one rock to another indoors/outdoors.

Listening to instructions

My two boys were the most vocal of the group and readily gave answers and as questions throughout the information session. It was fun seeing them so interactive and enthusiastic about rock climbing.

After the briefing it was time to attempt the indoor climbing wall. Everyone lined up and waited for their turn to go sid ways on the rock wall.

Rock climbing indoor

The indoor rock wall was in two parts separated by the ledge which was in front of the window. The end of the course was under the aircon unit on the other side of the wall.

Completed the course

Monkey boy cooling off after completing one round. He had three rounds of the indoor course before the instructor brought the group outside to scale the walls.

The scorecard

Each child was given a score chart like this one shown above before they attempted climbing the outdoor walls. They were to put a sticker in each section which they had completed after reaching the specified height.

the kids receiving instructions.

The class all suited up in harnesses and ready for the climb.

Monkey boy climbing

Monkey boy managed to scale the blue wall twice during the hour they were outdoors. He wanted to climb on the pink wall but was not able as it wasn’t fitted for climbing when we were there for the session. It was a pity as I’m sure he would have love a more challenging wall to climb.

Doggie boy climbing

Doggie boy attempted to scale the wall too like his brother and was much better this time then his last rock climbing attempt. He made it up to the halfway mark of the wall this time around.

the scaore board

Doggie boy managed to get as many stickers as Monkey boy on his score card.

the boys resting

The boys cooling off in the air-con after climbing outdoors.

It was a great time at The Rock School for the boys and they were totally exhausted after all the climbing.

The Rock School

Bedok Community Centre
Address: 850 New Upper Changi Rd, Singapore 467352

For more details yo can check out their website.

Disclaimer: The boys received a complimentary free play session at The Rock School for review purposes. Opinions are 100% my own.

August 3, 2012

Word on the Street Junior- The Wacky Tug of Words

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Reviews Spelling games

A few weeks ago I received a copy of Word on the Street Junior from Pamela of My First Games. This game is unlike any other games which we have reviewed so far. Published by Out of the box this game is aimed at testing the players prowess in spelling based on the categories which they have drawn from the card pile.

the kids playing the game

Designed for 2-8 players this game is recommended for Ages 8 and up. Each player has to draw a card from the pile and decide on the word to spell before the timer runs out.

setting up the board

The players are grouped into two teams (A and B). They take turn to move the alphabets used to spell the words to their side of the board and win the game when they manage to move 8 pieces of the alphabet off the board.

taking turns

The timer starts when the card is pulled from the pile. “An Animal found on a Farm” was one of the cards which Doggie boy. By the time the timer ran out he had come up with the words-cat, dog, cow, sheep and hen. We decided on the word “sheep” and move the letters s,h and p one step right while the letter e was moved to the right twice.

The game needed a lot of thinking and strategy to be win. We were not able to clear 8 tiles off the board as it got extremely difficult spelling out words when most of the vowels were removed during our early “captures” on the board.

The boys gave up after some time as it was getting too difficult to form words without the vowels around. It clearly takes a lot of skill to get the non vowel alphabets off the boards first before the vowels.

My thoughts

I asked Pamela on how to play the game and she mentioned that you could still use the vowels and letters that were captured which were off the board. However I feel that it would be hard to calculate how well the kids fared in the game. After discussing with R we decided to leave the vowels in the next time we play the games with the boys instead.

I find that it is an excellent game to stimulate a child’s interest in spelling. It also helps indirectly build up their vocabulary which would aid them in the understanding of comprehension and writing of compositions.

You can get a copy of this game online from My First Games. It retails for $45.90. However for the readers of Dominique’s Desk you are entitled to a special discount..

Use the Coupon code “DOMDSK-WOTSJ30” to buy Word on the Street Junior at a special price of S$30. While stocks last, or up till 14 August 2012, whichever comes first.

Usual delivery charges apply. Only valid in Singapore.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of Word on the Street Junior from My First Games for review purposes. All opinions are 100% my own.