As for the children, many of them are likely back in the hectic swirl of homework and enrichment classes, hopefully with some fun and games thrown in. The latter will probably come in the form of computer games, fancy toys and gadgets, and such like.

Things were very different when some of us were growing up. When I was a child, fun at recess and after school came in the form of Zero Point (also called ‘Yeh-Yeh’), Five Stones and Chapteh. These games were simple and largely homemade, and they cost very little. But they kept entire generations of kids like me happy and sweaty. Check out Page 26 of The Little Singapore Book which shows lots of games we used to play in school in the 1970s and ’80s.

To celebrate the start of a new school year — hurray the kids are out of the house! — and these childhood games of yesteryear, we have prepared a fun colouring sheet. For some of you, it’s also a chance to share fond memories of your school days with the little ones.

The Little Singapore Book is available for sale at major bookstores in Singapore, including Books Ahoy, Books Kinokuniya, The Fullerton Shop at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, Garden Shops at Botanic Gardens, Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop, Museum Shops at the National Museum and Asian Civilisation Museum, and Woods in the Books.

It is also available online at Books Kinokuniya, Closetful of Books, Epigram Bookshop, Natventure Books, Owl Readers Club and Woods in the Books.

The post Back to School appeared first on Pepperdog Press.

The Sunda pangolin is native to Singapore, although you will not find many of them here now due to the loss of their habitat. As they are very slow moving, they are sometimes injured by passing vehicles when they stray from forested areas into roads. As recently as June this year, Acres Singapore rescued a pangolin that was stranded by the roadside. See the video here.

In many parts of the world, the Sunda pangolin has long been hunted for its skin, scales and meat, which are sold for high prices. Although governments around the globe have made it illegal to hunt and trade the pangolin, it has not stopped the poachers. According to World Wildlife Fund, around 195,000 pangolins were hunted and sold in 2019. In fact, it is probably the most trafficked mammal in the world. It is no surprise then that the pangolin is a critically endangered species close to extinction. Do your bit to Save the Pangolins here.

For little ones aged 4 to 7, use this fun colouring sheet to share all about this shy nocturnal animal that once roamed our island freely.

Tiger Tales: Almost True Stories from Old Singapore is available for sale at major bookstores in Singapore, including Books Ahoy, Books Kinokuniya, The Fullerton Shop at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, Garden Shops at Botanic Gardens, Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop, Museum Shops at the National Museum and Asian Civilisation Museum, and Woods in the Books.

It is also available online at Books Kinokuniya, Closetful of Books, Epigram Bookshop, Natventure Books, Owl Readers Club and Woods in the Books.

The post Guess who loves ants? appeared first on Pepperdog Press.

From cheeky macaques and fat otters to sweet songbirds and red-eyed koels that coo their wake-up calls every morning unfailingly, you will find many creatures large and small in the pages of the book. Of course, they are a small fraction of the wildlife that still call our island home.

According to National Parks, there are over 390 species of birds, 31 different species of amphibians, 69 types of mammals and more than 330 butterfly species in Singapore. There are 121 species of reptiles, including the mighty king cobra, a true blue native of the island. So keep your eyes peeled the next time you take a wander around the island with the family. Chances are high you will spot something exciting and exotic.

In the meantime, here’s a fun activity for little ones aged 6 to 8. It’s a word jungle out there. Can they spot the animals?

Tiger Tales: Almost True Stories from Old Singapore is available for sale at major bookstores in Singapore, including Books Ahoy, Books Kinokuniya, The Fullerton Shop at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, Garden Shops at Botanic Gardens, Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop, Museum Shops at the National Museum and Asian Civilisation Museum, and Woods in the Books.

It is also available online at Books Kinokuniya, Closetful of Books, Epigram Bookshop, Natventure Books, Owl Readers Club and Woods in the Books.

The post It’s a Jungle Out There! appeared first on Pepperdog Press.

We went along for the ride, and here are 10 fascinating things we learnt about Bedok along the way.

#1. Bedok is one of the oldest inhabited parts of Singapore, and dates back over 400 years. One of the earliest records of Bedok was map dated 1604 by cartographer (map maker) Manuel Goginho de Eredia. It indicated ‘Sunebodo’, which is the Sungei Bedok we know of today.

#2. Bedok used to be a very hilly place. In fact, Tanah Merah means ‘red cliffs’ in Malay. These cliffs and hills had been levelled in the 1960s and the earth was used to reclaim the land that is now Marine Parade and East Coast Park. But you can still see the remnants of the hills in parts of Bedok – like along Chai Chee Road, Kew Gardens, Opera Estate and Bedok Rise opposite Tanah Merah. To get to Changi beach decades ago, you had to meander through narrow lanes that hugged the mountainside, rose up then down, past kampongs, farms and rubber and coconut plantations before you arrived at your picnic spot.

#3. The sea used to come all the way to Marine Parade Road. You can still see some of the old seawalls that belonged to the great mansions that used to front the sea. On the Bedok Heritage Trail, a marker stands at the end of Nallur Road, pointing to a wall complete with iron gate. The house that stood there belonged to Tan Lark Sye, a tycoon who built one of his great mansions by the sea. Opposite is the Good Shepherd Kindergarten which too, used to stand by the sea, until the land was reclaimed. Pupils there could watch the waves from the playground. (I know because I was a student there long ago!)

#4. People who lived in the East were mainly fishermen, but there were also plantation workers, farmers. The rich would have their holiday homes here as well. The fishermen would sail out in their kolek, traditional boats, while their family members would hunt for clams, cockles and mussels by the shore. People could wait by the beach early in the morning and when the fishermen returned to shore, the early housewives would buy the fresh fish from them.

#5. Mangrove swamps and kampongs used to dot the coast. Kampong Siglap was one of the earliest and largest fishing villages in the area. According to Malay legend, Siglap was founded by a Tok Lasam, a Minangkabau prince from Sumatra in the early 19th century. His grave is still here today at the end of Jalan Sempadan where he is buried with his wife and ‘panglima’ or Commander in Chief.

#6. Along Siglap Hill is a Muslim cemetery called Kubur Kassim which you’ll spot easily by its bright yellow gateway. Dr Hafeezduin Sirajuddin Moonshi, the first Muslim to set up a medical clinic in Singapore, is buried here. What’s really interesting here is that a few plots of land in the cemetery is dedicated to Orang Bunian, (“hidden people”), benevolent supernatural beings from Malay folklore.

#7. During WWII, Japanese soldiers massacred tens of thousands of Singaporeans particularly as a result of Sook Ching. The Japanese rounded up all Singaporean men between 18 and 50 years old for ‘inspection’. Those that didn’t pass were rounded up by the lorry loads, driven away and never seen again. A great number of them were massacred in the Siglap, Bedok and Tanah Merah. In February 1942, 100 Malay, Eurasian & Chinese soldiers captured by the Japanese were also killed on Bedok Hill and buried. After the war, over 50 mass graves were found in this area, including the largest one which contained the bodies of over 2000 people. It is estimated that the Sook Ching purge resulted in 25,000 – 50,000 deaths in Singapore.

#8. During the reclamation of land for Marine Parade, a 16km long conveyor belt brought the earth from the Bedok Hills to the coast! One thousand families had to be resettled in a new housing estate in Upper Changi Road, while the farms and plantations at Bedok had to be cleared.

#9. Did you know that Albert Einstein visited Frankel Estate during the 1920s? This estate was named after a Jewish family who migrated from Lithuania to Borneo then to Singapore in 1878. They built their fortune from a furniture store and a bakery. The family matriarch Rosa Frankel could speak only Yiddish. Everytime she went to the market, she would bring a feather and an eggshell to inform the stallholders what she wanted to buy – eggs or chicken. Can you figure out how she made herself understood?

#10. Along Upper East Coast Road used to be a whole row of seafood restaurants, including the famous Long Beach, Red House and Palm Beach restaurants. It used to be very popular among Singaporeans who would in the open air by the sea and enjoy their dinner. The only one standing now is Hua Yu Wee restaurant which occupies a grand 1920s house. For a retro experience, go there for dinner, and look out for the old hopscotch grid etched into the painted cement floor at the back of the restaurant. It is surely something which entertained generations of restless children over the decades.

The post 10 Things We Learnt On The Bedok Heritage Trail appeared first on Pepperdog Press.

These agar agar eggs that mimic real eggs were a party favourite among children in the 1970s. To prepare the eggshells, punch a small hole at the narrow end of the egg and shake out the white and yolk. Soak the empty shells and wash them very well before using.

Ingredients
12-15 empty eggshells
500 ml coconut cream
500 ml coconut water
200 g sugar
12 g powdered agar agar
4 – 5 canned peach slices, cut into thirds

Method
1. Mix coconut cream and coconut water in a pot, then sprinkle in the agar agar powder slowly. Let the powder absorb the liquid before you add in more. Stir it to mix well.
2. Bring the coconut mixture to a boil and add in the sugar. Stir until it all dissolves.  Remove from heat and pour it into a jug.
3. Stand your empty eggshells in an egg tray. Pour the coconut mixture into an eggshell until it is 3/4 full. Repeat until all the shells are filled.
4. Leave them to cool for a few minutes. Using a toothpick, gently stuff in a piece of peach in each eggshell.
5. When they are cooled to room temperature, pop them into the fridge to chill.

The agar agar eggs are ready when they are set and chilled. Crack them open as you would a real egg and enjoy!

The post Recipe for Kids: Agar Agar Eggs appeared first on Pepperdog Press.

This retro cocktail centrepiece was very popular at parties in the 70s and 80s—and not just for the children! It’s super easy to put together. Try making it at home today!

Ingredients
10 cubes of cheese
10 mini cocktail sausages (cooked)
10 chunks of pineapple, canned
10 cocktail sticks

Method
1) Skewer one of each ingredient on a cocktail stick.
2) Repeat until all the ingredients are used up. Serve immediately.
3) If you like, make a cocktail hedgehog by sticking the other end of the cocktail stick into a halved grapefruit. Then use halved olives and a cherry to make its eyes and nose.

The post Recipe for Kids: Cheese, Sausage & Pineapple Sticks appeared first on Pepperdog Press.

A Note to Grown-Ups: Download from the link below, select ‘fit to page’ under printing options, print out and challenge the kids to give it their best shot. Enjoy!

Hint: You’ll find all the answers in The Little Singapore Book (and in the pdf link below). Click on this link to download PuzzleJan2016

The post Crossword for Kids appeared first on Pepperdog Press.

You’ll need: At least 2 players, a flat surface to play on, and a set of five stones. (They are five triangular cloth ‘bags’ filled the rice, sand or saga seeds. Each should be about the size of a walnut.)

How to play: Complete the 8 steps below. The person who does so with the least number of attempts wins. If a player drops a stone, he forfeits his turn. When his opponent drops a stone, the player can pick up at the step he didn’t complete, starting from the beginning of that step.

#1: Throw down all five stones. Pick up one and throw it in the air, quickly pick a second stone, while the first is still mid air, and catch it while it falls. You should then have 2 stones in your hands. Put one of them aside, and repeat with each of the remaining 3 stones.
#2: Do like step 1 but pick up two stones at a time. Put two stones aside and repeat.
#3: Repeat step 1 but pick up 3 stones before catching the stone in mid air. Put the 3 stones aside and repeat with remaining stone.

#4: Throw down all five stones. Toss 1 stone in the air, and pick up the remaining four stones at the same time while the first stone is in mid air. Catch it before it lands.

#5: Throw up one stone, and place the other four on the ground. When the stone lands, throw another stone up, grab the four stones and catch the stone before it lands.
#6: Throw all five stones on the ground. Pick two stones. Throw one in the air and swap the other with one on the ground, then catch the other stone before it lands. Repeat with the rest of the stones. You’ll be left with 2 stones in your hands.

#7: Throw up the 2 stones from the end of Step 6. Pick up one stone from the ground, and catch the two falling stones separately in each hand. Repeat until you are left with three stones in one hand and two in the other. Throw the two stones and catch it separately in both hands. Throw the remaining stone and catch it with the hand that has all the stones.

#8: Throw down all the stones. Your opponent selects a stone to be thrown in the air. You have to pick this stone without moving any others, then toss it into the air. Pick up the four stones at the same time, then catch the falling stone.

The post How To Play Five Stones appeared first on Pepperdog Press.