plaeum and world book fair

 We took the girls to the playeum yesterday at the national museum. It turns out that all the museums in Singapore have something or another going on this holidays. Which is a really nice thing - as the works cover a number of tradition, culture and arts.

Here is what the girls did at the playeum.

1. Storytelling. We thought that the girls werent listening to Kamini's folktale. But it turns out that Anjali atleast was listening hard. Later, she insisted on seeing the rock. She also remembered, as we were walking through the museum, that the hero of the story had used bamboo to build a fish trap.
2. Sensory studio. This was a nice space for the children to play with different kinds of fabrics. It reminded me a little of the tent that kojo designs made in one of the SYTTC rounds. Ofcourse, the girls converged into playing house, and I tried to plot to see how complicated it would be to make such a contraption for the kids to play at home.
3. Sun deck: We spent a nice time drawing. Anjali drew some boxes, and a flower. Sophia drew some random stuff until her pen poked a hole in the paper, whereupon she said "I am dyawing a hole for the ants to cyawl thyugh"
4. Playdome: Ofcourse, the girls spent the most time there. The giant kaleidoscope was interesting, but didnt offer much intereactivity, since it was mostly visual. The knotting station was a little too complicated for the girls. But they had a blast at the dress up and puppet theatre. Anjali dressed up as a chinese princess, Sophia as a prince with a hat and they slimbed the castle, selling blueberries.

Dont even ask!

They were torn between playing and eating (Sophia was getting hungry) and we were late for the book fair, so we left.

The book fair was a bit of a disappointment. Imagine going to a mall with lots of books, or going to borders. Now imagine it ten times as big. And several times disorganized. That is the book fair. Husband and I dont go to too many fairs and now I understand why. There were lots of books, lots of independent sellers, but no particular cohesive story among them. This was a little annoying, as it would have taken very little extra effort to have put together the areas by theme. Many of the books/ sellers/ programs were targetted at children (Why?? Dont adults read??) and they were all over the place.

I got cornered by one of those companies selling a program - not the Groliers one, but some other similar stuff. Then I asked her why I needed to buy her books to answer my kids' questions. Why couldnt I simply go on the internet and find the answer. "Its time consuming", she says. "And how much time do i need to find the correct answer in your book?" "We have a glossary".

Right!

That said, the girls had good fun. Swati and I were both volunteering and Ananya was there, so the girls had a nice tour of the whole place, did some craft work, and then Anjali and Ananya ganged up to make us get them all ice cream (Even Sophia, who has a flu up to the top of her head). "You have a running nose", I told her, to which she replied, "patti says take one lick and thyow in the dushbin" I assume patti said that with regards to lollipop and not icecream. In the end, she only ate the cone and  let husband eat the icecream

It was quite fun watching Anjali and Ananya marching together, holding hands, talking non stop about god only knows what.

And then they had the rare ride in the MRT, hokaido dome at bread talk and a trip in the bus, during which they did all the monkey stuff imaginable.

Yesterday was the fourth day that Sophia has been going without an afternoon nap. When we got home, they ate pooris and played Simba till ten.