Creative Space @ Safe Place

We having been volunteering at Safe Place since August 2020, an organisation that empowers women and families with unsupported pregnancies to make life-giving choices. It has always been a hope of mine to facilitate a Creative Workshop for mothers because my personal journey with process art brought me the much needed rest when I was a first-time mother.

As the Covid-19 safe distancing measures now allows for visitors, I am grateful for this opportunity to be able to interact with a small group of mums. Here are some of our monthly creative workshop activities:

We talked about sensory play for babies and made discovery bottles. Through making these discovery bottles, the uniqueness of each bottle brings about significance in the play and bonding with their children.

The creativity process brings growth in all areas of our lives and especially so in this session where we could have a conversation about our personal life values while making a Salt Art Jar.

It was a good time to reflect on 2020 during the Christmas season so as to gain strength for 2021. Every now and then, we will write down even the little things we are thankful for on our personalised Gratitude Boxes, and as they add up in the coming days, months and years, they will be an encouragement for those tough periods in life.

Inspired by Monet, we started off the year 2020 with creating our impressionist gardens of rest. It was a beautiful day painting in the garden. May these gardens of rest give us strength for the new year.

I hope this Creative Space set up for them once a month, brings rest and relaxation for these mums as much as it did for me.

I Hear You

When we met a year ago during a playdate, my dear friend Valerie, had been holding some precious words in her heart about connecting with a child's emotions and she has used those words to write a beautiful children's story. A family therapist by profession and now a mother of 2 beautiful daughters, Valerie wrote "I Hear You" from her experience working with children and also as a parent wanting to be present and connected to her children's emotions. I feel so honoured that she chose me to illustrate and publish the book.

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WHAT IS THE BOOK ABOUT?

"I Hear You" is children's book about giving a voice to a children's emotional world by exploring 8 emotions a child might feel through the eyes of a snail. It hopes to offer meaningful conversations with children as we engage in their emotional world.

Inside the book, you will also find

• A list of CONVERSATION STARTERS for exploring the illustrations

• Inspiration for using the book to talk about emotions through CREATIVE EXPRESSION

• Our paperback book of 24 pages, measures 14.8cm X 21cm / ISBN 978-981-14-7861-1

THE I HEAR YOU CREATIVE CRAFT KIT

One thing that Valerie and I strongly believe in is that one way to kickstart and facilitate such conversations is through creative expression. And it's amazing how CARTWHEELS fits into the picture. So we also came up with a CREATIVE CRAFT KIT to go along with the book which children can explore to create a snail artwork. To our amazement, the craft kits have all sold out but do contact us if you will like to order them in bulk.

Inside the kit you will find:

• I Hear You Book ISBN 978-981-14-7861-1

• Air-dry clay in 12 colours (10g/small pack)

• Pom-poms and felt fabric shapes

• Wooden craft sticks

• Pipe cleaners

• Emoticon stickers

• A digital copy of an emotions chart

• I Hear You Bookmark

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I am very touched by the book. The drawings are beautiful and capture the emotions succinctly for children to be heard and attended to. - Juliana Toh

My children and I find the drawings very nice and the writing easy to understand. I also find the list of questions simple and useful to explore and have a conversation around the illustrations. - Elijah Sim

As adults, even the best of us may lack the awareness to understand and articulate our own emotions, much less to help children communicate theirs. This book could help parents and educators facilitate this important conversation with children - Robyn Tan

“I Hear You" might appear disarmingly simple and straightforward at first glance. However, slowing down like the beautifully illustrated snails, it is a must-read for all parents, caregivers and educators. To learn or relearn the importance of slowing down and hearing the children’s hearts. And hopefully, as they grow their voice, they will one day be able to say to us, “Thank you for hearing me.” - Fong Wei Kurk

GIVE A CHILD THE GIFT OF BEING HEARD AND ATTENDED TO:

This book hopes to inspire every parent or caregiver to slow down to hear the voice of a child, to have a meaningful conversation together.

ORDER "I HEAR YOU" TODAY>>>

(UPDATE: SOLD OUT. For bulk orders, please contact Rebecca at cartwheelssg@gmail.com)

Toddler Art Starter Kit

My friends and family have been urging me to write a book on art activities for kids for some time already. A very wise person also encouraged me to write a little everyday and somehow I managed to finish writing the book in 2 months during the circuit break (or lockdown). And I think the final motivation was to empower and equip parents to create art with their children at home because I find that art is a restful activity for the family and it also develops an important skill for life - creativity.

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WHAT'S THE BOOK ABOUT?

The "Creative Art for Toddlers" book is about engaging your child as young as 20 months old in starting his or her creative journey though Process Art. Process Art is art that focuses on the process rather than the outcome. This makes Process Art perfect for parents and toddlers. Parents don't need to be trained artists to make art a part of their home while toddlers can create freely without pressure of outcomes. There is fun learning through the exploration of materials, he or she thinks and creates. Literacy and social emotional skills are developed through creative expression. And most importantly, the parent and child enjoys the activities together.

Inside the book, you will find:

• 10 process art activities

• Basic materials and instructions

• Questions you can ask you child to keep them engaged

• Ways to adapt the activities as your child grows

THE TODDLER ART STARTER KIT

The feedback given about the book, was that it will be great to put together an art starter kit to complement the book because most parents ask questions about the kind of paint, paper and paintbrushes to buy for their children. Hence, I specially curated a set of basic art materials for parents to set up a creative space at home.

Inside the kit, you will find:

• Creative Art for Toddlers Book  ISBN 978-981-14-7053-0

• 4 x Tempera paint in 100ml bottles of blue, red, yellow, white

• 12-count watercolour paint 

• 12-count oil pastels 

• A set of paintbrushes of various sizes

• 20 sheets of A3 135gsm paper 

• 1 pair of blunt-tip child scissors 

• 1 White glue 40ml

• 1 set of dot stickers and washi tape

WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS KIT

The kit is not just a once-off project, but with quality supplies and tools that can last, it can be used at your own comfortable pace over a period of time and even together with older siblings. Since toddlers grow so fast, you can even re-visit the same project by using some of the suggested variations, still engage your child in creating.

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My son enjoyed the craft set a lot! All the materials in the box are excellent, and the book was really helpful to give him an idea to draw. I never thought about using flowers to paint! Artwork can sometimes be boring but this box gives us inspiration and creativity. I especially love the sample question part in the book, which encourages more communication between us. - Mika and her 2 year old

GIVE A CHILD THE GIFT OF CREATIVITY

Gift a child a creative space at home with quality materials. Gift a child a creative journey with fun open-ended art play. It's a wonderful kit for a child transitioning into the terrific twos and also for the child who is already in the important period of brain development from 2 to 6 years old. This kit will help the family kickstart their creative journey, bonding and building connections through art conversations!

ORDER YOUR TODDLER ART STARTER KIT TODAY>>>