Mandarin-Immersion Playgroup @ 1 King Albert Park

NEW progressive mandarin-immersion playgroup + drop in spots from Feb

Hi parents, I am a mom of a 2 year old toddler and I have been hosting open-ended play sessions, playgroups, parties and other events for a growing community of parents of babies and toddlers who meet regularly to play together.

Check out @tinyplayclub on Instagram, where I share reels and snippets of our community events and play sessions and play ideas that the kids loved.

I am so excited to share that Tiny Play Club is hosting indoor (this event) and outdoor mandarin-immersion playgroups for babies and toddlers in collaboration with Zhen Zhen Laoshi (珍珍老师), a certified preschool Chinese teacher with over 12 years of experience teaching Chinese to local and international children.

After great feedback from the community, we will host regular indoor playgroups on Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings for a maximum of 5 kids with 1-2 spots open for children attending a drop-in or make-up playgroup (see cancellation policy below) to keep the playgroup cosy and for the teacher to give each child attention.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣

Event details

Where: 1 King Albert Park, Singapore 598326

Next playgroup dates (Thursday 4.30-5.30pm):

February: 9/2, 17/2, 23/2

March: 2/3, 9/3, 16/3, 23/3, 30/3

Next playgroup dates (Saturday 10-11am):

February: 25/2

March: 11/3, 18/3

How long: 1 hour for the playgroup, and everyone is welcome to stay on to enjoy unstructured free play and socialise after the Chinese teacher leaves.

What's on?

• Greetings 问好⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
• Music activities 音乐游戏⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
• Storytelling 绘本分享⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
• Potluck snack time* 点心时间⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
• Sensory play 感官游戏 ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣/ Process art activity 艺术创作⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
• (NEW) Role play / action games
• Goodbye 道别⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
• Unstructured free play and hangout 自主游戏
• Post-playgroup reflection 活动记录

(NEW) Progressive mandarin-immersion playgroup term (9 Feb - 30 Mar):

Based on feedback, many TPC families would like to be more consistent with your children’s mandarin-learning this year and help them build a solid listening/speaking foundation. As such, laoshi and I will introduce mandarin-immersion playgroups for a stable group committed for 8 sessions (1 term).

There will now be a broad focus for each term with target vocabulary, phrases and different activities at each playgroup.

For the upcoming term starting 9 Feb, we will focus on developing listening and comprehension skills in mandarin - the absolute priority for learning a language. Laoshi will also introduce speaking/conversational skills and Chinese character recognition for the children who are developmentally ready.

We will cover these in the upcoming term:

• Basic greetings
• Introducing and expressing love to family members
• Numbers 1-10
• Popular fruits
• Sizes
• Expressing preferences
• Making requests

The indoor mandarin-immersion playgroups are fixed on Thursdays 4.30-5.30pm on these dates:

• Class 1: 9 Feb
• Class 2: 17 Feb
• Class 3: 23 Feb
• Class 4: 2 Mar
• Class 5: 9 Mar
• Class 6: 16 Mar
• Class 7: 23 Mar
• Class 8: 30 Mar

I cannot commit to the term, can I attend drop-in playgroups?

Yes, there will be still 1-2 drop-in spots for Thursdays 4.30-5.30pm and 5 drop-in spots for Saturdays 10-11am which I will periodically update the availabilities.

What is the difference between the term and the drop-in playgroups?

A stable group committed for 8 sessions (1 term) will allow children to have consistent Mandarin exposure, progress together and learn increasingly more at each playgroup.

The mandarin progression will also be child-led. The Chinese teacher will customise learning goals for each child based on their age, developmental stage (e.g speech) and previous mandarin exposure because she will be familiar with a stable group of children for a 8 week term. This is a main benefit of joining the progressive playgroup term as she won’t be able to do so for children attending drop-in playgroups.

Also, having a stable group will also allow us to reduce the cost to $27.50 per playgroup (currently $30) as part of a package.

What is the difference between the indoor and outdoor mandarin playgroups?

The indoor and outdoor mandarin playgroups in the same term share a broad focus and target vocabulary but the experience of each playgroup is very different due to the environment and activities.

Generally, indoor playgroups are more cosy with role play, games and playing in a prepared environment, while outdoor playgroups are more explorative with teacher-guided outdoor exploration, messy outdoor play and interacting with nature.

Both indoor and outdoor mandarin playgroups will have music, storytelling, sensory play / process art, potluck snack time and socialisation. Activities will vary at each playgroup.

Is there a minimum age to join?

It is never too early to be immersed in language in a natural, fun and engaging way! We will prepare age-appropriate activities for all the children coming at each playgroup session.

What is a post-playgroup reflection?

The Chinese teacher will prepare a post-playgroup reflection of what was covered during the playgroup, with song links and book titles so parents can continue to extend children's learning and exposure of the topic and vocabulary at home.

Cost: $30 per child for 1 drop-in playgroup or $220 for 1 term of 8 playgroups ($27.50/playgroup).

This includes both the cost of hiring the teacher and the token contribution charge to cover the cost of materials and the time taken to set up, clean up and disinfect play surfaces after the session.

How to make payment?

I am using Eventbrite as a platform to automate event bookings so the event is free to book to avoid incurring booking fees. Please PayNow to 87266246 after booking and WhatsApp me the payment screenshot to confirm your spot.

Unconfirmed tickets will be automatically cancelled after 12 hours as I am not able to reach out personally to everyone to confirm their attendance.

Do caregivers need to speak mandarin to join?

No

Adult-accompanied event

This is a adult-accompanied community event for both children and caregivers to socialise - strictly no drop-offs!

Cancellation and make up policy:

As the cost of hiring the mandarin teacher is fixed per playgroup and split among families who have booked to attend, tickets are non-refundable but can be transferred to another child.

Term playgroup: In the event if any of the above class dates have to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances such as sickness, the term will be carried forward to the weeks after Class 8. For anyone who is not able to attend a scheduled playgroup during the term, you can either release your spot to another family to attend as a drop-in (inform me in advance) OR attend 1 other TPC event as a make up (with a top up if event cost differs).

Drop-in playgroup: Tickets can be transferred to another child. Alternatively, families are welcome to attend a future playgroup without extra cost as a one-off make-up (subject to space capacity limits, please reach out to me privately to discuss).

⁣Notes:

This is a private event only for the Tiny Play Club community. To join the community, please WhatsApp me at 87266246 to introduce yourself and your child(ren). There are no membership fees to join the community. As this is an in-person community, I want to make sure that I personally know every attending family to keep the community safe.

• Please WhatsApp me at 87266246 before booking tickets if you have not attended the play sessions before, or tickets will be automatically cancelled.
• These play sessions are adult accompanied. Parents, grandparents and/or helpers are welcome.
• A maximum of 2 adult caregivers per family so as not to crowd the play space
• *Please bring healthy food items such as fresh or cooked food for the kids to share during snack time. The food will be placed on a low table for the kids to serve themselves. I kindly request parents not to bring puffs or packaged snacks as my child has a weakness towards these addictive snacks and those snacks will affect his appetite for meals and worsen his picky eating :-D
• Feel free to WhatsApp me at 87266246 if you’d like to join us or if you have any questions!