Future-ready Kids: Meet Brilliant Inventors Who Are Still in Preschool!

Today’s preschoolers are tomorrow’s leaders, architects, teachers, scientists, and inventors. But there’s no reason for them to wait till they grow up before they start doing all that. After all, every child has the potential to lead, create, teach, experiment, and invent. All they need is the right kind of guidance in an enriching learning environment to help ignite the torch within. Sounds too good to be true? Just look at what this bunch of future-ready kids have already done!

Light Ready, Set GO by Wong Le Feng Fred & Tan See Ng Allie

Earlier this year, two children from K2 Sapphire at PCF Sparkletots @ Eunos Block 134 faced a problem. They would be so engrossed in one activity that they would lose track of time. “It was always a struggle to remind them about keeping time for the next activity,” remarked their teacher. Instead of relying on their teacher for a solution, the children brainstormed on their own.

The two children came up with the idea to invent a ‘traffic light’ for their classroom. Green indicates that they can enjoy the activity, while Yellow is a sign that they have just 10 minutes left. Of course, Red signifies that time is up. Such a simple yet brilliant solution, don’t you think?

Jar Spreader by Yu Changming

Four-year-old Yu Changming is a clever and curious child who enjoys learning how grownups do various things by watching. Once, when his mother was preparing a peanut butter sandwich, the N2 student at PCF Sparkletots @ Fengshan Block 184 began wondering how he could make the process easier for her.

It wasn’t long afterwards that Changming came up with a new way of spreading peanut butter on bread. “We can attach a spreader on the inside of the lid to the jar!” he said. With his clever invention, we simply unscrew the lid and begin spreading the contents of any jar of jam, Nutella, and of course, peanut butter, right away.

The Secret of Their Success

After hearing these bright young inventors’ success stories, we discovered the secret behind them. It turns out that the Sparkletots curriculum focuses a great deal on cultivating future-ready kids. Besides imparting essential literacy and numeracy skills, a core part of preparing children for the future revolves around the STEMIE programme. This lets them explore Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Invention, and Entrepreneurship.

In a bid to nurture both the mind and the heart, the Sparkletots journey also exposes children to an array of valuable interdisciplinary experiences. Key highlights include:

Tech toys – To build computational thinking skills. This ability to deconstruct problems logically and recognise patterns, relationships, and relevance is important in mathematics and digital literacy.
Outdoor learning – To develop essential life skills. They learn about calculated risk-taking, danger assessment, awareness of the world around them, and how to be stewards of nature. It’s not just about running around in the sun!
Intergenerational learning – To learn empathy and perspective-taking. With our society ageing so rapidly, future-ready children must know how to identify with and be comfortable around people of diverse age groups.

These programmes and activities help lay the foundation for children to be cognitively and emotionally prepared for the future. The end goal is to foster future-ready kids who are confident and curious, sociable and socially responsible, and able to thrive in a complex and challenging world.

Your Child Can be Future-ready Too!

Would you like to find out more about how the PCF Sparkletots curriculum can help you raise future-ready kids? A visit to the PCF Future Ready Fair 2022 will let you do just that. Here are some highlights to expect:

STEMIE Inventions Showcase

See with your own eyes how preschoolers at PCF Sparkletots tackle everyday issues by inventing brilliant STEMIE creations. Young inventors from various centres will be on hand to exchange ideas and share the stories behind their inventions. They will not only be showcasing problem-solving abilities but also their communication and presentation skills!

Tech Toys Activity Workshops

During the roadshows, your child can also participate in tech toys activity workshops. By interacting with Bee-Bot, Kubo, and Lego Robotics, you’ll discover how they enable children to learn fundamental coding and thinking concepts — while having fun.

STEMIE Tales Storytelling Sessions

There will also be exciting interactive storytelling sessions. Your child will get to help characters in the story overcome challenges via hands-on activities. Get ready to put on those thinking caps and switch on your imagination to give the story a happy ending.

There’ll even be a fun intergenerational skit starring adorable Sparkletots children and senior citizens. Entitled Our Past and Our Future, this one-off performance takes place on 30 October at Our Tampines Hub. See you and your little ones there!