Food Ninja had our final engagement with the children on the weekend of 23rd August. On Saturday, we wanted to visually show the children the effects of eating too much salt and sugar, because in the previous weeks, we have observed that a lot of the kids buy sugary snacks and junk food from most of the stalls nearby. So, we figured it would be a good idea to tackle some of the issues which affects the kids directly.
First activity of the day, Samanata and Will talked about foods that contains high amount of salt and sugar and what would happen if we don't have them in moderation. Too much of salt and preservatives will come to hair loss and an unhealthy heart and too much sugar on the other hand will decay our teeth and increase our risk of having diabetes. After the short presentation, we got the kids to get to work on a weighing experiment, weighing out the sugar and salt content of four different foods - a packet of Super Rings, a packet of Tiger biscuits, a small carton of Milo and a small carton of cordial drink and recording the data down on the whiteboard. With the figures on the board, it provided proof that Super Rings had more salt than in Tiger biscuits and that Milo had lesser sugar content than a cordial packet. I think the kids enjoyed it as the home-made weighing scales added a fun element to it.
First activity of the day, Samanata and Will talked about foods that contains high amount of salt and sugar and what would happen if we don't have them in moderation. Too much of salt and preservatives will come to hair loss and an unhealthy heart and too much sugar on the other hand will decay our teeth and increase our risk of having diabetes. After the short presentation, we got the kids to get to work on a weighing experiment, weighing out the sugar and salt content of four different foods - a packet of Super Rings, a packet of Tiger biscuits, a small carton of Milo and a small carton of cordial drink and recording the data down on the whiteboard. With the figures on the board, it provided proof that Super Rings had more salt than in Tiger biscuits and that Milo had lesser sugar content than a cordial packet. I think the kids enjoyed it as the home-made weighing scales added a fun element to it.
The next activity was The Amazing Ninja Challenge where it was a treasure hunt concept in which the kids had to complete challenges in each station to get clues as to how to find the 'treasure' at the very end. In our case, each station will provide you with a piece of a 4-part puzzle which you can assemble it together once you've completed all four stations. As for intermission, we provided the kids with water as well as a banana to level up their energy because there were a lot of running around involved in this activity.
The Pass the Parcel station, facilitated by Samanata required the children to pass the parcel whilst the music was on. Once the music stopped, they would have to peel off the outmost layer of the parcel and retrieve a type of food written on a piece of paper. The group will then had to go to the tree with all elements of the MyPlate and match it with the food. This station was a good station to recap and recall what we've learnt the previous engagements.
The next station required them to find Kharisma under one of the building blocks. In this station, it was a recap on what foods go where in the MyPlate system. The kids were required to match a series of random foods to the specific portions on a MyPlate template. It was a huge advantage for us translators as Kharisma, being Indonesian, could communicate some words in Indonesian with the kids. Overall, it was nice to see that through the many weekends of having the MyPlate system fresh in their minds, they could match most of the foods to their right food portions.
It's always a funny scene to watch when the whistle was blown after 15 minutes. How the kids would just fled in search of the next station when they knew the whistle has gone off. The station with Will and Amy awaited them over at the blocks opposite Block B. At this station, it was a Pin the Donkey-esque activity where a child was blind-folded and given a piece of paper with either a good or a bad habit. The rest of the team had to shout out directions for the blind-folded kid towards the right mahjong paper on the wall. In the end, we had a mahjong paper with good habits and another mahjong paper with bad habits. It was a good way to test out their teamwork as ell as their familiarity with good and bad habits.
Will was at the final station where there was a lot of balloon-popping involved. The children were asked to sit on the many balloons scattered on the grass and inside each balloon, there were caricature drawings of the following: cavity-filled mouth, bald head, a weak heart, healthy teeth, healthy heart and healthy hair. The children had to take pictures with them as well as discuss on the implications of eating too much sugar and salt.
Upon completing the task given from each station, the groups were given a piece of a puzzle for them to complete after all four stations. When all groups got back to the community hall, they started to put the puzzle together and complete The Amazing ninja Challenge with glee.
As part of the decorations for the graduation the next day, we provided the children with little triangular pieces of coloured paper for them write down what they've learnt throughout the 5 engagements that we had and also activities that they enjoyed most. We then stringed all flags together and made a long string of flags to be hung up.
Overall, it was definitely a very tiring-yet-fruitful day, for everyone.
Overall, it was definitely a very tiring-yet-fruitful day, for everyone.