Since I started organising the jigsaw puzzle competitions, the competition format naturally attracted more adult rather than children participants. However, some participants who took part with their children suggested that separate competitions or events could be organised just for the children alone. Others also asked the same on my Facebook page.
Rather than organising a 'pure' competition involving only children, where the focus would probably be on the task of completing the puzzle in the quickest time, I decided to try to do it workshop style, to try to use the jigsaw puzzle as the focal point of the interaction between the parent and the child. In focusing on the process (ie, the journey towards completing the puzzle) rather than just on the end goal (ie, of actually completing it), I thought it would be a better way to introduce and promote jigsaw puzzle making among the children.
With that in mind, I managed to incorporate my jigsaw puzzle workshop for kids as part of the Eastpoint Mall's jigsaw puzzle publicity event for the mall. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), the response to the workshop was poor. Despite almost 2 weeks of publicity by the Eastpoint Mall, and also publicity by myself using Facebook and other free platforms, only 1 family each signed up for the workshops on 11 Mar 2012 and 18 Mar 2012. And 1 of them was my colleague! :)
On 11 Mar 2012 when I arrived at the mall and met my colleague, I actually felt embarrassed that he had signed up for my workshop which had such a poor response. However, I had to carry on doing what I had planned to do. Along the way, 2 other families 'walked in' to take part in the workshop too, thanks in part to the event emcee's promotion of it over the mike. The workshop was conducted in the open, at the atrium of the first level of the mall.
On 18 Mar 2012, I was not so lucky. The family who pre-registered before the day turned up for the workshop, but no one else walked in. So in total, 4 families took part in the workshops over the 2 days which, no matter how you look at it, was a minor disaster.
Still, of the families who did take part, I think there were many positives to take away.....and smiles! :)
I'm not convinced yet that the concept is entirely wrong, but I will need to tweak the publicity (ie, do more of it) and maybe the setting (ie, have it in a less open setting) to see if things improve. And if it doesn't improve........well......... it will! :)
Between Jan and Feb 2012, in between work and stuff, I was trying to think about the next round of jigsaw puzzle activities I could do. Somehow, I encountered roadblocks in the 2 key aspects of putting together an activity.......I couldn't find a venue to hold the activity, and I couldn't get hold of any puzzles to do the activity with.
For the venue, the good folks at Tiong Bahru CC had committed the use of the hall to other activities conducted at the CC, while the other rooms were also heavily utilised.
For the jigsaw puzzles, I unexpectedly ran into a situation where the company from the States where I order the puzzles from, 'suddenly' took a long time to answer my queries about possible orders. I subsequently found out that the person whom I had dealt with previously had left the company, and that the company was also having some difficulty coping with a lot more orders. Well, good for the company......but not so good for me. The nice thing was, the person who left the company, saw that I was having difficulty getting what I wanted, and helped me get in touch with others in the company to place my orders etc. So I'm very thankful to Lynn from the USA for helping me in my journey.
The other nice thing happened on the venue aspect. While I was still working with Tiong Bahru CC on some suitable times and rooms, someone from Eastpoint Mall called me. Eastpoint Mall was intending to organise some jigsaw puzzle activities and wanted to ask me for some advice. Talking become asking and then more talking, and Eastpoint Mall very kindly allowed me to have my jigsaw puzzle workshop for kids as part of their overall promotion programme for the Mall. They even gave me some publicity on their collaterals, like the one shown here:
Hence I'm also very thankful to Sharon from Eastpoint Mall for helping me.
SO............after a 1+ month hiatus............WengsWorld is back! I'm back!! But I couldn't do it completely on my own, without Lynn and Sharon. They didn't really need to help me, but they did, just like Tiong Bahru CC helped me previously. Thanks!
Thus far, the response for my 2 advertised kid's workshops on 11 and 18 Mar 2012 hasn't been good. But there are still a couple of days left, let's see what happens. Will blog about the kid's workshop the next time. Look out for that.
Oh by the way, I don't mean to imply that Tiong Bahru CC is not helping me anyone. They have their priorities, but I'm still working with them on further dates for future events.
Been a while but, I'm back!
Want to share about my volunteering experience at the Singapore Association for Mental Health (SAMH) YouthReach on 15 Dec 2011. YouthReach is a recovery programme for children and youth identified with emotional and psychological problems. Some of the chronic cases can develop into psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia, mood disorder, bi-polar disorder, or obsessive compulsive disorder.
I did a 1.5 hour jigsaw activity with the children and youth clients. See the preparation details in my earlier blog http://wengsworldjigsawpuzzles.blogspot.com/2011/12/wengsworld-preparation-for-activity-at.html
The activity went very well I thought. The pre-event preparations helped in ensuring that the fixing up was not overwhelmingly difficult. Most of the youth were fully engaged in the activity and no one left the activity before the end. A few did appear to be a bit discouraged after a while, but the SAMH staff and I constantly encouraged them not to give up and also helped to piece together the more difficult sections.
Many of the youth were not very vocal, but it was heartening to see some of them smile during the session. One of the girls even remarked that the jigsaw puzzle was her 'favourite' game. The remark needs to be taken in context of course, but it is still one of those things that I will remember I guess. :)
All in all, it was time well spent, and I would be happy to do another activity with SAMH in the future. The only thing is that I wouldn't be able to do something regular with them now that school term has started.
At the request of Mr Ang Poh Hee, head of the Centre and also my friend, I have not taken any photographs of the activity in the interest of the clients. I do however, have a picture of me and Poh Hee
As a follow-up to the activity, I also did a collection of used jigsaw puzzles from the participants of my jigsaw competition on 17 Dec. These were handed over to Poh Hee on 28 Dec. I hope that the youth will enjoy fixing them up.
