We did it again! We broke the last year’s record by raising a total amount of $1939.65 for the Children’s Cancer Foundation at the most recent Children’s Craft Fair 2018, held at SAM @ 8Q on 6 May. Helmed by our very own homeschooled teen, Abigail Teo, this year’s event proved to be another success.
Even though we had fewer children participating this year, our 4th year into the Children’s Craft Fair, there was no let up on the enthusiasm and spirit and everyone was determined to play their part for charity.
We saw more sophisticated and thoughtful products from the older children who have been involved over the previous editions of the craft fairs. There were simpler but no less interesting crafts from eager young crafters who joined us for the first time. Some learnt to handle a sewing machine, glue gun and oven on their own for the first time.
With no intervention from the adults, the children took charge and directed their own learning and crafting process and made decisions as a team with regard to division of labour, pricing and marketing strategies.
Was everything done perfectly? No, not all the time. Beads were not aligned perfectly, some crafts did not sell well, pricing strategies might have be off but the event created the ideal backdrop for child led learning. It gave them the opportunity to learn, make mistakes, re-learn and try again.
We experienced a slight inconvenience when the air-conditioning in the smaller room was not working for a while but that did not dampen the spirit of the children. One mum was proud to say that her child even went out of her comfort zone to make pitches for her crafts. Our children grow in confidence over the years at the craft fair – they aren’t afraid to approach different people and engage with them.
A new segment this year is the introduction of the Teen Open Mic. Taking place at the same level as the Craft Fair, it showcased original works and songs from homeschooled teens.
A big thank you to the Singapore Art Museum for another year of partnership. The Children’s Craft Fair is always held on SAM’s Imaginarium open day and we are grateful for their venue sponsorship.
Written by Elaine Eo