The second edition of Children For Children adopted a bold and fearless safari theme – Into The Wild. It was a perfect name as the event was held at the iconic Singapore Zoo. About 1,000 children took on the role of Little Explorer and were given a treasure-hunt map. The children were from various primary schools and non-profit organizations from across the island. They were paired with staff from The Business Times, Pico Art International Pte Ltd, Rabobank International and WBL Corporation Limited. The event was also graced by Mr Sam Tan, the Parliamentary Secretary of Ministry of Trade & Industry and Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.
The Into the Wild quest for the children began when they were greeted by the Safari King of Wala-Wala Land at the zoo. The boisterous King addressed the young explorers, painting for them a vision of exciting adventure and fun that lies ahead. He bestows them with a camera each before setting them off on a quest for adventure in his Wala-Wala Land.
The children’s first task was to get their face painted to stay safe and hide from animals and enemies. When everyone’s faces were painted, they embarked on their very first mission. The children had to wade through the forest to hunt for the yummy food and drinks that were hidden among the shrubbery and dirt treks. After searching and hunting, the Little Explorers found their treasures and began digging into the delicious snacks such as candy floss, popcorn and hot dogs!
Once their tummies were full, they made their way to the myriad of arts and crafts booths stationed in front of various animal enclosures. The Little Explorers made tribal themed handicrafts with fearsome animals like the White Tigers and Polar Bears aptly in the backdrop. Along their journey, they also made use of the cameras given to capture snapshots of their encounters with the exotic animals and other ‘creatures’, who were really pupils from CHIJ (Kellock), stationed at the booths to document their encounters. Besides meeting these bizarre ‘creatures’ who sets them little tasks in exchange for special collectible items, the explorers will also meet with tribesmen from the Bomu-Bomu tribe to learn their traditional tribal dance and cross the raging river of Azizi to seek treasures on the opposite bank. These were all obstacles and challenges set by pupils from CHIJ (Kellock).
When the activities were completed, the children headed to the Shaw Foundation Amphitheatre for an entertaining performance by the CHIJ (Kellock) pupils and ACT 3 International.
At the end of the quest, the Safari King welcomes his adventurous explorers back to his kingdom, and the young explorers are treated to an exciting showcase of performances discovered by the three exotic creatures of Wala-Wala Land when they roamed the world. The delighted Safari King ends the day of exciting discoveries and experiences by engaging everyone in the Wala-Wala Dance, a celebratory dance unique to his kingdom.
The second edition of Children For Children raised an impressive amount of $230,000 and garnered the support of many corporate organisations and individual donors who believe in spreading joy and laughter for the children on Children’s Day.