December 2020 - Coding for Kids

With the new year comes a rush of happiness – a new year means new goals, higher hopes, and in our case, even cooler tech activities! Buckle up for another round of the freshest, coolest tech activities specially curated and brought to you by our Coding Lab team.

HeadRock VR

Head down to Singapore’s very first Virtual Reality (VR) Theme Park at Resorts World Sentosa! With 11 different attractions and 3 different routes, it is jam-packed with interactive fun and games for the entire family! Attractions include Zombie Busters, jungle rafting, and much more…

Details:
Daily, from 7am to 11pm
Resorts World Sentosa
Price: From $35
To find out more, click here.

Future World: Where Art Meets Science

This exhibition at the ArtScience Museum brings together a whole new world of technology and art through interactive art installations! With various themes such as Park and Space, Sanctuary and City in A Garden, as well as bonus narratives depending on the seasons, audiences can be wowed regardless of the time of year in this permanent exhibition. This is also in line with the integration of arts with technology to create the STEAM experience for everyone!

Details:
ArtScience Museum
Open daily (timings differ)
Price: From $12
To find out more, click here.

Singapore Art Week 2021

The new year means a new theme for the Singapore Art Week 2021, a well-known international art showcase by various artists all over the globe. With a theme of Art Takes Over for 2021, immerse yourself in various art galleries with a tech twist – such as Otherworlds: non/digital realities. This is a mixed reality exhibition, combining VR technologies with traditional, physical art pieces. Beyond a simulation of the physical reality, the VR session within this exhibition is an expansion of the physical realm, adding new perspectives and meanings to artistic concepts.

Details:
From 28 to 31 January (Timings differ)
Gillman Barracks
Free
To find out more, click here.

Coding Classes

Registrations are now open for our 2021 Term Classes and Holiday Camps for International school students aged 7 to 18! Learn something new with Coding Lab’s classes this coming new year, such as creating your own games and applications with Scratch and App Inventor, or coding with Python.

Details:
Starting Saturday, 2 January 2021
Parkway Parade, Bukit Timah (KAP Mall) and Online
To find out more, click here.

Overall, a new year means new opportunities to learn and have fun with technology, regardless of whether it is with family or friends. With Phase 3 starting today, here’s to newer and cooler techtivities for everyone (remember to have a maximum of 8 people in a group)! 🙂

If you haven’t seen our previous techtivity recommendations, check out our December #TechtivitiesOfTheMonth, which include special techy twists to our bonus Christmas activities!

(Written by Lakshmi Suresh)

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5 Tips to Better Eye Health

The pandemic has remade the way our children learn – with regular home-based learning classes which result in increased screen time and heavier usage of electronic gadgets, it’s crucial that we take the necessary precautions to take care of their (and all you hard working mums and dads) eye health!

Coding Lab has gathered 5 tips (specially curated for you and your families 👀) to help keep our eyes safe and healthy in this period of time. Check them out below!

*Our student using our monitors, which emit low blue light*

1. Reduce blue light at night

Prolonged exposure to blue light emitted from digital devices has been found to damage retinal cells and disrupt the body’s natural sleep cycle, thus triggering eye fatigue and affecting sleep quality [1].

Did you know that Coding Lab has a specially-equipped classroom in Parkway Parade filled with monitors that emit low blue light energy? You can also do your part at home by keeping those devices away to reduce your blue light intake and getting sufficient rest in the evening!

2. Eat healthy foods

You are what you eat, and a healthy diet contributes to healthy vision. Choose foods that are rich in antioxidants such as your greens which act as a natural sunscreen for your eyes [2]! Fatty fish is also high in omega-3 fatty acids and will strengthen the part of the eye that is responsible for central vision [3].

For more healthy foods for your kids, we’ve got the best list right here – don’t worry, they’re foods that your kids will definitely not be able to resist!

Read: Food For Thought – Brain Food for Programmers

Image of Brain Food: Fatty Fish — *Fatty fish is abundant in omega-3*

3. Stay hydrated

Dry eyes are one of the most common types of eye problems [4]. When you lack adequate moisture, your eyes become dry and uncomfortable. Always stay hydrated by drinking 8 glasses of water daily for optimal eye health – before you know it, you’ll be running in full steam ahead!

4. Maintain a good posture

At Coding Lab, our adjustable chairs allow our students to sit upright and avoid slouching while looking at the screen. When using the computer, sit at least 50cm away from the screen, with shoulders relaxed and eyes looking straight ahead towards the screen. Rest your back against the chair and ensure that your feet are resting flat against the floor. Make sure to follow all the rules in the infographic right here – you wouldn’t want back pain or finger strain in your old age!

Graphic of "Proper sitting and typing posture"

5. Follow the 20-20-20 Rule

It’s important to take a 20-second eye break every 20 minutes – by focusing on an object 20 feet away (approximately 6m). This rule provided by optometrists easily reminds us to relax our eyes for short intervals throughout the day [5].

At Coding Lab, we make sure that our students get regular eye breaks during class time because we know just how important eye rest is for our students!

Read: 3 Ways to be Your Child’s Cheerleader During Their Exams!

We hope that these five simple tips will help in bettering your eye health! Especially in these turbulent times, we hope you never lose sight of what truly matters – taking care of yourself!

(Edited by Zulaikha)

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Month: December 2020

Fun Techtivities in January!