My FunFair Experience
by Parent Shan Shan, Organizer
I’ve always enjoyed funfairs, whether it’s going to one or running a stall. When I was in school, I had the opportunity to take part in a few, and I can still remember my first experience of going into a “haunted house” and being scared out of my wits! And one year my classmates and I manned a stall selling overpriced and hastily wrapped roses, but they were sold out anyway because it happened to be valentines’ day.
So the thought of organizing a funfair for the homeschooling community arose, and just over a few emails, Jasmine came onboard and Littly agreed to open up her home. The response from the homeschoolers was good too. Soon there were promises of game stalls, craft stalls, food stalls, new and preloved goods stalls….
On the day of the funfair, before I walked into Littly’s home, I was a little apprehensive – will there be enough stalls? Will there be enough “customers”? Will the children enjoy themselves? But as I walked into the garden and saw each family busily setting up its stall on a little patch of land, I knew I was silly to worry about such things! And I was right! It was so good to see the children running their own stalls and patronizing their neighbours’. What we provided was simply an opportunity, perhaps some guidance, and off these young people go!
Homeschooling is such an enjoyable and enriching journey. I love the fact that we do not have to wait around for other people to organize activities or grumble that the educational institution is not providing this or that program. And homeschooling families are often such enthusiastic participants that it’s worth the extra time and effort to get an activity going! So…who’s going to organize another one next year? :)
by Joy and Mercy Tan
We squealed in excitement when we were told there was a Homeschool Funfair coming up. After some discussions, we decided we would be selling two of our family favourite baked goods ~ delectable cupcakes (with frosting) and cinnamon rolls. Grandma also volunteered to prepare her signature glutinous rice and noodles in packets for us to sell. What thrilled us further was our good friends, the Ongs and the Lohs would also be setting up stalls that day. A day promising loads of fun awaited us.
We woke up unusually early to get everything ready before setting off. At 9 am, the venue at Mornington Crescent was already buzzing with life and people were milling around. The Ong family stall selling home-sewn 5-stones was next-door whilst the Lohs' stall selling used books, homemade cookies and peanut butter was next to the Ongs'. It was delightful to see what other stalls were selling. With so many interesting items, customers were spoilt for choice.
There was a very good crowd and everyone was kept busy. Children were seen confidently selling their wares and manning the creative games stalls. Well -trained indeed. Parents with young children in particular stopped by our stall with delight when they learned that they could just pay an extra 30 cents to decorate the cupcakes with colourful icing and yummy toppings. It was endearing to see fathers holding their little darlings' hands to guide them along. Sales were good as we sold everything. That gave us to chance to visit other stalls, chat with others and help out at our friends' stalls too. We also met some old friends as well as ex-actress Evelyn Tan with her 3 children who bought from us and enjoyed the cupcake decoration.
Though it was a rather humid and tiring day, we had no complaints. We derived much joy from participating in this special funfair run by homeschoolers. The day's earnings were good enough though not fantastic as we had deliberately chosen to keep the prices affordable. However, we were grateful for the experience of running a stall business and appreciated the opportunities to interact with customers. It was a day well-spent and we definitely look forward to the next homeschool funfair.
