Kids Friendly Restaurant: Starz Restaurant

Starz Restaurant

 

Hard Rock Hotel, Starz Restaurant, is located in a centralised location at Sentosa. This means you are minutes away from some of the region’s top attractions, such as Universal Studios Singapore^® and S.E.A. Aquarium™, as well as Asia's flagship of the world-renowned ESPA.

 

 

 

International Buffet Dining

This colourful and fun restaurant offers buffet Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, with a wide variety of international and local cuisine, which is ideal for both locals and tourists.

Activities for Kids

On every 1st Sunday of the month, starting from 6 July 2014, a whole range of kids activities are specially lined-up for the little ones. The adults can watch them play and laugh while they indulge in the sumptuous spread.

Kids’ Activities
12.00pm – 1.30pm	Registration / Face Painting
12.00pm – 4.00pm	Special Kids Buffet and Movie Screening at Hall of Fame
1.30pm – 2.30pm	Story Telling / Games
3.00pm – 3.30pm	Magic in a 'Bottle' by Mr Bottle

As a diner, I might not be aware that there are activities only on the 1st Sunday of the month, and might have mistaken and head down for a Sunday Brunch. Upon knowing there isn't any activities, I would get rather disappointed and probably decide to dine at another place before stepping in. I might even decide not to patronise the restaurant anymore to avoid disappointment again. I would rather the restaurant have activities on all Sundays, with 1 or 2 activities per time. In this way, regular diners can enjoy different activities on different visits. This will give them a refreshing and surprise feeing on every visit.
   

	It is great to have activities for kids all lined-up for the Sunday Brunch. However, what about the adults? For those who just come in with their small family and does not come with their friends, it is unlikely that they will stay there for 4 hours. Hence, there is a tendency that the parents will want the kids to leave the restaurant. It is commonly seen where parents will "grab" their kids and stop them from what they are doing/ watching. To counter-act this, the restaurant should also have some activities for adults, e.g. Close-up Magic, Caricature & top-up a certain amount for Wine for the drinkers.
	Address: Resorts World Sentosa - Hard Rock Hotel Singapore. 8 Sentosa Gateway, Sentosa Island Singapore 098269 Operating Hours: Breakfast: 7.30am - 10.30am   Lunch: 12pm - 2.30pm (Mon - Fri)   Dinner: 6.30pm - 10.30pm   Hi-Tea: 12pm - 4pm (Sat, Sun & PH) Tel No.: +65 6577 6688 Email: dining@rwsentosa.com

Travelling with kids and babies!

by Kien

Travelling with baby is tough. Travelling on plane with them can be… suicidal, especially if the baby or kid is not yours! (So do not sit at the first row with the leg room if you want a restful flight! because that’s where babies will most likely be!) 

Here are some tips to keep these little friends happy:

Talk to them - Get a conversation going especially if your kids know how to talk already. They love to hear more about you and your life! Of course, listen to what they have to say as well!

Know what your kids like! If your kids are kinetically-inclined, playing and folding the boarding pass can be fun too!

Let us plan the trip – We love responsibilities! If your kid is about 4 years old and above, pass him the guidebook and let him have a say on what to do, with your help of course. You can give suggestions to guide him along. (eg. animals, parks, playground, etc.)

Share your music – Well, I love music! Music can soothe them to sleep. You can even sing together with them, softly, that is!

Bring Toys and Books – Bring their favourite travel-size toys, and even a new toys to surprise them, which will keep them occupied for minutes, if not hours. Some other items that don’t take up much weight or space includes crayons, paper, stickers .

Sounds from a cookie pack can be like rattle to babies too!

Bring their favourite snacks and water – Yes, babies and kids get hungry and thirsty too! If you do not like airplane food, we can’t stand them too! Usually the security are kind enough to allow water for us to be brought onboard so fill ‘em up!

Have lots of different food and fruits to keep us happy and full!

Bring Medicine – I remember that I always get car sick when I was a kid. I am not sure about this, but has anyone administered anti air-sick drugs before flying to children before? (Whatever you do, seek with doctor’s approval of course! Other items like panadol, handy plus (band aids), etc are life savers!

Videos – I know some parents hates letting their kids glue to the LCD screen. But in case of emergency when the seat belt sign is on, this is a lifesaver! Do have some our favourite videos on your handphone and iPad just in case (when there's no wifi!).

Bedtimes – There are 2 sides to this though: You can plan the flight time according to their bedtimes. But there are still plenty of distractions that will throw our naptime off. (eg. Planes switch on their lights to serve dinner even if it’s like 11pm.)  Other babies will cry that wakes them up. The person next to you may watch TV and distracts the young one. Every kid is different so in this case, parents have to use their discretion to suit the habits of little fellows. 

Be prepared! – Bring lots of wet wipes, tissues and diapers, trash bags and extra clothes, within easy reach, rather than in the overhead compartment or your boot!

Dress comfortably but warmly – Planes tends to be quite cold especially at night so dress warmly and comfortably, yet easy to undo clothes. You don’t really need to care about being pretty on planes!

Air Pressure on the ears- Everyone hates that! One way to combat that is to drink water / milk while the plane is ascending or descending. I also found this device call Ear Planes in Sydney Airport that can be used to prevent this. This is available in adults and kids’ sizes and I quote the person selling it,”This is a very very good!”

Pack Smart – That’s a lot of things to pack right? Mummy likes to bring everything just in case, Daddy likes to bring the minimum. My stand? Pack smart! We don’t mind reading the book over and over again (BUT NOT CONTINUOUSLY!)  or playing the same game repeatedly. You can also use objects around you as toys! We love imagining things, this is so much better than the usual tech toy!

A 3-Year Old Kid did something amazing that made everyone give him a standing ovation!

The kid is just too cute! He is so eloquent for his age. Can you imagine a 3-year-old standing in front of thousand of audience with no stage fright? He is not even affected by the audience's and judge's reactions! 

What he said at the end is just totally amazing and touching.

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Preparing your 3-year-old (or younger) for a birthday party

by Kien

Recently, we have been receiving a quite a few enquiries and bookings for 3-year-olds so I thought I should discuss a little on this subject: Preparing your 3-year-olds (and younger) for a birthday party. Before I continue, I must say that every child is different so the following advice applies to most kids but you do have to use your own discretion to do what is best for your kid! 

Plan early – Nothing is worse than a stressed out mummy. You should how your own emotions can affect your children. Get professionals to do up your décor, food and entertainment so you have more time to take care of guests and kids.

Spiderman theme decor - Source around for different decorations packages suitable for your parties!

Think of who you should invite – Sometimes, your young kid can be overwhelmed with the sudden increase number of people talking to him or her.  Keep the party manageable for the birthday child and yourself. You can even also stagger the arriving time of different groups of people to keep the crowd manageable for him.

Do In a school – This is after all in his familiar environment so he will generally be more comfortable with his friends, teachers and parents.

Teachers and kids enjoying the magic show together in school.

Avoid their naptimes – For obvious reasons.

Do something suitable for them – Can a 3-year-old understand a magic show? Yes! But not all magic shows are suitable so choose one that you think three-year-olds can enjoy. Children of this age may not understand magic fully yet, so Mr Bottle focuses a lot on comedy and fun bits which is more important for this age group.

Lots of comedy for younger kids! That's what matters most to them!

Because of their short attention span, you can also choose fringe activities like balloon sculpting and facepainting. Mr Bottle’s Kids Party’s mascot service also includes games, sing-a-longs so if your crowd consists mostly of 2-4 years old, this can be an option too. Some 2-year-olds do get scared of mascot but some love them. We have many interesting stories of our mascots with 2-year-olds, maybe we will tell you next time about it in our future blogs!

Mascot are great for younger kids from 2 to 4 years old!

Facepainting is great kids of all ages!

Magic Show? – If you have a magic show with kids of various age groups, the older kids will ‘teach’ the younger kids how to react. For a 3-year-old, this is probably the first time he or she is watching a magic show so he is not sure what to do. Should he go up on stage when the magician asks for volunteer? Is it all right to laugh? With older children, the younger kids simply imitate what is appropriate.

Do you see the kids imitating what Mr Bottle is doing?

I would also recommend the parents sit with their 3-year-old kids during a magic show, especially if the crowd consists of ONLY 3-year-olds. The parents can laugh and participate in the show together! Mr Bottle’s magic shows are just like Disney movies; fun for kids and great for adults too!

Magic show is probably not the best for 2-year-old because their attention span is too short. I have discussions with magicians around the world on this, and MOST says that they would only do a show for children 3 years old and above. (Some even restrict their shows to an older age group.) Although we have several instances in which 2-year-olds sat down and even participate in Mr Bottle’s show without any problems, in 95% of cases, they would probably stand up and walk around. So again, if you want magic show for your 2-year-old, sit down and watch the show with them.

Warm Up – The younger kids tend to need a little time to warm up to what is happening around him or her. If you are booking a show, you probably don’t want it too early in the party.

Mr Bottle warming the kids up before starting the magic show!

Practise makes perfect – Bring him or her to a friend’s birthday party first so he knows what to expect at a party. Most, if not all, children love birthday parties so if your kid is uncomfortable at a party, the reason is not they do not like it, but they are just unfamiliar with it. You can explain to them what happens at the party like they get presents, cut the cake, play with their friends, etc.

It's okay to laugh out loud at parties!

Do not over-excite them – A lot of parents tend to get the kids overly excited for their big day, by repeatedly asking them about their party. But do not over do that especially for the younger kids. You can to treat it like a ‘normal’ fun day with friends.   Even for the older kids, I have seen quite a few cases of kids losing sleep and even getting sick because they are too excited over their party.

In schools, sometimes the teachers will get 2 year old kids to join in. This is not a problem as long as the magician knows how to arrange them to enjoy the show the best!

Do not put too much pressure on them – Let them be. If they do not want to greet strangers, do not force them. If the magic show needs volunteers, but your child is not comfortable participating then, let other kids have the chance.

Most of the kid magic shows have lot of participation!

Involve them – I think it’s meaningful to let them to write their own invitation and thank you cards for their friends or do up their own drawings to paste on the wall. Treat this like another craft cum family bonding activity that everyone in the family can take part.

Let kids get involve in their parties!

Kien is a psychologist by training and decided to put what he has learnt to good use by performing magic, since graduating from NUS and NTU about 10 years ago.  He changes into Mr Bottle when he is with kids and has been specialising in children magic for the past 14 years.  Other than making sweets and presents appear in his show, he has also made 2 kids of his own appear in his life (and of course a wife). He can find out more about his magic shows at www.magician.com.sg or email him for a chat at enquiry@magician.com.sg

Mr Bottle's Video (Updated)

Learning should be fun!

I always think learning should be fun, no matter what topic it is! Making learning enjoyable will have a positive reinforcement on the child and hence encourage them to discover more on their own!

Here's 10 ways (for parents or educators) to make learning fun:

http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/10-ways-to-make-learning-more-fun-for-children-242096.html

How to Make Reading Fun for Kids

How to Make Reading Fun for Kids -- powered by eHow.com

Sam performing magic!

This is cute little Sam performing magic for me!

Conflicts and Challenges: Increasing Children's Capacity to Learn and Experience Life, 22 June 2009

Here something useful for parents:

We are very pleased to invite you to join us for the upcoming NUS Lunchtime Forum – Conflicts and Challenges: Increasing Children's Capacity to Learn and Experience Life featuring Ms Susan Kaiser Greenland, J.D and Dr Lynette Tay Su-Mien. The forum will focus on ways to optimize children’s experiences in life.

Ms Susan Kaiser Greenland, J.D is Co-Founder and Executive Director of InnerKids, USA. She develops mindful awareness curriculum for and teaches programs to children as well as educators and parents. She was named a "Champion of Children" by First 5 LA and has played an important role in bringing secular mindfulness practice to children and teens in the West, and is committed to exploring the role, and beneficial secular applications, of mindful awareness in the real-lives of children and their families.

Dr Lynette Tay Su-Mien is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at NUS specializing in child and pediatric psychology. Her research and clinical interests lay in the translation of the available research knowledge in the area of child psychology regarding the interface between psychological and cognitive functioning and physical health into applicable skills for helping children and their parents when faced with childhood illness.

Event Details:
Date: Monday, 22 June 2009
Time: 12.30 pm – 1.30 pm
Venue: Auditorium Level 2, Lee Kong Chian Wing, NUS University Hall, Lee Kong Chian Wing, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road Singapore 119077

Enclosed is e-flyer with the full event details. To facilitate the planning of this event, we would greatly appreciate if you could respond by sending your RSVP to stewardship@nus.edu.sg by 18 June 2009. You are most welcome to bring guests along. We look forward to seeing you at this event.

Crocodile Hat

Mr Bottle: This is my conversation with 5-year-old Amy(who makes such a great pose with the Crocodile):

Mr Bottle: How did you know this...?
Amy: Because I am very smart...
Mr Bottle: What balloon would you like? any animals that you like?
Amy: hmmm... well, the animal that I like... I don't think you know how to make it...
Mr Bottle: ooooo... Look down on me yeah. let's hear it.
Amy: I want a crocodile!
Mr Bottle: Wow... Crocodile... :)
Amy: I like also like animals like lion, snakes...
(And here it is!)