Propping For Fun

Against all that is me, I spent the whole 4 out of 6 days holiday indoors!

I had 6 wonderful days off work - starting with the weekend and then the 2 public holidays for Chinese New Year and another 2 due to plant shutdown.

The 2 days on weekends were spent outside, shopping for the Sonny's school's upcoming Care and Share Day fun-fair event. The whole day event will be held on 21 February 2009.

The rest of the 4 days were spent indoors at home creating and making our props we proposed for the games booths that we will be tending too during the event.

This is our second year at Dunman Secondary School as DSP or Dedicated & Supportive Parents group in tasked to create, make and tend to the games booths with the other parents in our Games group.

Though I was missing out on biking and nature walks and getting some sun, yet it was time well spent and fun, especially when our creative juices were flowing and so proud of ourselves when we managed to realize our proposals successfully.


We managed to complete all props for the 3 games booths we proposed and did it nice, I should say, out of discarded carton boxes we scavenged the neighborhood and Seven-Eleven shops dumpsters.

It was quite an embarrassing time when we were out collecting the carton boxes, with stares from passers-by... maybe thinking this couple had lost their jobs and now collecting carton boxes for money with recyclers. The fact that we went out in the dark of the night just for that did not lessen that feeling.

Nevertheless, we braved ourselves and collected them around the neighborhood and got to make our props nicely for the charity event; for the needy students and families in Sonny's school.

Like always when there is that element of fun, time moved super-fast on us. From the first prop completed to the last one done, the 4 days at home seemed just like yesterday.

Last year we created "Stick 'Em Up" - a Spiderman-inspired game with rousing success.

The same reception by the students and visitors was with our other games booth we called "MARBLEous P!cks" tended to by Wifey.

This year, we were requested to set the two booths up again, but letting the other parents to tend these booths while tend to the new ones we conceived and proposed during the last DSP meeting.


Our "master-pieces" are for the 2 new games we thought of and created the props for them. One is called "Hooked-On Fishing" and the other "Ancient Puzzlers."

These are really old concepts, but should be fun to play and we are sure the visitors, especially the children and students will love to play.

To make the games booths more attractive, we have created some props to decorate each booth to complete the theme and have that carnival appeal to each booth.

Without a proper drawing tool on my iMac, I resorted to using MS Excel to make a concept drawing for each games booth for the DSP and teachers to better visualize our proposals.

These drawings will also give the school the stuff we need like the number tables and benches each boot will need to set up, while we bring the poles and accessories, and of course our props we made.

Sonny has volunteered his time to tend to the "Stick 'Em Up" booth this time too. Wifey wants to tend to the "Hooked-On Fishing" while I tend to the "Ancient Puzzlers."

We are bringing some props to the next meeting to show the DSP the realized concepts and the amount of spaces each booth will need. Hopefully the teachers and principle will like it and be as excited are Wifey and I are.

The bonus is when we get to see the visitors happy to play at our games booths. Should be another wonderful time.