Are you an educator looking for resources to teach Chinese culture in your classroom? Why not start with something which everyone likes, such as food!
Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre presents My Little CookBook, an e-book that focuses on three snacks eaten during Chinese festivals. Each snack includes a write-up about its origins, a fun fact and step-by-step baking instructions with accompanying illustrations.
This e-book will teach your little ones about Chinese festivals and their beloved snacks, complete with simple recipes to re-create with your children. At the same time, you can also teach them how these Chinese festivals pass down family values like love, kindness, and filial piety! These step-by-step recipes use simple and affordable ingredients which can be found in most household kitchens.
Email education@singaporeccc.org.sg to get a full copy of My Little CookBook.
To equip preschool educators with the skills to teach about our distinctive Chinese Singaporean culture through food, language and customs, we have collaborated with Ngee Ann Polytechnic Chinese Media & Communication to develop age-appropriate resources such as The Learning Kid!
The Learning Kid is a kit with sensory materials such as handmade puppets, story-telling cards and yusheng “ingredients”. Preschool educators may use The Learning Kid prior to or after your visit to the SINGAPO人 exhibition.
Email education@singaporeccc.org.sg to request for use of this kit. Please note that The Learning Kid can only be used in the Centre. Download the Teacher’s Manual which consists of Lesson Plans and resources to be used together with The Learning Kid.
The JangandFox comic series explores the 10 values cherished by the Chinese — Loyalty (忠), Filial Piety (孝), Kindness (仁), Love (爱), Courtesy (礼), Righteousness (义), Honesty (廉), Shame (耻), Thrift (俭), and Perseverance (毅). These values are depicted by adorable characters that bring these values to life!
Are you an educator looking for resources to teach culture in your classroom? Or are you looking for content regarding topics about local food, language, festivals, and values?
Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre has specially produced a series of articles for schools which discusses Chinese Singaporean culture through local food, kopitiam lingo, Chinese festivals, the arts, and values cherished by the Chinese.
These comprehension passages are written with multiple choice questions & answers and are suitable for different age groups. Educators can use them for classroom teaching and learning or supplement the learning before or after your visit to the SINGAPO人 exhibition .
We would also like to hear what you think of the articles in this short questionnaire here.
| Title | Suitable for |
| International Recognition for Local Film | Lower Secondary Higher Chinese |
| Zhongyuan Festival and Getai Culture | Lower Secondary Higher Chinese |
| Values Cherished by the Chinese | Lower Secondary Express Chinese |
| Chinese Singaporean Surnames | Lower Secondary Higher Chinese |
| Kopitiam Culture | Lower Secondary Chinese |
| Singapore’s Theatre Doyen: Kuo Pao Kun | Lower Secondary Higher Chinese |
| Comfort Food: Hainanese Chicken Rice | Upper Secondary Express Chinese |
| The Beginning of Chinese Education for Girls in Singapore | Upper Secondary Higher Chinese |
Partnering with Ngee Ann Polytechnic once again, the Year 2 Chinese Studies students (in 2019) created 10 picture books to promote the learning of Chinese Singaporean culture.
These picture books cover themes from the SINGAPO人 exhibition, such as multiculturalism, local Chinese festivals, local food, stories about early migrants from China, and values cherished by the Chinese community. Each picture book contains a lesson plan for preschool and primary school students and hopes to inspire the younger generation to take an interest in our distinctive local culture.
Now, you can purchase all 10 books in a set, all in bilingual English and Chinese text! Purchase it on Shopee, Lazada, or Asiapac Books webstore.
Watch the video (in Mandarin) below for some ideas on how you can use these stories to teach your children.
A young boy from abroad visited a hawker centre to try Singapore’s famous food. He ordered 5 different dishes with their own unique local characteristics. Suddenly, something strange happened. His body started to grow uncontrollably every time he took a bite. It turns out everything was just a dream!
Xiao Cheng’s Grandma hand was injured and Xiao Cheng did his best to help her during this inconvenient period. He tried soothing Grandma’s wound every night, helping to wash her dishes and clothes, and buying a new pair of gloves for her.
While her wound did not heal, Grandma was moved by Xiao Cheng’s considerate and heart-warming behaviour.
Little Mouse Le Le went to the city in search of a mouth-watering bowl of Bak Kut Teh, in order to nourish Grandpa Mouse’s thinning body.
When Le Le found the Bak Kut Teh, she attempted to take it away secretly, but was caught red-handed by the boss of the shop. After Le Le’s remorseful pleading and explanation, the boss was moved by his filial piety and decided to pass down his secret Bak Kut Teh family recipe to her.
As he was teaching Le Le, the boss also explained the history and development of the dish. Armed with the knowledge of Bak Kut Teh, Le Le hurried back to Mouse City to cook the dish for her grandfather. A few weeks later, Grandpa Mouse slowly recuperated and recovered.
On the ninth day of the first lunar month, a little boy and his family were spring cleaning and preparing the offerings in celebration of the Heaven God’s birthday.
He was intrigued by one of the offerings, a sugar cane. His father took the chance to tell him about the tales and traditions of the Heaven God’s birthday, including the worship rituals and offerings involved in the celebration. Eventually, the boy understood more about this traditional practice.
One day, a teacher took her students on a learning journey to the National Museum of Singapore. Suddenly, one of the little girls saw a middle-aged lady wearing a red headscarf and this made her curious.
After an explanation by her teacher, the young girl learnt that the middle-aged lady with a red headscarf was known as a Samsui woman, who played an important part in the history of Singapore, especially in the construction of many famous buildings and monuments in Singapore.
On Le Le’s 7th birthday, he wanted to do something special for his parents, so he volunteered to order drinks for his family at the coffee shop. When Le Le was queueing up in line to get his drinks, he overheard other customers using special drink names that he has never heard of. Le Le, who was perplexed by these ‘strange’ drink names, ran back to his seat to ask Dad what was going on.
Dad proceeded to explain the origins of these special drink names and terms to Le Le. After listening, he found these names very amusing. That day, Le Le became not only a year older, but also a year wiser.
Wei Wei was prejudiced against foreign workers while she was on a train with her father, due to their sloppy attire. Her father then took this opportunity to share about her grandfather’s experience as a Nanyang Chinese.
Wei Wei then understood the hardships her grandfather went through when he left his hometown, and realised how the foreign workers were in the same predicament as her grandfather in the past. She developed a deep admiration for the hard work and perseverance of her grandfather and had a newfound understanding and appreciation of foreign workers. She would even greet them kindly to show her respect for them.
During a young boy’s first experience celebrating Chinese New Year, he accompanied his cousin to visit their grandmother. They offered her mandarin oranges, ate a variety of uniquely Singaporean New Year food, and proclaimed auspicious phrases while tossing the yusheng. This made his first Chinese New Year experience in Singapore meaningful and memorable.
While humans celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival on Earth, the Jade Rabbit and his family were also celebrating it on the moon! Since they were on the moon itself and cannot admire the moon in the sky, they decided to ‘admire’ the humans who were celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival on Earth instead.
They prepared riddles, carrot tea, carrot mooncakes, and carrot-shaped lanterns for the occasion. During the celebration, Jade Rabbit and his family suddenly recalled the task Chang’e had asked them to do. Read the story to find out more!
According to Singaporean Chinese New Year customs, relatives and friends would gather to toss yusheng on the seventh day of the first lunar month. The young boy did not understand the tradition and mistook the shredded vegetables for noodles, almost finishing all the raw fish before the elders could toss the yusheng.
Fortunately, the elders in the family patiently explained the tradition to the young boy and answered his questions. He finally learnt about the lohei tradition.
In our SINGAPO人 exhibition, we will be exploring our distinctive Chinese Singaporean culture through food, language and customs. To prepare educators for a self-guided visit to the exhibition, we have specially prepared a Guide for Educators for free download and use prior to your visit.
Download Guide
What does it mean to be a Chinese Singaporean? Get your young ones started on this journey using this flip card to look for magical shadows and hunt for that chou chou pillow. Engage children ages 5 – 9 years old through the exhibition SINGAPO人 and hunt for these treasures to complete your mission as a little explorer!
Find out what it means to be a Chinese Singaporean with this expert explorer’s booklet as you make your way around the exhibition SINGAPO人. Suitable for ages 10 and above, learn more about the daily life of a Chinese Singaporean as you search for clues on what they eat, speak and celebrate, and sketch your own interpretations.
Young or old, there’s always something new for you to learn about our Singapore Chinese culture! Check out the array of programmes available at our SINGAPO人 exhibition, and embark on your journey of discovery today!
