Knead, eat, create and celebrate

Who says traditions are outdated and festivals are boring? Here are ways to change your kid's mind

- Elisa Chia

"Can we start yet?" eight-year-old Soh En Yi asks. She cannot wait to knead the dough and make tang yuan, or glutinous rice balls.

Her eyes light up when she gets the green light and she deftly rolls small dough pieces between her palms, shaping them into balls.

Her sisters - En Han, six, and En Rui, four - and her brother En Kai, two, join her and, in no time, the tray in front of them is lined with colourful tang yuan.

It is evident that the siblings are familiar with the activity and enjoy it.

Their parents Evelyn Lim, 36, and Soh Jung Hong, 38, co-founders of Mdm Ling Bakery, and maternal grandmother Sally Soh, 63, have been involving them whenever they prepare the traditional sweet treat at Chinese festivals such as the winter solstice.

They like to serve the tang yuan in bubur cha cha, as introduced by their domestic helper Lourdes Nicholas, 70, of more than three decades. In her home country in the Philippines, the coconut milk-based dessert is known as bilo-bilo.

Ms Lim says their family usually eats tang yuan on the first and 15th day of the Chinese New Year to symbolise tuan yuan, which means reunion or togetherness.

Mr Soh adds: "It is important to pass down traditions to the younger generation to instil in them a sense of belonging and pride."

Festive food is a fun way to engage kids as there is usually a good story behind them, Ms Lim adds.

During the Dragon Boat Festival, for instance, they regale their children with stories of how rice dumplings came about to commemorate Qu Yuan, a poet and patriot of the Warring States.

For education research scientist Yang Yang, food also plays a critical role in her celebration of Chinese festivals with her six-year-old daughter and two-year-old son.