Fun With Kids: Animation and book for Mother's Day, explaining stroke to kids

A still from To Mom (And Dad), With Love, a Mother’s Day special based on the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. PHOTO: APPLE TV+

SINGAPORE - Make family time all the more special with these ideas and activities.

Watch: Peanuts Mother's Day special animation

Charlie Brown has got his mum an ice cream cake for Mother's Day. Linus van Pelt is writing a thank-you letter for his mum. Meanwhile, Snoopy is helping Woodstock find his long-lost mum.

Everyone in the Peanuts gang is excited for the occasion, except for Peppermint Patty, who is feeling left out as she grew up without a mum. But her good friend Marcie helps her realise that she is not missing out on love and Peppermint Patty resolves to celebrate her dad on Mother's Day.

To Mom (And Dad), With Love is an original animation based on the classic Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. Stream it on Apple TV+.

Read: My Mummy Loves Me More! book

My Mummy Loves Me More! is a picture book inspired by author Josephyne Ho's childhood. PHOTO: MAGIC FISHBONE PUBLISHING

"I love my mummy and surely she loves me too?" the girl wonders time and again. She cannot be sure as her mum has never expressed her love verbally to her.

My Mummy Loves Me More! is a picture book inspired by author Josephyne Ho's childhood. "In traditional households like the one my siblings and I grew up in, the word 'love' was never uttered nor were we hugged," recalls Ho, 52, a senior principal at EtonHouse Pre-School Mountbatten 223.

It took her 30 years to be less angry with her mum and to get to know her better, she says. Her mum was 78 when she died in 2018.

Ho hopes that the book, illustrated by Afiqah M. Suhaimi, will help young readers to love and accept their mothers unconditionally. "I also hope that parents will say they love their children and hug them as often as they can."

Ho and Afiqah have also published My Daddy Is The Best! to pay tribute to fathers.

Both titles retail for $14.90 each at Books Kinokuniya and Epigram Bookshop.

Learn: Kids can be stroke heroes too

Kids Can Be Stroke Heroes Too aims to help children understand the condition better. PHOTO: NATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE INSTITUTE

What is happening to grandpa? When he came home from the hospital, he was not his usual self. Mum explains that he had a stroke and how everyone at home - young and old - can support him in his recovery.

Kids Can Be Stroke Heroes Too, a short animation created by the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI), aims to help children understand the condition better.

"A stroke happens in an instant, but the effects are often long-lasting. It affects not just the patient, but also the whole family," says Associate Professor Deidre Anne De Silva, head and senior consultant, Department of Neurology, NNI at Singapore General Hospital Campus.

"It can be particularly difficult for children to see their once active parent or grandparent having difficulty with everyday tasks such as eating, walking and talking."

She says small actions and encouragement from children in the family can make a big difference to the well-being of a stroke survivor.

For example, slurred speech is a common problem after a stroke. Kids can learn to be patient and listen carefully when a stroke survivor speaks.

Watch the video on SingHealth's YouTube channel.

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