Event + Giveaway: 3M Scotch Expressions tapes

I recently attended a launch event that let me discover EV's independence & determination. Just which event could this be?

It's the launch of the 3M Scotch Expressions Tapes. What, you may ask. Yes, it's Scotch. Those sticky, durable tapes that many love so much for their practicality. So much so that we would say Scotch tape to refer to any sticky tapes in general, not just Scotch-branded tapes. It's the same for Post-its, but we will come to that in another post.

Scotch has basically reinvented their sticky tape and added a whole lot of fun to it. Think decorative and Washi tapes. Yup, I can just see creative afficionados reading this with increased curiosity. All tapes decorative have been the rage in the creative circle recently, isn't 3M Scotch just jumping on the bandwagon? Well, not so. Not when one realises the potential to reach beyond the creative crafty people to the masses, with its rather reasonable price points ($3.90-$9.90) and huge number of selling points.

And the launch event was planned as a creative event, one that targets mums and their kids. Smart. Some of the mums already have a creative streak in them, and the event was perfect in encouraging mums to share that with their kids. And it was here that I caught up with many of the SMB mummy bloggers whom I usually chat with online. It's so great to see so many like minded mummies around.

EV was starting to get tired as she had her art lesson earlier in the day, but she gamely soldiered on. The moment we entered Food for Thought at Singapore Art Museum, she gravitated to the display of items decorated with these new Expressions tapes. She was curiously touching and exploring them - a good start.

Then she took one of the tape rolls, a pair of scissors and started to cut short lengths of tape to stick on to a box she was toying with, all on her own. That was better than good. But she saved the best for last.

After a short briefing on what we were supposed to do during the craft session - either an angel or castle using a chair and paper plate wings or cardboard, we started sticking the tapes to the paper plate angel wings (the boys get to do a castle). Because of the irregular shape, EV had a bit of difficulty sticking the tapes uniformly on to the paper plates. Then she decided to decorate the chair. She must have been inspired by what the daddy sitting next to her was doing.

For the next hour, EV was fully focused on the chair. She started by making an E, then she washified the seat, carefully aligning each tape and ensuring even the undersides was decorated. Then she moved to the legs, and she surprised me by letting the chair rest on its backrest, so that the legs are up in the air. She first stuck tape by tape, but then decided it was easier to just use one roll and go round and round to wrap the chair legs. Then she turned the chair 180 degrees to get to the remaining two legs. She was on the floor, in her knees, and fully determined to complete wrapping all four legs. In between her task, she would stop for a quick sip of ribena or a bite of the red velvet cake (Thanks for Food For Thought, she has discovered a love for this cake).

Her perseverance was astounding. Her independence was amazing. I refrained from interfering and let her 自由发挥 (explore freely), only assisting when she asked for help. It goes to show that when given the space, kids do have amazing tenacity and capabilities. All one has to do is to give them the freedom to try.

EV was so proud of what she had done, that she asked whether she could bring the chair back, not aware that she was meant to bring it home. She must have enjoyed the experience so much that the next morning, she continued to washify her chair. AA got into the action too.

Here’s her achievement (mummy contributed one wing). Nice?

EV’s washifying other stuff too, like the crayon boxes, tables and so on. She and AA are even learning with it. More on that in another post.

If you like what you read, and would like to get more creative ideas, or even share some of your own, go to MyActivityRoom. There are ideas on how you can use the decorative tapes for learning and creating. 

Giveaway!!!

3M Scotch gave us Expressions tapes to bring home, and we would like to share some with ONE lucky reader! To take part, just follow the instructions below. Good luck!

Terms and conditions:
- Entries that do not fulfill the requirements stated will be disqualified without notice.
- Winners will be notified by email, through the email address provided in the Rafflecopter widgets.
- Winners must confirm by reply email, within three days. Otherwise, a new winner will be picked.
- This giveaway is open to Singapore residents only.
- Giveaway starts on 17 March and ends on 31 March (inclusive) at midnight.
- Winners will be announced on this post and my Facebook page by 4 April.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: We were invited to the 3M Scotch Expressions tapes launch event. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions  and images are my own.

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