It’s the time of the year when parents stress about how to give their children a fun and memorable summer. You might have taken the kids to the theme park two years ago. Then came the beach vacation last summer. What have you plan this year?

Why not give your children a new experience that is not only fun, but taps into their innate curiosity and desire to explore? When it comes to a memorable, summer journey – it’s not about the distance traveled, but experiences gained.

After last summer’s successful run, PMQ is glad to bring back its A Sensory Voyage –  Innovative Enrichment Programme, offering a different kind of fun for children in the form of Creative Experience Workshops that nurture creativity, exploration and self-discovery. These workshops enable children to experiment with their senses – sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. This year, PMQ has designed a series of “Summer Microadventures - Children’s Imagination Run Wild! ” in the themes of rice, bamboo, grass fields and trees, offering revelatory course in community awareness and understanding nature.  This is a series combining free-flowing excursions and interactive workshops that let children aged between 7 and 11 to navigate and learn in a fun and exciting manner. Parents are welcome to join too for a parent-and-child experience!

1: “Summer Microadventures” -Little “Rice Cooker”

Trip Length: about 2 hours

Date and Location: July 23 at PMQ Taste Library & Sheung Wan

We are all familiar with rice. It’s likely what we grew up on, and what your children grow up on now. Yet we tend to take them for granted. PMQ’s Little “Rice Cooker” offers a cultural culinary history on that important grain from Taste Library curator Craig Au-Yeung, who has done extensive research on the Asian staple food. Craig will share the illustrious origin of rice, followed by a Walk in HK walking tour to local rice shops, where children will realize that rice is more than food – it is part of our heritage and can be played with in various ways! 

Workshop Length: about 2.5 hours

Date and Location: July 30 at PMQ Taste Library

Following the walking tour, children will bring back rice to PMQ Taste Library’s kitchen, where the workshop begins! Au-Yeung, who wrote a popular book on rice in 2011, will lead a cooking process that lets children wash, steam, and pan-fry rice. Children and parents will learn and taste the many wonderful food items rice can become, including dessert!

Journey Guide: Walk in HK & PMQ Taste Library

Walk in Hong Kong - Experience Hong Kong like never before with a walking tour that explores the city, its people, and heritage in up-close and personal ways. Every corner of Hong Kong has a story – it’s up to you to learn about it.

PMQ Taste Library :  presented by PMQ and Hong Kong’s well-respected artist Craig Au-Yeung, as part of the resource centre, the Taste Library holds a collection of three thousand books covering different food cultures from around the globe: from classic recipes to travel and living; from food history to cities’ food guides. With the great support from the librarian team of Hong Kong Design Centre, Taste Library is open to the public with the clearest and most user-friendly catalog.

Craig Au-Yeung, Curator of PMQ’s Taste Library, Craig is a creative artist and food culture curator active throughout Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. His work spans the fields of comics, writing, design, catering innovations, and more. He believes in crossing boundaries and is keen to subvert. In other words – he thinks outside the box.

Andy Lai, Assistant Curator of PMQ Taste Library, a graduate from culinary academy and vlogger specializes in cooking and gastronomy. He believes food removes language barrier and connections inspire recipe ideas. 

2: “Summer Microadventures” -Island & Tree; City & Wood

Trip Length: 2.5 hours, NOT including the boat ride

Date and Location: July 24 at Lamma Island

With summer weather in full force, let your children escape the concrete jungle and explore a real natural jungle. Leading the journey in Lamma Island is an island ecology guide, who will lead parents and children through the woods, learning about the myriad of plant life. Children will also collect leaves and twigs to be used in a DIY creative workshop. 

Workshop Length: about 2.5 hours

Date and Location: July 31 at PMQ S710

Back in the city, local artist Wong Tin-yan will guide children in building a miniature wooden city out of recycled wood pieces. Through crafting the wooden structure, discussions, story-telling and observation, children will experience a profound reflection on the city in which they live.

Journey Guide: Lamma Corner & Local artist Wong Tin-yan

Lamma Corner is an environmental tour group that focuses on raising awareness to the importance of environmental protection and ecological conservation through tours and workshops.

Wong Tin-yan graduated from the Department of Fine Arts, Chinese University. He specializes in using junk woods to craft sculptures of cartoon animals. His works have been exhibited by the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and he’s been approached by major international brands for collaborative projects. He has also been engaged in arts education over the past decade.

3: “Summer Microadventures” -Bamboo Racecars

Workshop Length: About 2.5 hours

Date and Location: August 13 at PMQ S710

Bamboo is deceptively strong. It can be bent significantly before folding; even when folded, it stays as one piece. Its strength and versatility make bamboo the preferred tool of construction and crafts. Young product design team KaCaMa Design Lab will guide children & parents to use these magical plants to create their own working toy cars!

Trip Length: About 2 hours

Date and Location: August 20 at Sai Ying Pun 

Let’s go to the steepest street in Hong Kong and test your toy car! Parents and children will take the streets of historic Sai Ying Pun, testing their newly hand-made toy cars down the hills. In the meanwhile, witness the myriad of ways bamboos are part of everyday Hong Kong life. You’ll see them on the side of buildings, in shops, and dim sum baskets! 

Journey Guide: Walk in HK & KaCaMa Design Lab

Walk in Hong Kong - Experience Hong Kong like never before with a walking tour that explores the city, its people, and heritage in up-close and personal ways. Every corner of Hong Kong has a story – it’s up to you to learn about it.

KaCaMa Design Lab is a team of local product designers who specializes in reusing post-consumer waste materials to create handicrafts that resonate with local culture and raise awareness for eco-awareness.

4: “Summer Microadventures” -Create from Nature

Trip Length: About 8 hours including boat ride

Date and Location: August 7 at Lai Chi Wo

Bring your little explorers on an adventure of a Hong Kong hidden gem! Located within the Plover Cove Country Park and with more than 300 years of history, Lai Chi Wo is a Hakka walled village known for its culture and trees. On this half-day excursion, a professional guide will show parents and children how to make art with soil, go on a “treasure hunt” for vegetables, soak  themselves in the blindfolded sound tour, and enjoy a traditional home-cooked snacks from indigenous Lai Chi Wo people. Children will learn to collect twigs and fruits, and develop a newfound appreciation for, and understanding of, nature.

Workshop Length: about 2 hours

Date and Location: August 14, PMQ S710

The twigs, fruits and other bits of nature the children bring back will be put to good use in this workshop that lets them craft art sculptures, which can be used to stage an impromptu theater.

Journey Guide: Environmental artist Monti, Lai Wai-yi and artist Thomas, Yuen Wing-yin

Monti, Lai Wai-yi, known adoringly by her students as “Mushroom Teacher”, has a master’s degree in environmental arts from Aalto University (former University of Art and Design Helsinki). In recent year she has made Lai Chi Wo her second home, where she developed a love for planting. Her hobby is to take items from around town and craft geographical environmental art. 

Thomas, Yuen Wing-yin, local artist, his creative works are often sparked off by inspirations from slice of life, extending to the spiritual and behavioral responses to social phenomena. His work focuses on illustrations and visual arts.

June 26 - PMQ Invites You To Get Sneak Peek At Its “Summer Microadventures” Open House!

Get a preview of the journey before you embark! PMQ will offer a free taste of “Summer Microadventures” on June 26, 2-5 pm: use rice to make ice cream, tell stories with unwanted old cardboards, bamboo car test run, mud as art canvas! Anyone who’s interested can join for free on the spot. PMQ has also teamed up with non-profit making organization Playright Children’s Association to set up a play corner with interactive games for children between the ages of 3 and 11. Got any questions? Come ask us at the Open House!

“Microadventures - Children’s Imagination Run Wild!” Open For Applications Starting Today

Application Procedure: Interested parties to fill in details at http://www.pmq.org.hk/event/a-sensory-voyage-2016/

Fee:

*The fee does not include ferry fare and meals.

#Each adult/ parent can enroll/ travel with a maximum of 2 accompanying children.

If more than 1 adult from the same family enroll/travel together, you’ll need to pay for each additional adult with the fee of “additional child”.

Programme enquiries: 5625-9157

marketing@pmq.org.hk