Meet Sara the Botanicosaurus. She’s cute, she’s pink – and she lives in the Singapore Botanic Gardens!

At her home in Lawn E of the Gardens’ Tanglin Core, the fictional Sara explores nature with her Mama and her friends. There, she also learns about some interesting trees, like the old Tembusu that appears on the back of our $5 note. You can read about her explorations in the first book of the Sara series: “Sara, the Forgetful Dinosaur”, which was published in 1994.

In all, five books starring Sara have been written to enhance the Singapore Botanic Gardens’ mission of connecting plants and people. The adventures of Sara help to introduce children to the Gardens, and to learn about nature there.

When the Evolution Garden was opened in 2004, readers of the second Sara book – “Adventure with Plants: Sara at the Evolution Garden” – joined her on a journey through time and the evolution of the plant kingdom. Together with Sara, they learnt about plants that first emerged on Earth millions of years ago. And with the opening of the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden (JBCG) in 2007, Sara visited the JBCG with her siblings and friends in “The Birthday Party: Sara at the Children’s Garden”.

Originally meant for children of 5 to 8 years old, Sara’s escapades evolved to keep up with global issues, to play a bigger role in environmental education. And so the later books were written for readers of up to 12 years. In “Sara Goes Carbon Footprinting”, Sara embarks on a quest to gain some insights on carbon footprints, and how we can do our bit to care for our natural environment.

This year, Sara will learn about various types of fruits and vegetables. “Sara Goes to the Supermarket Garden” helps to address the rising concern that children in urban Singapore may be getting disassociated from nature – and may not even know how fruits and vegetables look like on the plant! This book will also encourage children to eat balanced meals, and opt for healthier and more nutritious choices, to stay strong and healthy.

The Sara series of cartoon-illustrated books don’t merely tell Sara’s story. Designed to arouse inquisitive young minds about plants, nature and the environment, they include activities that children can do at locations within the Gardens.

The young readers are encouraged to use their senses in activities: smelling flowers, crushing leaves or touching tree barks. They also learn how to observe and document nature, though drawing, colouring, making bark rubbings and labelling plant parts. And to keep them further entertained, the books also come with stickers and fun activities such as join-the-dots, crossword puzzles, and word search puzzles.

With a little help from Sara the Botanicosaurus, even the youngest park-goers can learn to enjoy and engage with nature – and to find wonder and delight in the amazing connectedness of the world around them!

By Janice Yau

We have five Sara the Botanicosaurus plush toys to give away! Simply take part in our contest for your chance to take Sara home.

 

Sara Goes to the Supermarket Garden: A Guided Tour Sara the Botanicosaurus is back! This time, Sara visits the Supermarket Garden in the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden with her siblings and friends.Join Sara to learn fascinating facts and hear interesting stories about the banana, peanut, soya bean, sugarcane, sweet potato – and many more yummy fruits and vegetables in this special garden. Learn about plants which you can eat, and pick up tips on being a nutritional winner by eating delicious greens to stay strong and healthy. Suitable for children in K1 - P6 levels Date         :  Saturday, 22 January 2011 Time        :  10:00am - 11:00am Fee          :  $9 per child (includes $3 “Sara goes to the Supermarket Garden” workbook) & $6 per accompanying adult Location  :  Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden, Bukit Timah Core of the Singapore Botanic Gardens To join the “Sara Goes to the Supermarket Garden” tour at the Children’s Garden, please register at www.sbg.org.sg (under “Education”). You can also contact 64719961 or nparks_sbg_edu@nparks.gov.sg to find out the upcoming dates for this and other guided tours!