Students Showcase Technical and Soft Skills at Singapore’s Largest Toy-making Competition

SINGAPORE, 8 November 2018 – The 21^st edition of the Sony Creative Science Award (SCSA) saw 5,750 bright minds from 90 primary schools participate in the competition. SCSA is Singapore’s largest national toy-making competition for primary school students, jointly organised by the Science Centre Singapore and the Sony Group of Companies in Singapore, with the support of the Ministry of Education.

Guest-of-Honour Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Education together with Associate Professor Lim Tit Meng, Chief Executive of Science Centre Singapore and Mr Moriharu Ide, Division Managing Director, Sony Electronics Asia Pacific presented 29 awards to students. In addition, 40 exemplary teachers were handed the Blue Ribbon and Diamond Awards.

For over 20 years, SCSA has been the premier toy competition for students in Singapore, providing a platform for students to express their inner creativity by making toys that display the principles of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). This year, SCSA introduced an on-the-spot toy-making challenge, in addition to the usual presentation and interview components of the Final Judging Round. Students were briefed about the toy-making challenge on site and were provided with a variety of materials to create a toy to perform a specific task, within a time limit. They were then judged on both their earlier toy submission and the toy they built in the Final Judging Round.

Students rose to the challenge and applied their creative-thinking skills to build toys with everyday items including paper, bottle caps and even balloons. Through the hands-on toy-making experience, the award aims to promote interest and creativity in science among primary school students in Singapore and instil in them the joy of learning. The award focuses on four key areas: craftsmanship, problem-solving, creativity and X-Factor. It aims to inspire creativity and hands-on at a young age and encourages the students to transform science concepts and ideas into fun toys.

2018 Winners

Lin Yi Cheng, a Primary 6 student from Bedok Green Primary School walked away with the top prize in the WhizKid category for his “Awesome Super Duper Realistic Fighting Simulator”. Inspired by traditional arcade machines, the toy was made using cardboards, motors and strings, and allows players to compete against each other in a realistic fighting game. The game also features a health indicator that responds in real-time when a character takes a hit.

In the Junior WhizKid category, two students bagged special awards for their toy creations. Leong Yu Sing, a Primary 2 student from Pei Chun Public School, walked away with the “Creative Use of Bottle Caps” award for his “pinball” machine with a unique launch mechanism made from bottle caps. Guo Zucheng, a Primary 2 student from Fuhua Primary School, received the “Building Connections” award for re-interpreting the popular Pipe Mania puzzle game, where players connect random pieces of pipes on a grid to create a path from start to finish.

In addition to the students, five teachers from Rulang Primary School, Global Indian International School, Cedar Primary School and Pei Chun Public School were presented the Diamond Award for their strong support and participation in SCSA for at least 3 years, including mentoring another Blue Ribbon recipient, and having won at least two Blue Ribbon Awards prior. The Blue Ribbon Award recognises teachers who have played significant roles in motivating and mentoring students for SCSA.

Benjamin Kua Li Wei from Pei Chun Public School is among this year’s Diamond Award winners and was nominated for successfully guiding the SCSA team in his school for the past three years. His efforts helped his school in achieving the most number of shortlisted toys in the Junior Whizkid category this year. Prior to receiving the Diamond Award this year, Benjamin was a Blue Ribbon recipient for two consecutive years in 2016 and 2017.

 Speaking about SCSA, Mr Moriharu Ide, Division Managing Director, Sony Electronics Asia Pacific said, “We are extremely proud of the effort that the students have put in for this year’s competition. SCSA provides students a platform to experiment, be innovative and discover their interests – and they have truly delivered. These young minds have displayed critical thinking, creativity and more importantly a sense of ambition which will continue with them throughout their learning journey.”

Associate Professor Lim Tit Meng, Chief Executive of Science Centre Singapore shared, “Year on year the committee has continued to be impressed by the quality of toys that our students build. Our collaboration with Sony has enabled us to ignite a passion for tinkering and hands-on learning through toy-making.”

“I would also like to congratulate and thank the Diamond and Blue Ribbon award recipients for their dedication and contribution in guiding and motivating the schools and students. At the Centre, we work closely with teachers to introduce holistic learning experiences through hands-on learning resources and competitive platforms such as SCSA. Besides inspiring students to pursue a career in STEM, we believe it is equally important to develop important lifelong values such as curiosity, inventiveness and resourcefulness, and teachers are effective multipliers of such aspiration,” he added.

The top three winners for the WhizKid category (Primary 3 to 6) received Sony product vouchers worth $1,000, $600 and $300 respectively, recipients of the Merit Award for the Junior WhizKid category (Primary 1 & 2) received Sony product vouchers worth $100, while the winning schools received cash prizes.

 About Sony Creative Science Award (SCSA)

Started in 1998, the Sony Creative Science Award (SCSA) aims to develop and promote interest as well as creativity in science among primary school students in Singapore. It also provides an opportunity to learn science beyond the classrooms, in a fun and enjoyable way.

In this competition, primary school students are invited to use their imagination and creativity to make toys that demonstrate scientific principles. Workshops covering communications, creativity and hands-on sessions for both students and teachers are also provided as part of the SCSA programme.

Since its inception, more than 68,000 toys have been submitted, making this competition the largest toy-making competition in Singapore. SCSA is jointly organised by Science Centre Singapore and Sony Group of Companies in Singapore, with support from the Ministry of Education.

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