It was an interesting experience building castles on the beach. For one, I’ve never imagined that I could accomplish more than a dilapidated structure consisting of a few bucket of sand and water.

However, my son and I walked away from yesterday’s sandcastle building activity with a little more than some rudimentary architecture lessons.

The outing’s organised by by our company’s CSR committee which involve the volunteers spending some time with kids from Rainbow Center Singapore (an organization that serves children with a diverse range of special developmental and learning needs) building sandcastles on the beach.

This also prompted us to bring our own kids along, which might make the whole experience a fun filled one with all the kids on the beach.

The instructors from Castles Can Fly were giving us tips on how to construct a sturdy castle on firm foundation, which comprises of 3 things. 1) Sand, 2) Water and 3) Pressure.

One instructor quickly pointed out that in a family or relationship, where one party is the “Sand” and the other is the “Water”, you will need to put in the “Effort” which is like “Pressure” in a sandcastle to keep it together.

Thinking back on the activities, it was indeed a nice reflection and learning we took away from all the shovelling and “sandcastling”.

It is truly amazing how taking a few hours to truly bond with your kids can result in fond memories for the little one. I have to admit that I don’t do enough of this with all the travelling for work, addiction to my mobile devices, and other crazy excuses I may come up with.

The outing also made me understand my 6-year-old son a little more.

Back home, while we were having our bedtime chat on how he liked the day’s activity. He told me that he enjoyed himself a lot and made a few new friends. He even shared with me how he and his new friends worked together in building their little sandcastle.

So, for this Father’s Day, I would encourage everyone to take that few hours and spend it with your family and kids.

And for companies that are organising your own CSR programs, do invite the families and kids to participate. It is a great opportunity to bond and create that memorable experience.

Happy Father’s Day!

Eric