In light of the COVID-19 situation in Singapore, the Celebrating Fathers movement took place entirely online – featuring a campaign to appreciate Dads for everything they are doing for their families and our community, especially how they engage their children and help them thrive in this challenging season.
Themed Voices of Children, Celebrating Fathers 2020 will encourage children to show appreciation to Dads as they continue to do all the things that matter for their families and our community. The campaign aims to encourage fathers through the voices of their children, and with support from their spouses, to be the best father and husband they can be.
As a show of appreciation for Dads, Mums and children were invited to contribute messages, photos or videos with a Father’s Day message for Dads on Instagram with hashtag #THANKYOUDADSG2020. The first 2000 submissions received a Celebrating Fathers Family Pack in return. The Celebrating Fathers Family Pack contains exclusive items including materials for the Design A Tee for Dad contest with prizes up to $200 to be won. This year’s campaign ran from June 8 to July 11.
Initiated in 2016, the Celebrating Fathers movement seeks to raise awareness of the importance of active fathering with a line-up of exciting activities celebrating Father’s Day each year. The Celebrating Fathers 2020 campaign is jointly organised by Centre for Fathering, DADs for Life, Families for Life and Mediacorp, in support of Made for Families.
“Celebrating Fathers is also a platform to highlight a father’s influence and his contributions to his home, community and society during this pandemic season. In addition to protecting and providing for their families, many fathers are more engaged with shared parenting in the home, through greater involvement in household chores and the children’s home-based learning. Regardless of the circumstances faced by every family, Dads are seizing every teachable moment to help their children learn about resilience in adverse situations. We want all families to have the opportunity to appreciate and celebrate Dad’s contributions this Father’s Day,” said Bryan Tan, CEO, Centre for Fathering and DADs for Life.
Mr Parminder Singh, Chief Commercial and Digital Officer, Mediacorp, said, “We are very happy to partner Centre for Fathering, DADs For Life and Families For Life, in support of Made for Families to spotlight fatherhood through one of the best ways – the voices of children! This year, we encourage kids to take the initiative in showing love for their fathers in appreciation of the myriad roles they play in supporting and building strong families. As we bring an array of exciting and engaging online activities in the Celebrating Fathers campaign, we hope these can also foster more invaluable parent-child bonding sessions and create precious memories for the family.”
Said Families for Life (FFL) Chairman, Mr Ishak Ismail, “Celebrating Fathers is an excellent way within the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic to continue to acknowledge the crucial role fathers play within the family. With fathers working from home, they also are now more involved in their children’s lives. Let us now, more than ever, choose family time and make this a truly special Father’s Day.”
A Day With Dad
A Day With Dad was one of the main highlights of Celebrating Fathers 2020. It featured a series of online father-child bonding activities on Facebook conducted by Centre for Fathering and several partners. These included cooking adventures by a DADs for Life volunteer; craft sessions where fathers and children can create a faux stained glass, a disco ball that reflects light and a robotic arm as well as a music and movement workshop with instruments made of things you find at home! The online sessions took place on the DADs for Life Facebook page: fb.com/dadsforlife.
Dad’s Promise
This Father’s Day, fathers from all over Singapore will pledge to be the best father they can be to their children with the Dad’s Promise pledge. To seal their promises, fathers will be invited to contribute videos of themselves reciting the pledge, signing a pledge form or posting the pledge on social media.
Visit www.celebratingfathers.sg for more details on Celebrating Fathers.