Singapore, May 10, 2007 Further demonstrating its commitment to children’s well-being, McDonald’s today launched “Red PEA: Play, Exercise & Arts" – an edutainment programme for kids. Supporting McDonald’s belief in nourishing children - body, mind and spirit, Red PEA encourages strengthening of the parent/child bond, creative self-expression and a holistic approach to play.

Red PEA spans a six-month road show every Sunday at selected McDonald’s restaurants. Starting May 13, 2007, the first programmes will debut at McDonald’s Jurong East, McDonald’s West Coast Park and McDonald’s Singapore Science Centre.

“At McDonald’s, we strongly believe in embracing initiatives that nourish the ‘whole child’, in line with our commitment to promoting children’s well-being. Through our unique “Red PEA – Play, Exercise, Art" programme, we hope to foster important values such as family bonding, kids altruism, creative self-expression and most of all, to provide opportunities for parents to connect with their children in a happy environment," said Ms Shirley Foenander, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, McDonald’s Restaurants.

About McDonald’s Partners for Red PEA
McDonald’s has specially selected partners who share the same commitment towards enhancing the well-being of children and families. For “Play", McDonald’s has engaged the The Finger Players, one of Singapore’s leading theatre puppetry companies. The “Art" partners are LYRA Asia Pte Ltd and Little Art Bug Workshop, a children’s art school that believes that art education is for all children.

Synopses of Red PEA Programmes

May and June

Play (Puppetry)
A puppetry performance themed, “We Are Puppet Family" that promises to be engaging and interactive for little ones and adults alike.

Exercise
Fun Time With Ronald McDonald: Low-impact workout with songs, dances and games with different routines every 2 months.

Arts
Face-painting with a Shrek twist! Family fun and bonding as kids and parents paint Shrek® characters like Princess Fiona or Gingy on each others’ faces.

July and August

Play (Puppetry)
Centred around family values, July’s and August’s puppetry segment imparts character-building elements while enthralling.

Exercise
“Fun Time With Ronald McDonald" advocates fun through fitness where kids engage in active games, dances and songs.

Arts
Colour Wheel: Children learn about colours through crafting a delicious pizza-shaped windmill of many hues.

September and October

Play (Puppetry)
Travel round the globe and experience what children in other parts of the world experience through the captivating medium of puppets in this performance titled “World’s Children".

Exercise
Warm up, dance and play games with Ronald in an energetic workout in Fun Time With Ronald McDonald.

Arts
Mountains And Valleys: Your child could become the next landscape master artist using techniques learnt in this lesson on using simple lines and shapes like bricks to creatively build a unique landscape picture.

About The Finger Players

Touted as the "hottest local theatre group" and "the company to watch" by the press and media, The Finger Players is one of Singapore’s leading theatre companies. The company's unique brand of puppet theatre has won awards in Singapore and recognition around the world.

To date, the company has taken its productions to Africa, Austria, Australia, China, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Turkey, making it one of Singapore's most prolific international touring companies. It has also participated in 16 festivals in 13 cities around the world.

The company runs arts education programmes such as workshops, consultancy services and school/community tours. Pay it Forward – its charity initiative, involves 15 volunteer leaders who are trained in puppetry and drama to perform and conduct workshops for orphanages, old folks home and other similar charity outfits. The Finger Player’s Main Season branch is committed to an artistic vision that is multidisciplinary, one that fuses theatre, human actors and puppetry. Its mission is to create a theatre of imagination.

The Finger Players is a non-profit company with charity status.

About LYRA Asia Pte Ltd

LYRA Asia Pte Ltd is the regional head office of LYRA Bleistift Fabrik GmbH & Co., established since 1806 and the oldest pencil manufacturer of Nurnberg. Among the range of LYRA’s products are top-quality artist pencils, coloured pencils, crayons and fun stencils.

With its focus on product quality and attentiveness to customer needs, LYRA Asia Pte Ltd products are a hallmark of creativity and user-friendliness.

About Little Art Bug Workshop

Little Art Bug Workshop is a children's art school that was established in 2002 with the belief that Art Education is the right of every child.

It believes that the basic abilities of self-expression and imagination are not only for the elite or privileged, and seek to give children opportunities to express themselves through art by offering a range of art programmes for different scholastic needs and delive