MANILA, Philippines - Help your child be Number One in life.

This was the premise behind the NIDO Fortified Scientastic Mall Tour which was launched Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia, where the NIDO Fortified Discovery Center was also located.

Suzi Entrata-Abrera, the celebrity host of the launch revealed that Scientastic was actually the combination of the words "science" and "fantastic."

The NIDO Fortified Scientastic Mall Tour seeks to promote what they called "assisted discovery," wherein parents provide guidance to their children's learning process.

The mall tour, according to NIDO, is a "unique exhibit...which shows parents and children how much learning can be done in the comfort of their own homes," as they showed simple experiments which parents and children can prepare themselves.

"NIDO believes in the importance of family," said Eugene David, Nestle Philippines business executive manager for Dairy, Health and Nutrition Solutions (DHNS).

Ellen Isturis, Nestle Philippines' consumer marketing manager for the Dairy, Health, and Nutrition Department said that NIDO aims to partner with parents "in helping your child be his best," and stated that aside from nurturing children's health, their learning potential should also be given extra importance.

An expert in family life and child development, Dr. Lilian-Leynes Juadiong expressed that "parents simply need to be willing to learn and discover answers with their children," and added that parents should read books and share stimulating conversations with children.

Juadiong stated that parents would need to "encourage (their) children to ask questions" and help them analyze and provide answers, as this is a good bonding activity for both child and parent.

The family life and child development expert also told parents that in order to help in their children's learning development, they should:
?encourage them to ask questions,
?summarize the answers for their kids and repeat the concepts,
?clarify unfamiliar or ambiguous concepts,
?encourage children to analyze and predict the answers themselves.

Isturis said that the Scientastic mall tour would let moms and dads provide their kids with "expert nutrition" but also with educational experiences they can share as a family.

Children and parents who were present at the launch learned about recycling, sounds, health and nutrition, and many more topics that were taught through simple experiments which can also be done at home. Parents also received tips on how concepts can be explained to their children.

Isturis promised more family-oriented activities from NIDO Fortified as they would continue in their campaign to increase awareness about the benefits of "assisted discovery."

Catch the mall tour on November 27 at SM Fairview and December 4-5 at SM Bicutan or visit the NIDO Fortified Science Discovery Center at SM Mall of Asia which has over 400 exhibits.