Collaborative post
For young children, there’s no end of things to learn about oneself, the world, and other people. At this stage of their development, kids absorb lessons like sponges, taking in information and experiences with enthusiasm and receptiveness that just can’t be replicated later in life.
Needless to say, this openness to learning really comes in handy for school-aged children. Most will be raring to acquire new knowledge and pick up new skills in an environment that is completely different from the home. It’s important for parents to remember, however, that learning experiences extend far beyond the four walls of the classroom. Visiting educational attractions and doing learning activities together is an excellent means of supplementing children’s learning, and it’s also a great way for families to bond as they explore the wide world together.
If you’re raising a young child or children in Singapore, you’re in luck. A veritable multitude of “edu-tainment” facilities for kids of all ages can be found all around the island. These establishments allow children to connect with nature, exercise their creativity, interact with new people, and strengthen the skills they’ve been learning at school. Whether your child attends an American school in Singapore or a government-run institution, they’ll definitely enjoy one-of-a-kind learning experiences—and hours of fun!—at the following places:
Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden
Built around the idea that all living things on earth depend on plant life, the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden is the first garden space in Asia designed exclusively for children. Its aim is to instill environmental consciousness and a love of nature in its young visitors through experiential learning and immersive play.
The Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden is divided into a number of discrete spaces, including an orchard, a farm, and a forest area with ponds and a running stream passing through. Children can cross the garden’s suspension bridge, enter the treehouses, or explore a variety of other nature play areas scattered throughout the facility. They’ll also have opportunities to learn how different types of plants are cultivated. Budding gardeners may even seek out staff members for some expert garden advice they can bring home and put into practice after their visit.
Playeum, Children’s Centre for Creativity
Playeum is an independent IPC charity organization that advocates for nurturing children’s creativity through play and the arts. As part of its mission, it seeks to create safe spaces where kids can express themselves creatively and build their confidence. The Children’s Centre for Creativity at Gillman Barracks is one such space, and it’s also the first creative space intended exclusively for children in Singapore.
The Children’s Centre for Creativity is best understood as partially a children’s museum and partially a large, interactive playground. It caters to children aged 1-12 years and is divided into four major areas. For example, the Main Area is intended mostly for toddlers and filled with wooden toys and manipulable foam objects. The Play Maker space, meanwhile, allows older kids to exercise their imaginations and make their own toys with household and recycled items.
The Centre runs various themed interactive exhibits that are open for all families to explore. These exhibits usually change once a year. Playeum also regularly offers camps, workshops, and other educational activities at the Centre that children from all walks of life can participate in.
Keppel Centre for Art Education
Singapore’s National Gallery also operates its own play space for children called the Keppel Centre for Art Education. The space is meant to make art appreciation more enjoyable for children and to stimulate their imaginations in the process. Dynamic, interactive installations like mazes and large puzzles turn the process of learning about art into an immersive game that visitors will be happy to spend hours playing.
The Keppel Centre’s highlight, known as The Enchanted Treehouse, is a fantastical play area that simulates a storybook come to life. Artist Sandra Lee’s artworks cover the walls and floor, creating the illusion that visitors are entering into a painting. Other installations allow visitors to learn about the tools and techniques different artists use—a potentially fertile source of inspiration for young creative practitioners. Keppel Centre also offers guided tours, workshops, and other activities for visitors of all ages, so it’s worth looking up any ongoing events before visiting.
Kranji Marshes
For little ones who love to spend time in the great outdoors, Kranji Marshes offers an incomparable, in-depth look into Singapore’s unique biodiversity. This 56.8-hectare stretch of freshwater marshland is home to 54 species of butterflies, 33 species of dragonflies, and over 170 species of birds—and that’s just scratching the surface. It’s far and away one of the largest marshes in Singapore and, together with its neighbor the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, is an important site for wildlife and biodiversity conservation in the country.
Take your little one for a walk around Neo Tiew Woods and you may just spy huge monitor lizards, along with a plethora of other birds and reptiles. The park’s Marsh Station also affords visitors a rare chance to view normally reclusive marsh birds such as the Common Moorhen and the Purple Swamphen in their natural habitat. With such a vast and varied array of species and habitats, Kranji Marshes make the perfect place to teach your child about the wonders of the natural world and just how important it is to protect it.
At the end of the day, there are so many places and ways for children to learn. Give your child much-needed opportunities to step away momentarily from their books and worksheets and they’ll surely come away from the experience happier, more knowledgeable, and ultimately richer.