Fun on a budget: 4 free activities for the September holidays

SINGAPORE – Exams may be around the corner, but the week-long September holidays should not just be about revision and homework.

If you are looking for activities to help the kids let off steam, here are four new family-friendly ones I check out with my daughters aged six and 12.

Best of all? They are free for most visitors, which is always a good thing when it comes to family outings.

Play + Make

What: A new activity and exhibition space in Children’s Museum Singapore, in conjunction with SG60 celebrations, that provides a creative environment for children to learn about Singapore’s rich food heritage.

Where: Discovery Room, Children’s Museum Singapore, 23-B Coleman Street

When: 9am to 5.45pm, Tuesdays to Sundays, until March 31

Admission: Free for Singaporeans and permanent residents. Otherwise, it is $10.90 a child and $16.35 an adult. Only adults accompanying kids are allowed in the museum. Book online at

str.sg/wQNtv

before going.

Fun factor: The museum worked with pre-schoolers and children to come up with the exhibits and hands-on activities, so you know they are kid-approved.

The moment we enter, my younger daughter is drawn to the multi-coloured Maker’s Cabinet, with local food-related items like a tingkat made with Lego bricks, miniature soya sauce vats and trays and pots with rattan weave.

On display are two kamchengs, Peranakan ceramic jars used to store food. One features elaborate patterns and artwork, the other is blank so that kids can use washable markers to come up with their own design.

One interactive display lets them sniff scents of ingredients ranging from lemongrass to kaffir lime.

There are also food-inspired fashion elements in the displays, such as a dress with durian prints by local designer Reckless Ericka. Sneakerheads will chuckle at the Nike shoes adorned with art based on hawker fare such as nasi lemak. Kids can also dress up a mannequin with items such as a toast-shaped decoration.

At the activity tables, they can use clay to make local kueh and have a “tea party”. My daughter gets to create a paper doll and have it displayed on one of the walls.

Kids can also let their imagination run wild and play with giant food-related objects such as a humongous kueh lapis.

Hot tip: The activities change, so it is worth visiting even after the September holidays. For example, from October to December, kids get to design their own crockery. From January to March, they explore craft heritage through weave patterns.

Star Wars Pop-up Library

What: Singapore’s first Star Wars-inspired pop-up library at Changi Airport Terminal 3 houses a collection of over 2,000 Star Wars books, including 380 unique titles specially picked by National Library Board librarians.

Where: Level 2 Changi Airport Terminal 3, 65 Airport Boulevard

When: 10am to 10pm daily until Jan 24

Admission: Free

Fun factor: Star Wars is one of those pop-culture phenomena that both kids and adults can get into, so it is a win-win situation for parents and children.

The design is cool and futuristic. One side of the library looks almost like the interior of space station Death Star, while the section with bookshelves will not look out of place in Star Wars’ city-planet Coruscant.

There are displays of lightsabers, as well as digital screens that depict moving scenes of Star Wars locations.

One of the biggest draws is the robotic arms that operate the library’s automated book retrieval and return system, just like how droids are used as labour in the Star Wars universe. It is so popular that there is a queue to use it when we are there.

There are many titles, including early literacy books such as Star Wars Epic Yarns: Return Of The Jedi by Jack and Holman Wang, suitable for toddlers up to three years old; and The Padawan Cookbook: Kid-friendly Recipes From A Galaxy Far, Far Away by Jenn Fujikawa and Liz Lee Heinecke.

Parents have the choice of adult titles such as Thrawn: Ascendancy: Greater Good by Timothy Zahn, while teenagers can go for books like Padawan by Kiersten White.

Visitors can also take part in a personality quiz to see which Jedi they most resemble and test their Star Wars knowledge in a trivia challenge.

Hot tip: If you are lucky, you might get up close to the Star Wars characters themselves. When I am there on a Sunday afternoon, there is a fan dressed as Chewbacca, the movie franchise’s most famous wookie character, who graciously takes photos with visitors outside the pop-up library. But these are fan initiatives and not scheduled appearances by the organisers.

Changi Airport Terminal 3 is vast. Head for the departure level and walk towards the Skytrain and link bridge to Jewel Changi Airport. The pop-up library is also near the entrance to Crowne Plaza Changi Airport.

To enter, you need a library-compliant identity card, such as your NRIC or NLB eCard. If you do not have one, request a QR code day pass with a Singapore-registered mobile number or e-mail at

str.sg/dC2m

Singapore Odyssea: A Journey Through Time

What: An immersive multimedia showcase at the National Museum of Singapore that takes a time-travelling voyage through the country’s 700-year history using art, light and interactive storytelling elements.

Where: Shaw Foundation Glass Rotunda, Level 2 National Museum of Singapore, 93 Stamford Road

When: 10am to 7pm daily. Last entry to Singapore Odyssea at 6pm.

Admission: Free for Singaporeans and permanent residents and visitors aged six and below. Otherwise, admission starts at $18.

Fun factor: As the kids walk through this permanent exhibition, they will not realise that they are actually getting a history lesson.

It is designed to feel like a multi-sensory trip through time, and one of the first things you see when you enter is a stunning LED globe suspended from the ceiling, the first of many photo- and video-worthy displays.

As you descend a spiral ramp, the curved walls show off landscapes and pivotal moments from Singapore’s future, present and past through gorgeous, diorama-styled projections. It is a reminder to the children that Singapore has not always been the modern city they know.

The scenes merge facts and myth, so there are depictions of Singapore’s first National Day Parade; Sang Nila Utama, the Palembang prince who named Singapore; as well as creatures of lore, like the giant tide-moving crab.

One of the highlights for my daughters is the cinematic digital waterfall that parts to reveal moments from Singapore’s history. The animation on the floor are also dynamic and respond to each step.

Hot tip: Visitors wear radio-frequency identification-enabled wristbands that are paired with animated depictions of native animals such as a pangolin, hornbill or crab. Kids will get a kick out of these “companions” that follow them around on the screen. Look out for certain markers that trigger hidden animation when they wave the wristbands.

Hello Future: Sharing Our Journey Together

What: Part of Singapore Art Museum’s (SAM) Think! Contemporary Preschool programme, this exhibition at the HarbourFront Centre mall features the artworks of pre-school children inspired by exhibitions at SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark.

Where: Level 1 Atrium, HarbourFront Centre, 1 Maritime Square

When: 10am to 9pm daily until Sept 13

Admission: Free

Fun factor: These 14 colourful artworks give children a peek into what goes on in their peers’ minds when they think about Singapore’s past, present and future, as well as the country’s relationship with nature. It is also a child-friendly introduction to contemporary art.

These are not just random ideas either, as the pre-schoolers took inspiration from the artworks found at SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark.

For example, Deforestation – The Vanishing Forest, made by kindergarteners, depicts the impact of Singapore’s urban development on nature and was inspired by works such as artist Han Sai Por’s Black Forest artwork found at SAM.

Secondary Forest – Looking Through The Forest, a diorama of flora and fauna, was based on another SAM artwork, artist Robert Zhao Renhui’s Seeing Forest.

Parents who take their kids to this exhibition can also show them how upcycling can create art. The work Side By Side: Old & New In Focus uses items like tissue boxes and cake boxes to create depictions of modern and vintage Singapore buses, as well as traditional costumes and modern fashion wear.

Hot tip: On the weekend afternoons from Sept 6 to 13, there will be upcycled craft activities for children. For details, go to

str.sg/LQgm