Audition for ChildAid, David Attenborough VR show at ArtScience Museum, The Courage To Be You book

SINGAPORE – Make family time all the more special with these ideas and activities.

Audition for ChildAid 2026 Festival

Looking for a meaningful project this September school holidays? Record a performance video with your kids and audition for the annual ChildAid charity fund-raiser.

Organised by The Straits Times and The Business Times, ChildAid 2026 Festival: Open Stage transitions to a free outdoor event at UOB Plaza on Nov 13 and 14. The fund-raiser started in 2005 with ticketed concerts in venues such as the Esplanade Theatre. In 2026, funds will be raised via corporate and individual donors.

For the first time, adults can audition alongside children and teens, as long as the act features at least one key performer aged 19 or below.

The organisers are seeking a diverse array of talent, including bands, a cappella singers, dancers, instrumentalists, buskers, magicians, acrobats and variety performers.

To apply, submit a performance video of up to three minutes at str.sg/CA2026audition by Sept 12.

All contributions will benefit The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund, continuing an initiative that has raised more than $32 million for underserved youth since 2005.

The Courage To Be You

When Ranie Pang’s six-year-old goddaughter entered primary school in January, the former early childhood educator noticed how early self-doubt takes root.

“As I watched her grow, I became increasingly aware of how young children are when they begin noticing differences and comparing themselves with others,” Pang says. “Who is faster? Who learns more quickly? Who is more talented? Who gets praised?”

This inspired the 33-year-old to self-publish her debut picture book The Courage To Be You, illustrated by Kristen Kiong.

Following young Riley, the story mirrors Pang’s own childhood. “I loved dancing, just like Riley does in the book, but comparison, fear and insecurity eventually made me afraid to fully be myself.”

Three decades later, she realised those same questions persisted into adulthood, shifting from grades to career milestones. “I think these are questions that begin in childhood, but don’t necessarily disappear when we grow up. The comparisons simply change.”

Through her book, Pang hopes to protect young minds before insecurity becomes an inner voice, reminding children – and the adults raising them – that “their value has never depended on the outcome”.

Buy a copy at $22 from Kiong’s website at str.sg/gdUh, Books Kinokuniya and Liliewoods Social.

David Attenborough’s First Life

If your child has a fascination with prehistoric creatures and ancient mysteries, David Attenborough’s First Life offers a captivating virtual-reality (VR) adventure.

Now showing at the ArtScience Museum, this 15-minute experience takes you and your child back 3.5 billion years to witness the origin of life on earth, guided by the iconic British presenter himself. While he also narrated a 2010 TV series of the same name, this 2015 VR short is an original experience.

Slipping on VR headsets, your family will come face to face with extinct marine animals brought to life through scientific discoveries, from the five-eyed opabinia to the spiny, worm-like hallucigenia to the fearsome apex predator anomalocaris.

Running from Aug 28 to Dec 31, this production is suitable for families with children aged 11 and above.

While the VR Gallery undergoes renovation, the experience is housed in the ArtScience Laboratory, located at the museum’s basement 2. There are multiple daily screenings between 11am and 6.30pm. Each session is limited to 10 spots, with tickets priced at $5 a person from str.sg/ia4p

Before or after the show, your family can also explore the free walk-in activities in the laboratory space, which is open from 10am to 6pm daily.