SINGAPORE - Make family time all the more special with these ideas and activities.
Play: New garden-themed inflatable playground for families
Check out this indoor air-conditioned garden.
Jumptopia: Wonder Garden features flora- and fauna-themed inflatable structures that your little ones can bounce on to their hearts' content. There are also slides with a ball pool, obstacle courses and mazes to keep them busy and happy. Parents are welcome to join them.
Located at Gardens by the Bay's Bayfront Pavilion, this is Jumptopia by Kiztopia's latest pop-up playground and runs till July 3. Spread over 8,600 sq ft, the inflatables are new and curated for the attraction.
Each play session lasts one hour 45 minutes. Admission for adults and kids from the age of 12 months costs $18 each, or $66 for four people. Find out more and get your tickets at Kiztopia's website.
If you have older children who prefer more room to run around, Kiztopia has another bouncy castle carnival that is five times bigger, spanning more than 44,000 sq ft. Jumptopia: Holiday Village is at Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Hall B, till Jan 23.
A two-hour play session is $28 a person or $52 for two. Get the details at Kiztopia's website.
Watch: Animated musical Encanto on Disney+
What should you watch on your next stay-home movie night? Good news: Encanto, currently in cinemas, is now also streaming on Disney+.
The animated musical is the second-most-watched movie on the Top 10 chart last week in Singapore and the United States.
The story revolves around Mirabel, the only child in her extraordinary family who is not blessed with supernatural powers.
But the family magic, which has kept their home town in rural Colombia safe and prosperous for years, is showing signs of fading. Mirabel becomes the heroine as she steps up to discover the cure for the loss of power.
On Disney+, you can also catch a featurette in which Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote more than five soundtracks for the film, and Stephanie Beatriz, who voices Mirabel, share insights into the music. This includes Dos Oruguitas, which is on the 2022 Oscar shortlist for best original song.
Read: Book to teach kids about diversity and inclusion
People around the world come in all shapes, sizes and colours. But on the inside, humans are 99.9 per cent alike.
"If we're all so similar... then what's the deal with racism?" Singapore-based authors Nina Bual and Michelle Yao ask in their book Me, You, And Them, which is illustrated by Fatima Cerritos.
It also explains other diversity topics - such as gender, physical disabilities to LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and others) allyship - all in an accessible way for young readers from nine years old.
The authors hope that parents will engage their kids about what it means to celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion. They say: "As we navigate through this complex social issue, we must not leave our children behind through these changes."
This is their second children's book, following Ready, Get Set, Connect!, which looks at online safety and was published earlier this year. They are also the founders of independent publishing house Cyberlite Books.
Info: Me, You, and Them is available at $15 at Cyberlite Books' website.
