Attractions at the Science Centre Singapore – June 2016

We went to check out the Science Centre Singapore (SCS) last week and I thought we’d share with you what (new) attractions it has to offer.

1. Butterflies Up-Close

Developed in partnership with Sentosa’s Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom (BIK), Butterflies Up-Close showcases all four stages of a butterfly’s metamorphosis – from egg to adulthood. I must admit that I’ve never been to BIK, and the closest I’ve been to butterflies was at Changi Airport’s Butterfly Garden at Terminal 3, Departure Transit Lounge, Level 2 & 3.

Butterflies Up-Close is informative with interactive touch points, live displays and a vivid storyline that flows across five zones where visitors will gain unique insights into the lives of butterlifes and learn more about their ways of life.

Zone One: Introduction

Learn about nine different butterfly species from around the world, before entering the exhibition.

Zone Two: Orientation

Zone Three: Egg, Caterpillar, Pupa

It was definitely engaging, especially for the children.

Zone Four: Enclosure

In the butterfly enclosure, we got to get really up-close to the fragile beauties, including Singapore’s national favourite, the Common Rose. There are about 500 butterflies of at least 17 different species from Singapore and around the region in the enclosure.

And he got even braver and let a butterfly onto his forehead:

We also got to see the pupa stage:

We also learnt that butterflies, after they emerge from their chrysalis, need to hang on something till their wings are ready for flight (usually for a few hours) – at this stage, they are considered baby butterflies! 😀

Zone Five: Research Pod

Highlights of the interactive exhibition include a “Research Pod” where visitors can look at the iridescence on butterfly wings, find out how a butterfly views the world and observe butterfly specimens under microscopes and learn about their anatomy.

At an additional cost of $5 per bookmark/ $28 per frame, you can also bring back these souvenirs:

We chose a butterfly each for our wooden display frames – aren’t these butterflies gorgeous? 😀

If you haven’t checked out the Butterflies Up-Close and your little ones are learning about caterpillars/ butterflies/ moths/ life cycles or you happen to be reading The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (every kid reads this at some point right? Click the link for some activities we did when reading the book – a visit to such an exhibition would have been perfect, but there wasn’t any in the past), you should check it out at Hall D, Science Centre, 10am-6pm. Duration of the visit to this exhibition should take 45-60min. Admission charges – S$10 excluding admission to Science Centre Singapore. Suitable for 3 years old and up.

2. FunFair Maths

Funfair Maths is a travelling exhibition that celebrates the wonders of Mathematics. With over 20 interactive and playful exhibits, FunFair Maths allows visitors to slip naturally into the world of patterns, shapes and numbers where Math can be appreciated in a carnival atmosphere.

We spent quite some time here because the exhibits were really fascinating, even for non-Math geeks. The Math geek would need half a day here, checking out all the exhibits and games. Be warned if your companion is a Math geek, like mine.

We started with A-Maze-ing Math and it proved to be more difficult than it looks!:

We’ll only show you some of the games because there are too many to describe!

The highlight of the exhibition (at least for the kids) was riding on a square-wheeled tricycle. (For safety, closed-toe footwear is strictly required to ride this exhibit). An adult-sized tricycle is available as well.

Due to time constraints, we couldn’t finish the exploration of the entire FunFair Maths but we’ll be back to do it again since we have the Science Centre membership – we signed up for it earlier this year and it came with a Science magazine subscription as well as Omnitheatre passes and discounts to special exhibitions and KidsStop/ Snow City. If you live in the West like us, you should consider getting a membership too!

Venue: The Annexe Foyer (until 26 June 2016); Travelling exhibition from 12 Mar 2016 (end date TBC)

Cost: FREE (Science Centre Singapore admission charges apply)

3. Human Body Experience (HBX)

If you haven’t been to the Human Body Experience since it opened its doors on 31 May 2014, this is your last chance to catch it before it ends in early July.

I brought the kids on my own in October 2014, and I had to literally push them into the ‘mouth’ and down the throat. Even though they were initially excited about the exhibition then, they felt afraid and intimidated when they saw the real thing. Much has changed in that 1.5 years and they were both thrilled to enter the exhibition when we were there this June. Little Boy even went twice!

The HBX is a 3D interactive journey of the human anatomy, offering visitors an endoscopic view of how the body functions. It shows the inner workings of the brain, lungs, digestive system and circulatory system. Visitors enter through the mouth of a giant face and pass through a twisting maze of tunnels through the throat and stomach, and the intestines tunnels have a putrid smell, just in case you’re wondering.

The exhibits are sculpted representations of body parts and the exhibition is replete with special effects including strobe lighting, mist spray, confined spaces, unsteady surfaces, tactile sculptures, optical illusions, holograms, audio, 3D video and touch pads to provide a unique sensory experience that closely resembles the inside of a human body.

Closing on 3 July, the tickets are now $15 for adults and $12 for children (3-12 years old),  SCS entrance fee applies.  

Venue: Hall B, Science Centre Singapore

Duration: 20-30minutes

4. KidsSTOP

We went to KidsSTOP in the afternoon after HBX. While my girl was attending a Let’s Explore – the ‘Invisible Force’ workshop conducted by the Science Centre (check out the Events tab for more workshops in the SCS website in the later half of the year), hubby was with little boy at KidsSTOP.

Their usual favourite things to do there include:

Role-playing at the supermarket and cafeteria:

The Human body Zone is another favourite:

To experience the thrill of free fall at Giant J – a 7-m slide where visitors experience a sensation of free-fall before sliding to safety. Little boy went for 5.5m!:

What’s new at KidsSTOP is the Oceans’ Buddies exhibit. It is the first virtual ocean with sea creatures in 3-D form to educate children on marine life and how they can do their part to protect the environment and preserve ecosystems.

The key highlight is a visually stunning virtual ocean floor projected onto a wall where children can see their personalised sea creatures come “alive” as their creations take on a 3-D form.

And here’re the personalised sea creatures in 3D on the screen:

This is not a colouring activity where the children bring home their work. Instead, the amazing thing is that at the end of it, the children will bring their work to the staff and together with Pilot Pen’s revolutionary FriXion series pens and the special ink recycling machine provided by Toshiba which emits heat and erases the ink on the paper, the paper can be recycled and re-used up to five times! 😀

KidsSTOP opening hours: 9.30am – 1.30pm, 2-6pm

Admission rates:

• Singaporeans and PRs
  • Child (18 months – 8 years): $5 (weekdays), $10 (weekends and public holidays)
  • Adult (aged 9 years and above): $2 (weekdays), $5 (weekends and public holidays)
• Overseas visitors and Local Residents
  • Child (18 months – 8 years): $20 (weekdays), $23 (weekends and public holidays)
  • Adult (aged 9 years and above): $10 (weekdays), $13 (weekends and public holidays)

For more details, please visit KidsSTOP.

5. Snow City

Our last stop for the day was the revamped Snow City. First opened in the year 2000, Snow City was revamped in 2015. It is Singapore’s only permanent indoor snow centre and public area, with average operating temperatures of -5 degrees Celsius.

The revamped Snow City features a new snow machine, the first of its kind in Asia, which is customised to produce soft, powdery snow of similar quality to real snow.

The coldest we’ve ever experienced as a family was Taiwan’s winter in 2014 and that is definitely nothing compared to the cold at Snow City. The new space also offers visitors tips on how to reduce their carbon footprint and how to combat global warming.

The kids went to play at the snow playground, with a real-life igloo, snow slides and snow sculptures of Snow City’s new mascots:

There’s even a tree house adventure playground to complete the Inuit lifestyle experience.

With the new snow machine, we are technically supposed to be able to make snow balls, but we failed. Fun, nevertheless.

Learning more about the Arctic and the Inuit:

Giant Suki’s Nest:

The highlight of the place was definitely the Snow Slope. It was 60-m of exhilaration and just like the Skyline Luge, once is never enough.

Snow City is open daily from 10am – 6pm (last admission at 5pm), and from 10am – 7pm on school and public holidays (last admission at 6pm). If you’re looking to beat the heat and learn to appreciate the warmth we enjoy daily, a trip to Snow City is in place. We spent about half an hour at Snow City before we turned into Rudolph, but that’s just us.

Admission rates:

1 hour Snowplay

• Singaporeans/PR
  • Child (3-12 years old): $12
  • Adult: $15
• Standard
  • Child (3-12 years old): $18
  • Adult: $18

2 hours Snowplay

• Singaporeans/PR
  • Child (3-12 years old): $18
  • Adult: $25
• Standard
  • Child (3-12 years old): $28
  • Adult: $23

For more information, visit Snow City.

Snow City is also home to The Cliff, an educational and exciting sport-climbing wall facility constructed on the facade of Snow City. You can read about our experience climbing at The Cliff.

 

Disclosure: Our visit to the Science Centre Singapore (SCS) is part of our collaboration with the SCS to showcase its exhibitions and events. We paid for a SCS membership at the start of the year, and all other personal trips to the SCS and its partners prior to the event were fully paid by ourselves. No monetary compensation was received. This is the first of more posts to come as I am collaborating with the SCS as its ambassador. 

 

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