Family Fun in Singapore

A day out with the kids in Singapore with LUXE City Guides

When it comes to family friendliness, no other major city in Asia comes close to what Singapore has to offer. Blessed with lots of verdant public space and parkland, wide, even footpaths that make pushing a pram a breeze, an extensive and easy-to-use public transport network, high levels of safety and cleanliness, fantastically eclectic food everywhere you turn and a ton of indoor and outdoor activities, the Lion City is almost purpose-built for children. Parents, rejoice!

Breakfast with wildlife

Make your child’s entire day by starting off with a jungle breakfast at the wonderful Singapore Zoo, which includes having their photo taken with orang utans and feeding baby elephants. If they can tear themselves away, a buffet of local, Asian and Western dishes is on the breakfast menu. An additional fee for breakfast with the orang utans applies on top of the zoo’s entrance fee.

Discover Singapore’s heritage

Making history interesting for children comes easily at the National Museum of Singapore (above). Housed in a 19th-century neoclassical landmark with an ultra-modern extension, the collection spans colourful natural history drawings and living galleries – audio and visual exhibits depicting Singaporean scenes, its people and food, to make it entertaining and informative for both young and old alike.

Lunch by a polo field

Just minutes from the city centre is the 125-year-old Singapore Polo Club, which opens its dining facilities to non-members for lunch and dinner on weekdays. The Verandah, an elegant and laid-back restaurant located on a raised deck overlooking the polo field, serves local and international dishes, plus there’s a well-priced kids’ menu, which includes pizza and spaghetti bolognese. Best of all, the little ones can go for a tour of the stables to see the horses, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, guests can stay on to watch the polo matches.

Garden fun

Learning about nature, plants and the environment was never as much fun as at the Singapore Botanic Gardens’ fantastic Jacob Ballas Children's Garden, the first of its kind in Asia. Education and play come together as the little ones explore a series of interactive exhibits and areas where they can run from tree house to maze, from suspension bridge to cave or whizz down slides and splash about in the water fountain area.

Give the gift of reading

Woods in the Books is an adorable independent store specialising in new and classic pictorial publications, ranging from comics and graphic novels to children’s stories and pop-up books, all selected for their artistic merit and beautiful illustrations. There’s bound to be something to pique the interest of even the most reluctant readers and it’s not just for kids either – there are illustrated fashion, humour, history titles and more for adults too.

Pander to sweet tooth cravings

Let the kids loose in a candy store, literally, at Sticky. This Australian company makes by hand, right before your eyes, over 70 different types of rock candy and lollipops in every colour imaginable. Flavours range from traditional lemon and strawberry to the more exotic mangosteen and lychee.

Work up a sweat high above ground

Here’s one for mini adrenaline buffs – Forest Adventure’s thrilling aerial course of ladders, bridges, swings, trapezes and zip lines that take you through treetops and across a large reservoir. Minimum height restrictions apply though, and adult supervision is required for under-18s. For the younger ones aged between 6 and 9, there’s a special Kid’s Course.

Enjoy an alfresco seafood feast

It would be wrong to visit Singapore without trying what many consider to be its de facto national dish, chilli crab, a delicious melange of stir-fried mud crab (commonly known as Sri Lankan crab among the locals) in a spicy, sweet and savoury gravy. While there’s no consensus on the best place to have it, the sprawling beachside East Coast Seafood Centre has branches of the most popular crab restaurants – Jumbo Seafood, No Signboard Seafood, Long Beach Seafood and Red House Seafood all have their fans, so pick one and book a table, roll up your sleeves and get cracking. Kids will be fascinated by the tanks of live seafood on display, and they can also run around in the parkland before or after they’ve eaten.

Stay at a seaside resort

The 454-room beachfront Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort is as child-friendly as hotels come. It boasts family rooms with sofa beds or Murphy (pull-down) beds that can be stored away for more space, a kid’s club in a three-storey tree house, full-day, action-packed activity programmes including kayaking and treasure hunts, canopied children’s pool with water slides, and even a dedicated buffet with serving stations built at a lower height.

For the ultimate online resource to make it even easier for families to plan their travel to Singapore and Hong Kong, check out littlestepsasia.com. Remember, cool kids plus calm parents equals happy times.

Coming up next month: what’s fab and happening in Asia’s powder snow capital, Niseko, Japan.

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