MBS ArtScience Museum – Dinosaurs Dawn to Extinction

My girls are usually the typical girls, scared of everything loud and scary. I was really surprised when 1 day, Nic requested to go to a dinosaur museum to see dinosaur bones. She was really scared of the Brontosaurus dino just outside of the Science Museum every time we went there. Really? Will you be scared? Nope! I want to go to the dinosaur museum. She said it loud and clear.

Excited Nic before going in

So there we went for the kids first experience with dinosaurs. A really unexpected visit. Prior to the visit, I decided to make her a dinosaur activity book to bring along to enhance the experience. I searched the exhibition site but couldn’t find anything like what I wanted. It only had an app which we could download and play along as we go through the exhibits. Too technology stuff. We just want to unplug them from gadgets as much as we can. So I went online and gathered some stuff to make up her own book of dinosaur activities.

DIY + online download Dinosaur activity book

We got the family package which was cheaper by $2 in total from the regular single ticket and got 4 bottles of Coke for free as well. Not too bad a deal.

Before we got in the hall, there’s some photo taking session which they will get you to buy later on for $20 per photo (supposedly a discounted price on weekend)

In explorer costume

The first impression we got was the hall was totally too dark. It doesn’t look good as our scaredy cat Nic was firstly, afraid of dark places and secondly, the roaring sounds from the dinosaurs. I think it would have been more kids friendly if they have the bright lights on. I heard other kids commenting they are scared and don’t want to go in either. So she went though the first part of it covering her ears like this

Scared of the loud noises from the dinos

The exhibits were spaced widely apart and I guess those that interest the kids more were the dinosaur bones and the dinosaurs themselves. They were not really keen on the fossils, the rocks etc.

The not so big and scary displays

The ‘spikey’ dino. 1 of the display Nic is supposed to spot

The famous T-Rex

Real fossils with dino footprints, decorated with light display

Our favourite has got to be this forest in Liao Ning, discovered only in 1990. The kids went around identifying the various bugs, fish, dinosaurs and other kids around us heard the commotion and started identifying them and showing their parents too. Quite cute!

Picturesque display of ancient dinosaurs and still existing bugs and plants

Bright lights here. Very nice

There were also some kids activities throughout the exhibition hall, which got the kids more interested in. Nic and Nat tried the puzzle and the memory game and finally the shadow puppet where they had to colour and cut using the materials provided and finally bring it home as souvenirs. Quite a nice activity! There is also a section where there are displays of artefacts and came with magnifying glass for the kids to examine unclose. And they also got to hear the different sounds made by different animals and dinosaurs.

Dinosaur puzzle

Memory game

Shadow puppet making

The finished product!

The kids had fun at their first dinosaur tour and Nic was asking to go back again after the trip! But I really hope they would consider turning up the lighting a bit more next time. It’s an educational tour that kids can go, not just for dinosaur enthusiasts. Brighter lights will not make the display less attractive but will sure make the kids more at ease with these larger than man animals!

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Kite Flying at Marina Barrage, Singapore

I have heard people commenting that kids activities in Singapore are very limited and boring, compared to elsewhere in the world, or maybe just comparing to Malaysia.

Ok, we don’t have that much land and we don’t have a lot of theme parks, but in my opinion, we can still have fun in our own ways. The point is not the destination or the activity but the time spent together and how we make the time fun

Our kite

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There has been a kite flying trend in Singapore recently. where’s there’s a big empty space and strong winds, you see people flying all kids of fanciful kites. I had wanted to bring the kids to try for some time. We finally tried it that weekend at the Marina Barrage.

Our day started a little late and the sun was starting to get a little hot and the worst part? The air was unusually still that morning. There was a gust of wind every now and then but not strong enough to get the kite up. Others who were there, either had their kites falling down or couldn’t get theirs up either.

Happy just running about

After a few tiring and sweaty tries, we decided to take a break and wait for the wind. The wind did come after a while and we went back to the fields and after a few tries, yippee! Up goes the kite! Nic was so excited and kept saying she’s so proud of Mummy. *Beams.. 🙂

Nat got bored out of waiting so stayed in the shade with Grandma.

Hot and bored

 

After getting the kite up and steady high up in the skies, I got hubby to hold the kite while I get Nat in for a picture. Bad news. Before we came back, the kite had a steep fall from the skies. Right until the lower level of the rooftop we were on. And it got stucked.

Posing with the kite

Hubby managed to retrieve the kite but it was broken by then due to our tugging from the top. Good thing was that we did manage to get it up for quite some time and got the kids excited before it got stucked.

Stucked

The weather started to turn dark and strong winds were coming in after that. So we kept our kites and just ran around the greenery for some fun and pictures.

Nice day out but tiring and scorching. Best of all, it was free and the kids got to enjoy the nature and a traditional game of kite flying and got off all electronics for a while. Except the time before the kite flew.

Practise jumping

Balancing

Posing in the nice pre-rain weather

Tip: Do go prepared with lots of cool drinks or fruits and picnic mat. Bring along the towel too as it can get quite hot and sweaty if there’s no wind.