We absolutely LOVED Island Adventures at National Museum of Singapore last year. This year’s Island Adventures programme, however, is a lot less interesting. Unlike last year when there were many hands-on displays and activities, this year’s Island Adventures occupied just a small area.

Kids could pretend to be hawkers and serve up popular local dishes such as nasi lemak or laksa, or assume the role of a tailor and put together an outfit. Sounds interesting? The execution was not very exciting or imaginative though. The activities mainly consist of sticking flat, magnetic pieces onto a magnetic surface. The actions of moving magnetic pieces around and positioning them don’t represent the act of cooking or sewing very well.

I didn’t like that the artefacts were all behind glass cases where the kids could only look but not touch. Not very interactive at all especially when compared to last year’s programme. I guess the programme last year gave me unnaturally high expectations? Anya enjoyed the storytelling session very much though!

at the museum

cooking up a Singaporean dish

nasi lemak

char kway teow

laksa

putting an outfit together

modelling the outfit

in a sari

looking at some photography thing

storytelling session

amused children

There’s an optional craft kit that can be purchased. The craft kit contains materials for the kids to design an outfit, decorate a wayang headdress, make an ang ku kueh, and stick food stickers onto an image of a plate. Without the craft kit, the visit would have been a lot less interesting.

Even trying to buy the craft kit was a minor obstacle. I tried to get it from the table outside the activity room where the craft kits were displayed, but was told to go to the ticket counter near the entrance to buy a ticket, then come back to the table to collect the craft kit from the table. There were some school groups there so the people on duty tried to discourage us from going into the activity room so it was all a bit annoying.

decorating her headdress

making ang ku kueh

ta da!

cutting out a shirt

measuring some pants

decorating the outfit

Island Adventures 2013

Island Adventures is at National Museum of Singapore until July 21st. Admission is free. The optional craft kit is $5. There are roving acts and storytellers on certain days so check the programme for more information.