The Children’s Museum Singapore, Singapore’s first-ever children’s museum, opened its doors in December 2022. Set foot into a world of wonder at the kid-friendly museum along Coleman Street.
Children’s Museum Singapore, or CMSG for short, aims to cultivate a love for museums and lifelong learning in children.
Housed in the building that was once the Singapore Philatelic Museum, Children’s Museum Singapore is guaranteed not to bore the littlest.
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At Children’s Museum Singapore, everything can be touched and any giggle, chatter, scream of joy is tolerated! It engages all of the children’s senses as there are many things to smell, feel, move and play with!
We take a first look what to expect at the museum.
Children’s Museum Singapore: Top Highlights & Things To See and Do
1. Learn the History of Singapore
Children and history? Yes!
Children’s Museum Singapore’s first gallery – A Voyage Back in Time introduces the beginnings of Singapore and its settlers in a highly immersive way.
There is a theatre show (Hidden Chamber) where the Captain’s treasures tell their stories and the chance to see artefacts up close, experiencing sailing on a ship, tie knots and carrying goods like a coolie.
Children’s Museum Singapore’s mascot Wonderbot will take explorers back in time through interactive panels and assigned tasks. Children will be delighted to learn through being thoroughly engaged.
2. Sail on at Ship Ahoy Singapore (Ahoy! Singapore)
Ever been on a ship? Experience the storm on a junk ship laden with treasures. Smell the spices, rock on the hammock and feel the goods in the cargo hold. Then disembark in Singapore and get ready to explore!
Many labourers arrived in Singapore and worked very hard. Can the children handle the heavy bags and carry goods from the bumboats to the shore?
Weigh the goods at the godown to see how heavy a sack could be.
Interact with Singapore River – did you know it used to be dirty and smelly? Help to clean up the river by stepping on the objects that do not belong.
3. Visit Shophouses and Try Heritage trades (The Market Place)
What’s it like in 19th century Singapore? Explore bustling shophouses, listen to the shopkeepers’ tales and try heritage trades.
There are stores open for everyone to try their hand at Pretend to be a street barber, try on a sari, handpump some water or try your hand at traditional letter-writing.
I loved the tailor’s shop where you can touch and feel the fabrics, see all the materials used for fabrics and try on your very own traditional outfit!
Look out for stamps with traditional patterns that you can make all around the museum. Collect them all!
4. Design your own stamps (My Neighbourhood)
After the whirlwind trip ten decades back in time, it’s time to return to modern day Singapore.
Explore the modern neighbourhood and design your own stamps at the post office. Simply put your designs into the mouth of Wonderbot and watch the designs project onto the world of stamps!
This section pays tribute to the former Philatelic Museum with some familiar displays. The old postal box is right in front of the museum while the postman’s vespa and a functioning mailbox is placed at the final gallery.
5. Send a Message Across the Room
Aside from learning about mailing letters and different mailboxes around the world, children can send a message using a capsule across the room with a tube system.
Feel the excitement of a secret message that passes through – could it be containing a personalised message?
6. Into the Hawkerverse
In conjunction with Children’s Season, a new exhibition Into the Hawkerverse has been launched coinciding with the June school holidays! The exhibition introduces Singapore’s vibrant and indispensable hawker culture to children and deepens their understanding of hawker culture in a fun, immersive and interactive way.
Children will learn about various aspects of hawker culture from street hawkers and hawker culture heroes to hawker dishes and hawker centre design. From hands-on activities like discovering different dishes up close, multisensory exploration and object-based learning, there are three galleries dedicated to the hawkerverse.
7. PlayPot for Toddlers
Just for toddlers, Play Pot is also based on the theme of hawker food.
Children below 4 can head to Play Pot, a dedicated playspace featuring a masak-masak playspace with a mee goreng pool and more.
A Museum Dedicated to Children
Children’s Museum Singapore, the country’s first dedicated children’s museum is indeed a wonderful hangout for children. Expect interactive exhibits anchored in rich storytelling, engaging programmes and plenty of hands-on opportunities.
Visiting Children’s Museum Singapore
Address: 23-B Coleman Street, Singapore 179807
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Sundays, 9 am to 1 pm; 2 pm to 6 pm
Visit the Children’s Museum Singapore website here.
Please read before visiting:
Due to limited capacity, visitors are strongly encouraged to book tickets online in advance, or they may not be able to enter if the museum is full.
All children must be accompanied by adults.
While visiting the Children’s Museum Singapore, also stop by the Fire Station museum, aka Civil Defence Heritage Gallery, which is just around the corner on Hill Street.
Past Exhibitions at Children’s Museum Singapore
Imagine a Garden: An A-maze-ing Exhibition
Many may not know about our country’s a-maze-ing biodiversity. Check out the special exhibition – Imagine A Garden.
Admire beautiful paper sculptures featuring birds, flowers that can be found in Singapore by Colombian artist Diana Beltran Herrera.
Hunt for prey as a Spotted Wood Owl through a multimedia game designed by Nanyang Polytechnic students.
Smell the various scents of fruits and flowers like the Rafflesia (!), help the woodpecker feed its young and put together Vanda Miss Joaquim or any other flowers on the wall. How lovely to have high-touch elements to help learn about nature in Singapore!
Happy Birthday Room (Special Exhibition)
How do different communities in Singapore celebrate birthdays? Learn the birthday “customs” of welcoming a newborn, choosing the right gift, delicious birthday treats and more.
This gallery is one of my favourite as I discovered so many things I didn’t know. Listen to a 90 year old grandma share about her birthday experiences.
Put together traditional birthday desserts such as Sugee Cake and Payasam and watch the chefs prepare them. Or make your own special birthday platter for your friend!
And since this gallery at Children’s Museum Singapore is all about celebrating birthdays, play your own special birthday tune or dress up in any way you choose.
One can even see the various traditions and customs in Singapore when a newborn arrives. Did you know that Hindu fathers whisper the child’s name into his/her ear before naming the baby?
One can also learn to swaddle the baby doll in the gallery. Remember how you were swaddled as a baby?
LKY100 – The Boy Who Became Prime Minister
The LKY100 – The Boy Who Became Prime Minister exhibition address questions that kids may have such as “What was his childhood like?”, “Did he travel to many places?” and even seemingly innocent ones like “Did he have a private jet to take him around?”
Mr Lee’s story is presented through a cabinet of curiosities; information is presented in little snippets (did you know that he won first prize in a baby contest?) and through some of his personal artefacts that kids can get upclose to.
