Biodiversity for kids during the December holidays!

Exciting nature activities for kids are lined up for the coming school holidays! Lots of fun ways to discover and enjoy Singapore's biodiversity!

Here's highlights of some of the many exciting nature events for kids during the December holidays.

FREE EVENTS

27 Nov (Sun): 1, 2, TREE! for kids Trees are an important part of our City in a Garden. Without the trees lining our roadsides and parks, our city would be a harsh landscape of concrete buildings. In this programme, participants, both children and parents, can learn to recognise key features of trees and be able to identify the common trees in Singapore. This will be followed by a game session where families and friends bond together by playing the ‘1, 2, Tree!’ card game and test their knowledge of plants in a fun way. For kids (primary school and above) and families.

Free marine colouring session for kids after special marine talks conducted by leading enthusiasts in Singapore: Jeffrey Low on 19 Nov (Sat) and Debby Ng on 26 Nov (Sat). Also view posters of marine life from 1 Nov-31 Dec, all at the National Geographic Store at VivoCity.

10 Dec (Sat): Free Chek Jawa boardwalk tour The Naked Hermit Crabs introduce you to Chek Jawa without getting your feet wet. Even though we are not going on to the shore, there is still much to see and enjoy. There are monitor lizards, fiddler crabs, spiders, rare plants, wild boars, mudskippers and lots of fruit trees. If we are lucky, we might even spot the Oriental Pied Hornbill, White-bellied Sea Eagle and the giant Atlas Moth. Pre-registration required.

10 Dec (Sat): HeART for Nature This free art workshop helps children to delve deep into their hearts to express nature in various themed art activities like drawing, fingerprinting, origami, puppet making. The children will also learn about our natural heritage. Pre-registration required.

MORE EVENTS

22 Nov (Tue): Kids visit the Raffles Museum with Cicada Tree Eco Place Join this guided tour of the museum, highlighting Singapore's incredibly rich biodiversity of fauna and flora, our tropical habitats, conservation issues and animals of Southeast Asia and more! With a special feature on Singapore’s bats. $15 per child (max. 20 children and max. 1 adult accompanying each kid, due to limited gallery space). Pre-registration required.

25 Nov (Fri): Chek Jawa Walk with Cicada Tree Eco Place We go on the extensive boardwalk at Chek Jawa on Pulau Ubin. Here we shall see a diversity of unique flora and fauna. At low tide, exposed seaweeds used to be collected by locals to feed their pigs. From the mangroves, Attap Palm leaves were harvested for thatching while durable Nibong Palm trunks were used to build kelongs. The shallow sea here was also a rich hunting ground. Many natural resources were depended upon, and used in sustainable ways by the kampong folk who lived at Chek Jawa. $15 per person (adult or child), excluding bumboat ride and mini-bus ride to Chek Jawa. The bumboat ride is $2.50 per person one way. The mini-bus ride is $4 return per person to and from the main village. Pre-registration required.

27 Nov (Sun): Greet our Forest Giants! Greet some lovely forest trees with Cicada Tree Eco Place! Find out about the animals and plants that live on and around them. Planted along the Southern Ridges, these forest trees form the Sembcorp Forest of Giants - an arboretum project undertaken by the National Parks Board as part of its efforts to enhance the biodiversity within urban areas. For kids aged 5-10 years. $10 per child. Pre-registration required.

4 Dec (Sun): Flights of Fantasy! Join Cicada Tree Eco Place for this bird-watching workshop along the Forest Walk, a chirpy experience at Telok Blangah Hill Park! Comprising lush green open spaces and forested areas, this park is home to numerous species of flora and fauna. Bring along your binoculars and you may spot some of the 43 species of birds that may be found there! $10 per child. Pre-registration required.

7 Dec (Wed): Kids visit the Raffles Museum with Cicada Tree Eco Place Join this guided tour of the museum, highlighting Singapore's incredibly rich biodiversity of fauna and flora, our tropical habitats, conservation issues and animals of Southeast Asia and more! With a special feature on Singapore’s bats. $15 per child (max. 20 children and max. 1 adult accompanying each kid, due to limited gallery space). Pre-registration required.

10 Dec (Sat): Strange Plants Workshop! Join Cicada Tree Eco Place to find out how some plants have really strange qualities! Plants like Pitcher Plants, Venue Fly-traps and Sundews eat up bugs, while other plants like Ant Plants and Ant Ferms provide food for bugs which protect them. Some plants have sweet leaves or shoots which may be eaten, while others are poisonous and should never be consumed. In this lesson, kids will learn about the Ant Plant and its symbiotic relationship with ants. Kids will also see examples of useful plants like the Rattan. The lesson will end with a walk in the garden where kids will get to hunt for all sorts of strange plants. For kids aged 5-10 years. $25 per child. Pre-registration is required.

11 Dec (Sun): Nature Society (Singapore) Kids’ Birding Fun at Lorong Halus this event is open to the public. The scenic Lorong Halus Wetland was opened in March 2011 to help purify run-offs from this old rubbish landfill. For years, Little Grebes and Common Moorhens have made their home at Halus. We might spot attractive grassland birds such as Yellow-bellied Prinias, Munias, Baya Weavers and Long-tailed Shrikes. For kids 4 to 12 years. $5 per child (NSS member) or $10 per child (non-member) will be collected on the spot. Parents / caregivers are encouraged to join in at no charge. Pre-registration required.

MORE events for kids and others during the school holidays from the wildsingapore happenings blog. 

Go outdoors! You never know what you might encounter!

Wishing you many happy biodiversity encounters this December holidays!