Biodiversity for kids during the March holidays!

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

Kids having a closer look at Mama wild boar and her piglet
during the free Chek Jawa boardwalk tour by the Naked Hermit Crabs.

Here's highlights of some of the many exciting nature events for kids during the March school holidays. Many for free!

FREE EVENTS

10 Mar (Sat): Free Chek Jawa boardwalk tour with the Naked Hermit Crabs Get an easy introduction 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 Mar (Sat): HeART for Nature - FREE workshop for kids This 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. For kids 5 to 8 years (with parental supervision), pre-registration required.


10 Mar (Sat): A walk with your neighbours - the macaques of Bukit Timah The long-tailed macaques are the most conspicuous animals at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Although commonly seen, they are very misunderstood. Few seeing them realise anything about the social world these monkeys live in. They have kin networks, power struggles, friends, foes, and an otherwise complex social network. In many ways, they provide a mirror of our own sociality. Pre-registration required.

10 Mar (Sat): Forest walk at the Botanic Gardens Rainforest Trail A free guided nature walk through a rainforest right in the heart of the city! Along paved trails, under the shade of giant trees, learn about our rainforests, spot forest creatures and strange plants. Suitable for young children. Register on the spot.

10 Mar (Sat): Talk on "The High Flyer" about seed dispersal for kids Just as seeds need to move away from the shade of the parent plant to grow better, children will recognise the need to move out of their comfort zones for greater growth. In this programme, children will be able to appreciate the wonderful and effective designs of winged seeds. They will also make models of their own winged seed and try them out! For kids 12 and below. No pre-registration is required.

17 Mar (Sat): FREE evening walk at Pasir Ris Mangrove boardwalk with the Naked Hermit Crabs. There are fascinating mangroves at Pasir Ris Park! Easily explored through the boardwalks  and it's open even at night! Join the Naked Hermit Crabs for an evening stroll through this interesting but often overlooked mangrove. Here, we are sure to see lots of crazy tree climbing crabs, delightful giant mudskippers and cool monitor lizards. Pasir Ris is also one of the few places where nesting herons are easily observed. And as the sun sets, we might spot some nocturnal animals like watersnakes. If we're lucky, we may catch a glimpse of the rare Mangrove pitta or the family of otters that have been seen here!

17 Mar (Sat): Young Naturalists Passport Camp at Sungei Buloh. A one day camp with fun-filled and educational indoor and outdoor learning of the wetlands and nature conservation issues through worksheets, nature walks and hands-on activities. Children will earn a stamp for every completed activity, and a full collection of stamps will earn them a series of cloth badges. For kids 6-10 years old. Refundable $5 registration fee. Pre-registration required.

18 Mar (Sun): Fun walk along the Southern Ridges Take your family on a leisurely stroll through the Southern Ridges, a soothing sanctuary of greenery that is steeped in history and home to some of nature's greatest gifts of flora and fauna. Highlights of the free tour include the Henderson Waves, Sembcorp Forest of Giants, Forest Walk and Singing Forest. Pre-registration required.

MORE EVENTS

10 Mar (Sat): "A Forest No Less" in Bukit Batok Nature Park Learn about the importance of the forest in your daily life! This one hour tour at Bukit Batok Nature Park highlights the interesting plants and wildlife found in an established secondary forest habitat. $4 per person, pre-registration required.

10 Mar (Sat): Seaside Treasure Hunt for kids at Pasir Ris Come find seashore treasures that are ours to protect! Kids will discover the unique animals and plants of our seashores! For kids aged 5 to 11, $20 per child, pre-registration required.

10 Mar (Sat): Carnivorous Plants! a workshop for kids Did you know that some plants have leaves that are so special that they can even digest insects? This is a workshop that shows you all kinds of leaves and discusses leaf shape, texture, colour, smell and function. Join us and get the chance to look closely at the leaves of the Venus Fly-trap and Sundew and also peer into the cups of a pitcher plant! Conducted by Cicada Tree Eco Place. For kids 5 years and above, $25 per child, pre-registration required.

11 Mar (Sun): Greet our Forest Giants! a workshop for kids Do you know what tree produces the Buah Keluak that your grandmother cooks in her Curry Buah Keluak? What does the Buah Kedondong Tree look like? Join this guided nature walk and greet some lovely forest trees. 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 biodiversity within urban areas. Conducted by Cicada Tree Eco Place. $10 per child, pre-registration required.

12 Mar (Mon): "Say Hello to Seashore Trees" for kids at Pasir Ris Come learn about trees that grow by the sea. Discover the animals which make these trees their home. For kids aged 5 to 11, $25 per child, pre-registration required.

15 Mar (Thu): Kampong Ubin Walk with Cicada Tree Eco Place This nature-guided stroll will bring us through a herb and spice garden, coffee and fruit tree orchards, the mangrove forest ecosystem, grassland and woodlands, coconut plantation, and bypasses 'kampong' village houses and their backyard food gardens. Along the way on the dirt trails, we may encounter wild pigs, jungle chickens, monitor lizards and a diversity of birds and bugs among the wayside wildflowers. This walk will end in the main village which remains almost unchanged since the 1960s. $13 per person (adult or child), excluding bumboat ride. Pre-registration and pre-payment is required.

17 Mar (Sat): Creatures of the Night! a workshop for kids Besides being nocturnal, are there other similarities between bats and snakes? How are they different? Where are we likely to find them? What types of bats and snakes can we find? Join us for an evening walk at Kent Ridge Park and you will discover these answers and more! Conducted by Cicada Tree Eco Place. For kids 5 years and older, $25 per child, pre-registration required.

You can also explore on your own! Check out the many DIY Trail Guides on the NParks website. Explore the new Berlayar Creek boardwalk, check out our heritage trees, visit Pulau Ubin and more! More about our wild places on wildsingapore. A tip to avoid the crowds on school holiday weekends, come early. That's when wildlife is more active anyway. And leave before it gets too hot.

Go outdoors! You never know what you might encounter!

Otters are regularly sighted at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
Visitor Centre, and are quite used to noisy visitors!

Wishing you many happy biodiversity encounters this March holidays!