Revolving stars

As a parent living in Singapore, I’m always on the lookout for fun and engaging activities for my kid that won’t empty my wallet. Luckily, Singapore is bursting with family-friendly places where we can create wonderful memories without spending a dime. Join me as I share some of our favorite free activities that are perfect for kids! Gardens by the Bay: A Magical Experience One of our first stops is always Gardens by the Bay . Even though some attractions charge admission, the gardens themselves are free to explore. My kids absolutely love wandering through the Supertree Grove, marveling at the towering structures that look like they belong in a fantasy movie. We often bring a picnic to enjoy on the lush lawns, and watching the evening light show is simply magical. It’s a wonderful way to introduce the kids to nature and inspire their imaginations. There are also other activities that are organised throughout the year, so do check out their website for the most updated info! P.S: We we...

Raising kids in Singapore is atrociously expensive, so I would like to share what I do with Hunter on weekends and weekday nights to keep expenses down while limiting screen time. We try to do a variety of activities to make things interesting. 1. Paper cutting I got the divider papers from my company when they decided to discard the old documents. Hunter enjoyed this activity a lot after I got him the left handed scissors . (Apparently, cutting with a normal scissors is very painful for him as he would keep complaining that his fingers are unable to control the scissors)   2. Outing at Utown (NUS) This is probably the most underrated gem in the west. We like to go to Utown on the weekends to have a picnic and play with balls. And the best thing is that there is no crowd to contend with. It is also very kids friendly as there are 2 foodcourts nearby with toilets and water coolers all around. For adults, there is a Starbucks for your caffeine fix. 2. Outing at Singapore Botanic Gard...

My cousin and I planned to go to the Istana for a play date, but when we reached, we nearly fainted when we saw the queue. We unanimously agreed that there is no way the two little kids are going to wait in the queue quietly, and hence, we decided to change location. Since we were around the area, we headed off to The Joy of Toys. We were surprised that the main area was already full (at 10plus in the morning) so we paid for the entry to the Riding Room.  We were worried that the two kids would be bored after a while, but no! They stayed through the whole hour. Pretty amazing for 3 years olds. Me holding on to Hunter because he tried to ride the zebra There are two sizes for these animal rides. Carrying the big stuffed toys around All in all, it was worth it for $8 an hour. Both parents could also enter, and there were no additional charges. For more information, you may wish to visit their website .   

 If you are staying at the West of Singapore and thinking of a budget place to bring your toddler, I will highly recommend Clusia Cove @ Jurong Lake Gardens ! Clusia Cove is very accessible by public transport; Just drop off at Lakeside MRT station and take a 10 mins stroll to the Gardens.  It is free for everyone and opens from 8am - 7pm every day, except for Mondays that do not fall under Public Holidays. There is both waterplay and sandplay available, with a wash point, toilets and some stone seats to put your belongings. Vending machines and water coolers are also available. Look at the happy boy scooping up the sand Running around in the water area All wet after all the playing Things to prepare: - Swimming diapers (I use Huggies ) - Sunscreen - Swimwear  (optional) - snacks (no food & drinks to be brought into the play area but stone seats area is fine) - Towel - A change of clothes (for both parent and child) - slippers Tip:  - Go earlier in the day when ...

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own . This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.   As many of you may know, H suffers from colic since young. We didn't realise that one of the factors leading to his colic was because of this tongue-tie. What it meant was a constant trial and error of different anti-colic medicine/supplements for him. In the end, what works best for him is the BioGaia Baby Drops, which he is taking still, even at 32 months old. It prevents him from getting very bad colic and has the added function of providing probiotics, killing 2 birds with 1 stone. If you go to the PD, they will also recommend this brand. However, it is very expensive to get it in the retail stores. What I do is that I get them from iHerb store,  when they are on offer. The usual price is around ~SGD38 for a 10ml bottle, as compared to ~SGD48 for a 5ml bottle in Watson...

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own . This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.   H tends to wake up early in the morning and drag me out for walks in the park/garden. Since it was raining, I introduced H to a new activity; button threading. The objective of this activity is to get him to thread the string into the 2 holes in the button. It looks pretty simple but it was not so straightforward for him at first. Look at H hard at work! The idea is to thread both holes so that the buttons will stay in position. If you just thread one hole, the button will freefall out of the string. Initially, H didn't get it and the buttons keep falling off. It took him about 7-8 tries to get it right, and even so, it took tremendous effort. After threading 3 of them, he decided to call it a day. This set was passed down from my aunty when she bought it for my cousin 20 odd y...

 As a Westie, I love the Jurong Lake Gardens. It's a fantastic place to bring H on the weekends (if it doesn't rain). As we take public transport, we always end up starting from the same point and could not finish walking to the end of the gardens. (You will have to take the bus and get down 1-2 stops later to reach the other side of the gardens, which was what we did in the end.) Photos below are from various occasions as we are unable to cover all in one trip. Outing with the grandma Enjoying the gardens Resting after walking for a long while due to his short legs The futile attempt to shield him from the sun At the far end of the Gardens Too hot to sit on the swinging chairs Walking along the path First time at Clusia Cove, coaxing H to dip his feet into the water After 30 mins of coaxing We really enjoy Jurong Lake Gardens a lot, and if you are heading there, do remember to bring food and drinks along as it's quite hard to find them there. Tip: If you are heading to Clu...