Ideas for a day out together.
Check age guidance, facilities and opening times before visiting.
Ages are a guide from the venue or organiser where they give one. Typical spend per person, in Singapore dollars.
The Supertrees, the outdoor gardens and the 7.45pm light show are free. You pay for the two cooled domes, and residents pay a good deal less than visitors.
Matches teens: listed for ages 0–3, 4–6, 7–12, teens. Not every activity there will suit this age.
S$4 gets you across by train, and the beaches, Fort Siloso and the Sensoryscape lights are free. The rides and shows are where the money goes, so choose one or two and leave the rest.
Matches teens: listed for ages 0–3, 4–6, 7–12, teens. Not every activity there will suit this age.
The Ford boardroom on Upper Bukit Timah Road where Singapore was surrendered in 1942, still there and still plain. Come at the weekend for the free volunteer-led tour.
Matches teens: listed for teens. Not every activity there will suit this age.
A gentle way into bouldering: an 80-minute intro class, then two weeks of unlimited climbing to get hooked. Do the class at Sembawang, the bigger wall.
Matches teens: listed for teens. Not every activity there will suit this age.
The 1977 building has a year or so left before the move across the lake to a Zaha Hadid home. Go now, pick two galleries and let the children press things.
Matches teens: listed for ages 4–6, 7–12, teens. Not every activity there will suit this age.
Take it in order: the 'What is Peranakan?' question on the ground floor is what makes the third-floor jewellery worth the climb. Small, very pretty and open late on Fridays.
Matches teens: listed for ages 4–6, 7–12, teens. Not every activity there will suit this age.
Jewel's paid attraction about the unglamorous side of flying: trolleys, taxi queues and the people behind them, turned into games. Best with children of six and up who like to compete.
Matches teens: listed for ages 7–12, teens. Not every activity there will suit this age.
Guns built to face the sea, turned inland in 1942. Sentosa's quietest attraction holds the island's heaviest story, and you enter it through the treetops.
Matches teens: listed for ages 7–12, teens. Not every activity there will suit this age.
A 620-metre lazy river that drifts past rays, a reef you snorkel through and a coaster that goes uphill. The waterslide half is the ordinary half.
Matches teens: listed for ages 0–3, 4–6, 7–12, teens. Not every activity there will suit this age.
The lemurs are gone, the Minions moved in and Mario is being built next door. The smallest Universal park anywhere is finally changing shape, and your old route won't work.
Matches teens: listed for ages 4–6, 7–12, teens. Not every activity there will suit this age.
A panther at large for 11 months and a hippo on a 47-day swim taught Mandai how to build a zoo. Arrive at opening, pick four animals, leave the fifth for next time.
Matches teens: listed for ages 0–3, 4–6, 7–12, teens. Not every activity there will suit this age.
Big Splash's 1977 tower survived the bulldozers and now holds Singapore's tallest outdoor slide. One adult for the tower, one for the water, and swimwear for all.
Matches teens: listed for ages 0–3, 4–6, 7–12, teens. Not every activity there will suit this age.
Pick the Mandai park you actually want and do it properly. Trying to cover them all in one day leaves nobody with energy for the last one.
Pick one Sentosa: beach, heritage, sea life, waterpark or rides. Trying to do three in a day is how a family ends up silent on the way home.
Pick one anchor: Jurong Lake Gardens and Forest Ramble for an outdoor day, or Science Centre and KidsSTOP for a wet one. Not all four in an afternoon.
Ask them first: climbing, experimenting, animals or stories. Then book one anchor activity and leave the rest of the afternoon for snacks.
‘Good for kids’ covers everyone from toddlers to teenagers, which is the problem. Choose the session, route or activity for the children actually coming with you.
