FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FIRST PLAY AREA FOR MUSEUM’S YOUNGEST VISITORS OPENS AT
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SINGAPORE
PLAY @ National Museum of Singapore gives children aged three to seven a first-look at Singapore
history and culture, encouraging museum-going from a young age
Singapore, 24 May 2014 – The National Museum of Singapore presents its first dedicated
area for young children to discover Singapore’s history and heritage in a fun and relatable
way, with the opening of PLAY @ National Museum of Singapore. Officiated by Minister
for Community, Culture and Youth, Mr Lawrence Wong, the new 700sqm wing is themed
after content from the Museum’s Living Galleries. This new area reflects the National
Heritage Board’s increased emphasis on heritage education as well as ongoing efforts to
cultivate a greater passion for heritage among younger Singaporeans and families.
Director of the National Museum of Singapore, Ms Angelita Teo, said, “The National
Museum of Singapore is always looking for new ways to engage our audiences, and our
young visitors are no exception. Our ongoing revamp presents a great opportunity to create
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a permanent offering for them. PLAY @ National Museum of Singapore thus hopes to give
our children an exciting and enriching museum experience, and offer them a lively area to
look forward to with every visit.”
Designed with the museum’s youngest visitors in mind, PLAY @ National Museum of
Singapore is an area where children aged three to seven can freely express their curiosity
and creativity. The design of the place allows children to learn in a tactile manner and
interact with other children through fun installations. Content was also developed with the
participation of parents in mind, as PLAY @ National Museum of Singapore hopes to
encourage bonding between adults and children through the sharing of experiences and
memories.
“In working closely with children, preschools, MOE and the Early Childhood Development
Agency (ECDA), the Museum has come to better understand the need to start the young
early in heritage education, and the educational approaches that work best for our young
visitors. These are approaches that we have incorporated into PLAY @ National Museum of
Singapore, allowing the new wing to also be used as an enhanced learning platform by
parents and teachers, for the benefit and enjoyment of their children. All of this will go
towards the nurturing of a museum-going and heritage-loving generation,” Ms Teo added.
Content for PLAY @ National Museum of Singapore draws inspiration from the Museum’s
collection, such as the William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings, as well as
everyday heritage reworked into engaging, larger-than-life play spaces to give young visitors
their first journey into Singapore’s history and culture. The bright, colourful area of open
spaces consists of three main sections. They are –

EXPLORE
EXPLORE is the largest of the three spaces, consisting of a spacious indoor and outdoor
area that encourages children to discover our local history and cultures in a fun way, with
interesting activities to see, touch, and do. This space has a design inspired by the
popular childhood game, Ludo, and borrows on the concept of a home, and – it includes
themed spaces like a living room, kitchen, bedroom and garden. Activities centre on
photography, food, film and fashion, translated into relatable context for the young
visitors.
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
CREATE
An activity room for young budding artists to get their hands dirty and create their own
artworks, the CREATE space will be open to the public from Fridays to Sundays every
week, while other weekdays will be set aside for school programmes.

PERFORM
PERFORM will be a room that offers specially curated programmes for children to
unleash their creative potential for performing arts, and is equipped with a modular stage
and dividers to transform the space for different purposes. It can also be used as an
exhibition area during highlight programmes like the Museum’s annual Children’s
Season and Night Festival.
More details of each section can be found in the Fact Sheet.
PLAY @ National Museum of Singapore will be open from Saturday, 24 May 2014, at the
National Museum of Singapore, Level 3 (entrance from Platform or Fort Canning Entrance).
Opening hours are 10am to 6pm daily. Admission is free.
###
For media queries, please contact:
Sarah-Marie Teo
Tate Anzur
Senior Associate
DID: +65 6221 2681
Email: [email protected]
Tengku Nur Mariam
Tate Anzur
Senior Associate
DID: +65 6221 3808
Email: [email protected]
Yeo Li Li
National Museum of Singapore
Manager
DID: +65 6332 3283
Email: [email protected]
About the National Museum of Singapore
With a history dating back to its inception in 1887, the National Museum of Singapore is the
nation’s oldest museum with a progressive mind. It is custodian of the 10 National Treasures,
and its Singapore History and Living Galleries adopt cutting-edge and multi-perspective
ways of presenting history and culture to redefine conventional museum experience.
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A cultural and architectural landmark in Singapore, the Museum hosts innovative festivals
and events all year round—the dynamic Singapore Night Festival, visually arresting art
installations, as well as amazing performances and film screenings—in addition to
presenting thought-provoking exhibitions involving critically important collections of artefacts.
The programming is supported by a wide range of facilities and services including F&B, retail
and a Resource Centre. The National Museum of Singapore re-opened in December 2006
after a three-year redevelopment, and celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2012.
For more details, please visit www.nationalmuseum.sg.
The National Museum of Singapore
is an institution of
Supported by
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PLAY @ National Museum of Singapore
Fact Sheet
Opens Sat 24 May 2014 | 10 am – 6pm, daily
National Museum of Singapore, Level 3
Free admission
The National Museum of Singapore kicks off the school holidays with the opening of PLAY
@ National Museum of Singapore, the first dedicated area for young children to take their
first steps towards museum-going with interactive exhibits and special activities that
encourage learning through play. Inspired by the Museum’s collection, your young ones will
have the opportunity to express themselves through the various curated programmes that
will stimulate their curious minds and tap on their creativity.
INFORMATION ON PLAY @ NMS
Total Square Area
700 square metres (Entire indoor and outdoor third floor of the
National Museum of Singapore)
Target Age Group
Pre-schoolers / Children aged 3 – 7
PLAY @ National Museum of Singapore encourages parents and preschool educators to
introduce playacting for children as a way for them to pick up essential life skills. Each
section of the wing is fitted with activities for children to learn such as negotiation, problem
solving & cooperation, perspective-taking, and role taking. These skills essentially come in
useful for children in their everyday-life situations.
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EXPLORE
A spacious indoor area of personal spaces and an outdoor sun deck that encourages children
to learn about Singaporean cultures in a fun way, with interesting things to see, touch, and do
– including walls that the kids can draw on! The space borrows from the concept of a home,
something children are especially familiar with.
The Living Room features a larger-thanlife television and sofa set, from which
children can play and perform with
shadow puppets. There is also a
camera that families can use to take
their own family portraits, while lounging
together on the giant armchair.
The Kitchen sees a magnetic activity
wall where children learn to pick out the
ingredients needed for their favourite
local dishes, and get the opportunity to
create paper embossing of their
favourite foods which they may take to
the CREATE room after for some
colouring fun!
Inspired by blanket fortresses from our
childhood, the Bedroom sees a giant
cloth-tent which children can crawl into
to watch screenings of local short films.
In a huge wardrobe, children will also
find different cultural costumes like
kebayas and qi paos which they can ‘try
on’ in the mirror.
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In the Garden, children will be
encouraged to match cut-out fruits and
flowers etc to a larger-than-life indoor
puzzle tree. For the real thing, they may
head outdoors to the sun deck, an
extension of the Garden and a space
inspired by the William Farquhar Natural
History drawings. Children can sketch
on alcove walls and the stone floor, and
learn about local flora and fauna.
CREATE
A wet and dry activity room where our
small artists can create their own
artworks and get their hands dirty.
Guided activities for children will include
colouring and painting, paper crafts, and
more.
PERFORM
Equipped with a modular stage and
dividers to transform the space,
PERFORM is a specially curated room
for children to unleash their creative
potential for performing arts. Here,
children will be given a chance to
enhance their confidence through
building communication and performance
skills.
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