Constantly racking your brain over what to do over the weekends? While small, life in Singapore is far from boring – especially for the little ones! Spanning from open-air playgrounds, to other fitness and educational programmes, there are plenty of memberships that can occupy and entertain your kids all year round. Many of them make for interesting family outings, too. Check out our best options here:
Kids can sign up as members of the National Gallery under the GalleryKids programme. GalleryKids enjoy special menus at selected dining venues, a monthly newsletter, 10% off Gallery Children’s publications, a welcome badge and access to exclusive kids’ programmes.
Participation in the GalleryKids programme is free and local students enjoy free entry to the National Gallery.
Volunteering with your child is a great way to help them develop and become compassionate adults. Food Bank conducts food drives to give away donated food to the needy.
The organisation is currently recruiting volunteers from the ages of 5 to 12 for their Juniors Club. Kids will be able to assist in the Food Bank’s warehouse, pack food bundles and participate in distribution efforts. They can also go on excursions to local farms and factories and participate in cooking classes.
If you often visit VivoCity to let your kids frolic at the open-air playground, a VivoCity Kids Club membership will let you make the most of each trip. Targeted at kids aged 3 to 12 years, the club offers access to activities and events organised at the mall, especially for members.
You’ll also get to take advantage of exclusive year-long VivoCity promotions for Kids Club members and birthday month offers. Promotions include discounts and freebies at shops and restaurants in the mall.
Membership is free for the first year, but you’ll have to spend at the mall and accumulate receipts in order to unlock certain benefits. In order to extend your membership for another year, you’ll have to accumulate $400 worth of receipts at qualifying VivoCity stores.
ActiveSG maintains sports and gym facilities all over Singapore, and also conducts numerous sports and fitness programmes for adults, kids and families.
It also conducts school holiday programmes designed to introduce the basics of new sports such as inline skating, sailing, taekwondo and golf to beginners.
You can use your ActiveSG credits to pay for these programmes, but you’ll have to first sign up as an ActiveSG member first. Teenagers can apply for ActiveSG membership from the age of 12, while younger kids will need to apply for supplementary membership with their parents or guardians.
Membership is free, and you will receive $100 worth of credits upon verification. Your credits can be used to access ActiveSg facilities like gyms and swimming pools, and sign up for programmes.
Kidz Amaze is a massive indoor playground at three Safra venues — Jurong, Punggol and Toa Payoh. Kids aged 12 months to 13 years will love climbing the tall structures, swooshing down slides, tackling obstacle courses, jumping into ball pits and more. These will surely help them get a bit of exercise and take a break from screen time for a few hours.
A Kidz Amaze membership costs $25 for children of Safra members or Safra junior dependent members, and $65 for children of non-Safra members. Safra members get to enjoy 50% off membership fees if they sign up by 31 Mar 2021, while non-members get 50% off if they sign up by 31 Dec 2020.
Not a bad deal considering entry usually costs $16 to $20 for non-members and $8 to $15 for members.
KidsSTOP is an interactive Children’s Science Centre housed on the premises of the Science Centre Singapore. Targeted at children from the age of 18 months to 8 years, it’s filled with colourful interactive and educational exhibits that kids will love tinkering with.
Highlights include the Big Dream Climber, a 9m-tall playground suspended in the air, a Critters Room featuring live animals, and the Dino Pit where kids can uncover fossils in the sand.
The annual membership of $45 offers unlimited free admission for one adult and one child, while the $90 family membership offers unlimited entry for two kids and two adults.
That’s a good deal considering a standard kids’ ticket usually costs $23 during peak hours and $20 during off-peak hours, and adults have to pay $13 to accompany their kids during peak hours. You only have to make two or three visits in a year make the cost of your membership worthwhile.
Going on a school excursion to the zoo is a big deal for kids, so imagine the excitement of being able to go for free anytime. That’s what a Friends of the Singapore Zoo membership gives you.
Not only do you enjoy free admission for a year (except on Chinese New Year, Labour Day and Hari Raya Puasa), you also enjoy complimentary tram rides, free parking and 20% off rides, shopping and dining.
Annual membership costs $105 for those aged 13 years and above, and $65 for kids aged 3 to 12 years. Family packages are available from $215 to $255 for two adults and one to five children.
If you plan to go to the zoo more than three times a year, a membership can save you money, as entry for children aged 3 to 12 years is $26, and admission for those aged 13 years and above is a whopping $39.
No, this membership doesn’t offer your kids a free luxurious staycation at Shangri-La Hotel. But it does give them access to buds by Shangri-La, an interactive play space in the hotel. It features slides and a ball pit, and offers activity classes conducted in the hotel’s premises.
In addition, certain members can participate in a special programme called Grow with Us, which teaches kids how to grow their own herbs in the hotel’s gardens.
There are three membership tiers. Discoverer costs $988 and offers 20 entries to the buds playspace and 10 activity classes.
Explorer costs $2,288 and Family Buds costs $3,388. Both offer unlimited access to buds, 20 activities, access to the Grow with Us programme, as well as hotel credits for dining and hotel stays at Shangri-La Hotel.
The Singapore Discovery Centre houses a museum with exhibits on Singapore’s history and the Singapore Armed Forces, including reenactments of places during the war.
It is also an entertainment hub with a laser tag arena, a paintball facility and a multi-storey escape room. 4D theatre rides and pedal boat rides are available too.
Visiting the permanent exhibits gallery is free, but note that separate entry fees apply at the other attractions.
Membership, which costs $120 for families and $50 for individuals, entitles you to free entry to all the attractions. You’ll get a certain number of tickets for each attraction which you can then use throughout the year. Given the rather eclectic nature of the attractions, you’ll be able to try quite a diverse range of activities.
Frequent visitors to the ArtScience Museums can consider an ArtScience Friends membership, which offers free unlimited 12-month access to the museum’s ticketed exhibitions for you and one or two guests.
Other perks include priority entry to beat the queues, discounts at The Museum Shop and previews to new exhibitions before they open to the public.
Membership costs $168 for the right to bring along one guest, or $298 if you’d like to bring along two guests.
Note that the membership is for those who are aged 18 years and older. If you are a parent with young kids, you’ll need to sign up for it first, then bring along one or two of your kids as your guests.
Text: Joanne Poh/MoneySmart
