March and April Highlights from The National Heritage Board for Families

From thematic tours and special exhibitions to craft activities and online games, there is plenty to keep you and your kids occupied this March school holidays!

Last updated: 8 Mar 2022

The National Heritage Board (NHB) manages our museums and heritage centres, and they have an exciting line-up of family-friendly activities and programmes in-store at the various venues.

Here's what you can look forward to at the different museums in March and April 2022.

Tamil Language Festival 2022

Image credits National Heritage Board

Date: 1 Apr - 1 May 2022

The Tamil Language Festival 2022 will take place in a virtual format from 1 April to 1 May 2022. Partners to the Tamil Language Council will present a range of exciting literary, oratorical and cultural events for the Tamil-speaking community, to encourage them to “Love Tamil, Speak Tamil”, to embrace their mother tongue and to use it in their daily lives. The launch of the Tamil Language Festival will be telecast LIVE at 9 pm on 2 April 2022, on Mediacorp Vasantham.

The full festival calendar will be available here from mid-March.

Talk for Parents & Educators - Enhancing Children’s Learning Through Movement and Play

Image credits National Heritage Board

Venue: Online (Microsoft Teams) and Onsite - The Salon, National Museum of Singapore
Date: 2 Apr 2022
Time: 10.30 am - 11.30 am 
Fee: $5 refundable deposit (register)

Find out how movement activities can enhance your child’s brain function and learning. Join Mabel Yong and Karen Low, Master Teachers from the Physical Education and Sports Teacher Academy (PESTA) as they share how you can
develop fun, spontaneous and imaginative movement activities for your children.

Monumental Walking Tours

Venue: Various National Monuments
Date: 2, 16, & 30 Apr 2022
Time: 10 am - 11.30 am
Fee: Standard - $5 | Student/Senior Citizen - $3 (registration required)

Monumental Walking Tours are thematic tours specially created and led by volunteer guides, who are passionate heritage enthusiasts keen to share about the beautiful architectural features of Singapore’s National Monuments and the histories surrounding these treasured buildings. As these guides reveal hidden gems of Singapore’s past on location, history will truly come alive.

Registration for the tours will open in mid-March 2022. You can register here.

Programmes by the Indian Heritage Centre

Little Adventurers at Indian Heritage Centre – Get Crafty

Venue: Indian Heritage Centre, 5 Campbell Ln, Singapore 209924
Date: 12 - 20 Mar 2022

This March school holidays, the Indian Heritage Centre (IHC) has a series of exciting programmes just for little adventurers. The young ones can try their hands at craft activities and sign up for a variety of fun workshops.

• Paper Quilling Workshop

Date & Time: 12 Mar 2022 | 10.30 am – 11.30 am
Fee: $9/child

This is a workshop for the curious little ones! Be inspired by the patterns and images that you will see in IHC’s permanent galleries and recreate your own artwork at the Paper Quiling Workshop. 

Suitable for children 7 years and above. Limited to 20 pax. Workshop materials will be provided. You can register here. 

• Glass Painting Workshop 

Date & Time: 19 Mar 2022 | 10.30 am – 11.30 am
Fee: $9/child

Indulge your imagination and save the environment! Re-purpose glass bottles by painting it in bright colours similar to the glass domed lamp stand artefact in the gallery. Finally, insert LED lights in the glass bottle to create your very own up-cycled bottle lamp!

Suitable for children 7 years and above. Limited to 20 pax. Workshop materials will be provided. You can register here. 

• Mosaic Tile Coaster Workshop 

Date & Time: 19 Mar 2022 | 2 pm - 3 pm
Fee: $9/child

Make your own mosaic tile coaster at this workshop and learn about the mother-of-pearl door artefact seen in IHC’s permanent gallery that inspired this workshop. 

Suitable for children 7 years and above. Limited to 20 pax. Workshop materials will be provided. You can register here. 

• Free Activity Kits 

Date: 12 - 20 Mar 2022

Get busy with IHC's activity kits comprising three fun craft activities. Make your own cardboard camera featuring key elements of IHC; design a personalised kite with motifs founds in the permanent galleries and create your own baoli stairwell keychain with aquabeads.

Collect your activity kits at IHC and don’t forget to head up to the galleries to spot these artefacts in person. While stocks last and limited one per child.

• English Guided Tour

Date: Tue – Fri: 11 am | Sat, Sun and Public Holidays: 2 pm

Join a free guided tour of IHC's galleries led by the museum docents. Discover the rich history, heritage, and culture of the Indian and South Asian communities in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Guided tours are free of charge. Based on availability of volunteer guides and on a first-come-first-served basis. Limited to 10 pax per tour.

Indian New Year Open House 2022

Image credits Indian Heritage Board

Venue: Indian Heritage Centre, 5 Campbell Ln, Singapore 209924
Date: 9 & 10 Apr 2022
Time: 10 am - 5 pm

Celebrate the Indian New Year with a weekend open house of fun drop-in activities at the Indian Heritage Centre. Admission is free. 

Programmes by the Malay Heritage Centre

Cerita (Stories) Special Exhibition

Venue: Malay Heritage Centre, 85 Sultan Gate, Singapore 198501
Date: 29 Jan – 31 Jul 2022 (closed on Mondays)
Time: 10 am - 6 pm (last entry: 5.30 pm)

Over the years, the Malay Heritage Centre (MHC) has presented an array of exhibitions and programmes along the four thematic categories of Bahasa (Language), Adat (Culture & Customs), Nilai (Values) and Bangsa (People/Nation). At the heart of this approach was the desire to promote discussions on who are the Malays i.e Melayu, what is the ‘Malay language’, and survey Malay culture through cultural and heritage materials from the vast Nusantara or Malay Archipelago.

Envisioned more as a pit-stop on a journey that will continue after the planned museum revamp, this exhibition is a timely occasion for all of us to reflect on the past and imagine the future together. Cerita shines the spotlight on the shared stories as well as the role of the storyteller via a survey of selected artefacts and signature collaborations that MHC has presented over the past decade.

Guided by the two signposts of Kita (Us/ We) in Gallery 1, and Me-reka (Them/Crafting) in Gallery 2, Cerita (Stories) Special Exhibition hopes to indulge both returning and new visitors, to discover fresh insights and perspectives on Malay culture and heritage.

What’s Nenek’s Occupation?

Venue: Malay Heritage Centre
Date: 29 Jan - 31 Jul 2022 (closed on Mondays)
Time: 10 am - 6 pm (last entry: 5.30 pm)

Put on your detective hat because Agent Laila has a mission for you!

Uncover the occupation of Laila’s grandmother through this detective game where you would need to solve riddles and quests in the mission cards. The answers will be clues that will lead you to a location in the exhibition for the grand reveal.

Students and families can explore MHC’s latest exhibition, Cerita (Stories) through this self-exploratory hunt game and learn about various aspects of Malay culture, heritage and arts that.

This programme is available in English and Malay. Admission is free.

Tales from the Nusantara Storytelling Session @ MHC

Venue: Malay Heritage Centre
Date: 12 Mar 2022
Time: 10 am 

Get transported to a folktale from the Nusantara (Malay world) and go on a guided tour of MHC’s latest exhibition, Cerita (Stories). Follow MHC on their social media page for more information on the story that will be presented.

Tales from the Nusantara Storytelling Video Series

Image credits Malay Heritage Centre

Venue: Online
Fee: Free

Staying home during the school holidays can be a lot of fun with MHC's storytelling series showcasing folktales from the Nusantara (Malay world). Check out their YouTube Channel for pre-recorded storytelling videos that you can tune in at home or in school.

Activity sheets in both Malay and English are available for download for selected videos.

I am a Little Jewellery Designer

Venue: Online
Fee: Free

Did you know that a diamond village called “Kampong Intan” used to exist in Singapore? It was bustling with diamond traders and jewellery designers.

Join Laila and Oreo in this interactive video game where you can harvest your own intan (diamond), polish it and set it in a beautiful piece of jewellery. Your creation will also be available for download as an image file to keep forever.

Additionally, you can redeem a specially designed sticker at the Malay Heritage Centre if you flash your creation (while stocks last). 

My First Wayang Kulit Show

Venue: Online
Fee: Free

Explore the wonders of wayang kulit together with Laila in this interactive online game. Get a chance to be a little dalang (puppeteer), put up your first Ramayana performance and get a chance to learn what goes on behind the screen in a wayang kulit show.

Rentak Warisan with Sri Mahligai: Lagu-lagu Jenaka

Venue: Online - Live on MHC Facebook
Date: 16 Mar 2022
Time: 8 pm

In this final presentation of Rentak Warisan, MHC explores the genre of comedic songs. Since the early days of Malay music recording, musicians and comedians alike have produced comedic songs. While they are funny and entertaining, these songs also carry important messages to listeners. Come join in and laugh together as you listen to some of the classic comedic songs from the Nusantara.

Selera Warisan: Kari Ketam with Yuslina Yusoff

Venue: Online - MHC Facebook
Date: 25 Mar 2022
Time: 6 pm

Selera Warisan is MHC’s monthly cooking series that features different personalities and highlights their delicious cooking filled with tradition, heritage and memories.

This month, MHC features Ms Yuslina Yusoff, as she prepares Kari Ketam (Crab Curry).

Programmes by Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall

不怪的“怪”兽 Meet My Unusual Family

Venue: Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, 12 Tai Gin Rd, Singapore 327874
Date: 18 & 19 Mar 2022
Time: 11 am - 12.30 pm
Fee: $35/pax
Tickets will be sold here 

不怪的“怪”兽 Meet My Unusual Family is a fun-filled, tactile, and interactive storytelling session about self-discovery and acceptance.

Guai Guai is a magical monster who is always teased by her family of magical monsters for not being monstrous enough. Tired of feeling bad for herself, Guai Guai needs your help to find her special monster power.

This storytelling session is recommended for children aged 4 to 8 years old and will be conducted in Mandarin.

Held in conjunction with the Nian Hua: Of Deities, Guardians and Auspicious Art special exhibition. This programme is brought to you by Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall and The Theatre Practice, as part of SYSNMH’s school holiday programming.

Nian Hua: Of Guardians, Deities and Auspicious Art Exhibition

Image credits Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Heritage Board

Venue: Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
Date: 21 Jan - 25 Sep 2022 (closed on Mondays)
Time: 10 am - 5 pm (last entry: 4.30 pm)
Free: Free for all Singaporeans and PRs

A collaboration between Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall and Three Gorges Museum in Chongqing, Nian Hua: Of Guardians, Deities and Auspicious Art exhibition showcases new year prints from different provinces of China produced during the Qing dynasty and Republican period. Since the iconography of these prints was deeply rooted in popular beliefs and folk customs, a close examination of these prints provides insights into the rarely-documented attitudes and values of the common people in China in the past.

Festive Installation: Blessings Come A-Knocking 祈福临门

Image credits Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall

Venue: Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
Date: 11 Jan - 24 Jul 2022 (daily)
Time: 10 am - 5 pm
Fee: Free (no registration required)

Titled “Blessings Come A-Knocking”, this lawn installation is a collaboration between the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall and artist Ng Tik Ka (Tik Ka From East), a Hong Kong artist, illustrator and designer. It features two of the artist’s artworks “Eat Good West” and “Big War” and showcases his signature style of depicting familiar pop culture figures in the traditional style of new year prints.

This installation represents the memorial hall’s wish for protection against the trials and tribulations brought about by the pandemic for Singapore, and personal protection for Singaporeans against the COVID-19 virus. It also embodies their hope to enjoy more healthy and prosperous years, and gives thanks as Singapore continues to persevere on its path to live with COVID-19.