The best edutainment places for kids in Singapore

For those in the dark, Pororo is an intrepid penguin (who dreams of flying) from a Korean cartoon – and this indoor theme park is dedicated to the character and his friends. Let your children run amok here: they can hop on a train with Eddy the fox as he takes you on a tour through the grounds, peek into Pororo’s icy home and dive into a ball pit. And while the big kids can climb and duck through jungle gyms, tinier tots have a dedicated toddler’s area with foam mats and soft toys.

As Asia's first children's garden, this attraction combines fun and education to provide kids with an exciting and interactive learning experience. Along with the theme 'All Life on Earth Depends on Plants,' young ones will discover the wonders of life sciences and develop an appreciation for nature and the environment through the sensory garden and the greenery around them. 

The new massive indoor playground at Marina Square is an interactive play space for children 12 and below. Kiztopia offers an environment where kids can play and learn valuable skills as well. Let them loose at the bouncy castles and trampoline arena, pick up cooking, driving and more at the role play rooms and even bring home the goodies they have made in the kitchen.

Before KidZania, there was The City. The interactive learning playground allows children aged between 18 months to eight years old to take on different adult roles and professions in a well-equipped kid-sized city. The playground is separated into zones: there’s a police station, fire station, clinic, supermarket, post office and café. Children can dress up in uniforms and play cook, doctor, cashier and policemen, and even ‘drive’ on miniature streets complete with traffic signs and lights. The goal of these role-playing exercises is to hone children’s life skills, such as counting money and learning about nutrition, health, safety and hygiene. 

Themed around popular Korean animated series, Tayo The Little Bus, this indoor theme park in Downtown East is the first outside South Korea and covers 10,000-square-feet-space and has indoor playground areas, a toddler area for the young 'uns, a sensory play space and a mini road circuit for the tiny tots to zip and zoom while learning all about road safety.

Let the little ones climb to their hearts’ content at this multi-activity play centre. A range of rock walls are available, including two speed-climbing auto-belaying walls and an augmented reality rock climbing wall. Challenge another player to hit as many bats as possible, climb a set route or pass a ball back and forth – all while hanging onto the wall, of course. After the physical workout, it’s time for a mental workout – at the robotics lab that is. Kids get the chance to build from scratch or programme robots at the hands-on workshops at the function room.

Think of this as the Science Centre on steroids. Located in Sentosa, MOSH! is Singapore’s first 'digital media edutainment facility'. The idea is to encourage children of all ages to develop their creativity in fun ways within a safe and immersive environment.

There's all sorts of technology, from projections to motion to interactive, here – your kids can even call upon their Minecraft skills to create their own virtual reality from scratch.

An edutainment centre specifically for kids, this interactive space features various areas for them to run wild and dirty their hands. Galleries are divided into themed zones with exhibits that encourage kids to get creative, learn about Mother Nature, nurture their curiosity and open their minds to the wonders of the world. And as you'd probably guess by now, gravity's a big part of it.

Enter The Big Dream Climber. This fantastical two-storey-high wall features elements plucked from the mind of the Mad Hatter: hanging doors, flying fish, giant gears and huge leaves green kids at every corner. And if they manage to scale the wall, they'll arrive at the Music Zone, where they can go nuts on drums and organs, constructed from PVC pipes. 

They say that we never actually grow up. We just become good at pretending. And at KidZania Singapore, your children will be really good at faking it (hopefully ’til they make it). The island’s newest edutainment centre is literally a city within a city. And spread across the massive facility are dozens of ‘real-world’ venues – scaled down, of course – where little ones can learn about being a firefighter, policeman, actor… you get the drift.

Like its 22 counterparts around the world, the Singapore playground is developed in consultation with child education experts and supported by legit brands to complement learning experiences. And since activities here are designed for children aged four and up ($25/two to three-years-old, $58/four to 17-years-old, $35/adults), nearly everybody can get in on the fun.