Art garden at the singapore art museum.

Linna with "Walter" (the bunny) at the Singapore Art Museum.

Linna and I have been doing a lot of exploring around Singapore lately, and I have to say that our visit to the Singapore Art Museum's Art Garden yesterday is by far one of our favorite discoveries. After hearing about this exhibit from my friend Emma (Australian mom of 2-year-old Myla), Linna and I made the trip across Singapore to check it out. When it comes to price of admission, location (lots of great things to check out around the museum), education, and fun-factor, the Art Garden exhibit is by far one of the best places for children in Singapore!

This is the Art Garden's fourth year in Singapore, and this year it opened on May 17th and runs through September 1st. If you ask me, the exhibit should stay open forever! There is SO much for children to learn about and explore in the four levels of the museum. Linna's eyes popped when we walked into The Enchanted Garden City on the first floor. This colorful room had a big rainbow for the children to climb over, an art table for coloring activities, tunnels, and tons of things for visitors to take in visually. The artwork in this room is outstanding, and would make an excellent dream bedroom for any child. The artist, Sandra Lee, has done an excellent job creating this whimsical enchanted city, where visitors can wander about fairy tales... with what the artist calls "an Asian twist". We rolled into the museum around 10 a.m., so after spending about 20 minutes in this room, it started to get very busy with school-age children, so we decided to move onto the next floor.

(Linna in the revolving bedroom.)

Our next stop was the second floor where we discovered the Around the Day in Eighty Worlds room, which is basically a really cool Alice in Wonderland themed room. Artist Vicente Delgado created a magical black and white room, complete with hands-on activities for the kids. Linna couldn't get enough of the ring-toss area of the room, and she loved climbing on the "broken" chair. If I could host Linna's 2nd birthday party in this room, I would! I wonder if you can actually do that?! Also on the second floor, we found a film screening room, where we watched a few short films by local filmmaker Tan Siang Yu. Most of these short films were about animals, so it was difficult to pry Linna out when it was time to move onto the next room. In one of the films, a cat tried unsuccessfully to capture a fish in the air and fell onto a dock. While the other children laughed, Linna shouted "NOOOOOOO" and started to cry a little, because she didn't want to see the cat get hurt. The film-watchers (and Mama Saigh) thought this was pretty cute and funny!

Linna broke the chair;)

Stellar Cave II - Level 3

Creating their own versions of the Stellar Cave II.

Level three included this cool Stellar Cave by artist Julien Salaud, which is actually made entirely of screws and thread. It's a dark room lit by black lights, so you can see animals in the artist's incredible work! There was also an area for children to create their own art work using screws and thread. Linna loved this, as it was very hands-on! 

We enjoyed watching people in The Incredibly Magical Expanding Room, where you can use your voice to transform the images on the walls. Kids and adults loved whispering, shouting, and even singing into the microphone to create "art" on the walls. My favorite room, however, had to be the Les Reves Engloutis - Glossy Dreams in Depths room, by artist Stephanie Blanquet. We were warned that this room might be a little scary for Linna, as the artist's goal was to show children how to overcome their fears of "monsters under the bed". I have to say that this room was not scary for Linna in the least bit. I think the cat taking a spill in the short film was "scarier" for her (haha)! In this room, Linna and I got to sit on a bed that turned 180-degrees into a completely different room. Very cool! She also got to make a "monster" mask (looks more like an elephant to me), that Linna still proudly wears around the house. Elephants are one of her favorite animals right now!

(Linna dancing around in the Enchanted Garden City room.)

(Linna enjoying the ring toss in the Around the Day in Eighty Worlds room.)

The best part about the Art Garden, is that admission is just $10 for adults, and kids under age 6 get in FREE, as well as Singaporeans and permanent residents. Students and seniors get in for just $5. Plus, there's FREE admission every Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., AND there's FREE admission during the Children's Season 2013 Open House Days on June 29th & 30th! Whether you have children or not, I'm recommending this as a must-see in Singapore, as it's really a place where you get a lot of bang for your buck (especially if you go during a "free admission" period). We'll definitely be back very soon!

Ended our fabulous morning with some delicious kiwi, kopi, and kaya toast.