What to do during the June holidays
The June holidays can be great, or a terror, as you suddenly go from leaving your kids at school, to having to occupy them for 16 hours a day, meaningfully. After all, you wouldn’t just want to toss them a phone or plonk them in front of the television.
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The June holidays can be great, or a terror, as you suddenly go from leaving your kids at school, to having to occupy them for 16 hours a day, meaningfully. After all, you wouldn’t just want to toss them a phone or plonk them in front of the television.
You would hope that they take something useful away from the holidays. That’s where many of the planned activities can make a difference.
Here’s what you can do.
Check that home cafe near your home?
We know. The June holidays can cause a real crowd on malls, cafes, and restaurants. So why not try the home cafes near you? One of our favourite ways is to look on the Acuppa website for the listings of home cafes, and then slowly check them out, one by one. You might find some real gems there.
Bring your child for the National Museum’s activities
As part of Children’s Season, the National Museum of Singapore has organised a series of workshops for children to learn about how the Singapore River shaped life in Singapore. From being a river that fed the early Singapore settlement, to being the hub for trade to happen, there’s much that our children can learn about our early history.
Some of the activities are very interesting. For example, the children could take part in a map-making workshop, learning from how we navigated before the advent of Google Maps and Waze.
Learn how to encourage play with the Children’s Museum of Singapore
But beyond just bringing your children for these workshops, you might also struggle with how to engage your child, without the phone. Planning play for them is difficult.
If you want to learn how to engage your child meaningfully through play, learn how you might connect better with your child through traditional games and better communication at this workshop.
Volunteer to tinker with toys and laptops?
Of course, one of the beautiful things about Singapore is how we still preserve our kampung spirit, caring for those who’re down and out.
Engineering Good, is one of those organisations that have regularly volunteered to build better things for those with disabilities. One of their common builds are adapted toys, where they connect a big pet button to a toy. Why? Because those with disabilities like cerebral palsy cannot often press the smaller button at the bottom.
They also regularly refurbish decommissioned laptops for students from low-income families. If you’d like to learn technical skills like understanding and programming circuit boards, Engineering Good is the place to be.
If you love books, another place is The Saturday Book Club, on the 3rd Saturday of every month
Of course, libraries aren’t just places to enjoy books, but it can also be a place where you exchange what you’ve learnt from books.
If you’ve ever felt deeply enlightened by a book, imagine if you could share that with other book lovers. What’s more, you get to hear a quick summary of the things they learnt from their own books too! It’s a perfect way to spend an early Saturday morning, fed by great insights from others.
Fancy speaking with strangers with interesting stories?
Beyond just talking about interesting books with authors from far-off continents, you might want to actually meet interesting people who have gone down the unbeaten path.
For example, someone who left NUS to study in 4 continents. Or people who share vulnerably about how they started a pilates studio from nothing.
Or you might just want to simply sit in a space that is unhurried, where you don’t have to buy anything, and you can simply chat with strangers.
If you’d like that, try Stranger Conversations in Pearl’s Hill Terrace.
Visit Filmhouse, in what was formerly The Projector
Sometimes, you might just want a break from conversation.
You just want to slide back into your chair, and watch movies you love. In that case, the new independent cinemas that have opened would be a treat.
Following the outpouring of grief that came with the loss of The Projector last year, Filmhouse quickly opened to great fanfare. Go there every weekend, and you’d see it packed to the brim with viewers who want more than just the bland, action-packed sequences you can catch in mainstream cinemas. Over June, there will be an Italian Film Festival, filled with classics such as Primavera.
Check Singapore Film Society’s Somerset Cinema
Another cinema worth considering is SFS-Somerset, located in Orchard’s Cineleisure. It is specially curated by SFS’s Chairman Kenneth Tan.
Of course, then there are the times when you might want to watch a live performance, and not just something canned in a film reel.
Lean into the songs you love, on 30 June, at Temasek Shophouse
Here’s where you can lean back, and soak in the music. One of the best places to do this is in the newly upgraded Temasek Shophouse, which offers monthly jams, for free.
Check the playgrounds and bee hotels, just behind Temasek Shophouse
Just behind Temasek Shophouse, lies something more interesting. Bee hotels. Roosting structures for birds. And even a climbing structure for kids to have fun with.
Check New Bahru out, for its pickleball courts, and electric mix of F&B restaurants
Speaking of older places, New Bahru is something else you must visit during this June holidays. Being the original site of the old Nan Chiau High School, it has today evolved into a creative cluster of businesses with esoteric offerings.
For example, bedsheets. Walk into Sojao in New Bahru, and you’d be quickly taken aback by how much the shop assistant knows about thread counts, and thickness of bedsheets, and how that affects your sleep. You might have felt that your bedsheets are not very breathable, and you wake up feeling sticky, and unrested. In that case, it might be worth paying Sojao a visit. They might just offer you better ones.
One of the things for kids is the Kidstopia Prestige, which offers a dazzling maze of rooms for kids. They would definitely not be bored.
You too, can enjoy the bright display of food on offer in New Bahru. Run by the F&B visionary Wee Teng Wen, he and his team personally curated the occupants there. It definitely will be worth a visit.
Have something else to recommend?
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