Location: S.E.A. Aquarium
Date: Daily
Hour: 10 am - 7 pm
Admission: Details here
BYKIDO MOMENTS
Sharing of articles from fellow Mummies (and Daddies), to help you Bring Your Kid Out, and create your own BYKidO Moments!
A write-up of a playground visit, a video of a trip overseas or even something educational to help you Bring Your Kid Out! BYKidO Moments are moments for your Parenting Journey!
This week's BYKidO Moment is contributed by Mummy YL who recently visited the S.E.A Aquarium and wanted to share her experience!
Bring your kids out to the S.E.A. Aquarium™
As the weather has been unpredictable these days, it's quite tough to plan for outdoor Play Dates for Mini C. After some discussion with my friend, YT, we decided to organise a Play Date for her two kiddos (girl: 5 years old and boy: 2 years old) and Mini C (3 years old) at S.E.A. Aquarium™ because it's indoor and air-conditioned!
Furthermore it's not just all about fun but educational and informative for the kiddos too!
We went there on a Saturday noon and surprisingly there were no massive crowds. I remembered coming just after the official opening; we had to queue for more than 30 mins just to get in! I can imagine the nightmare for parents to wait in the long queue with your active toddlers and preschoolers!
Near the entrance, we saw a standee about the annual pass and S.E.A.A Explorer Programme for kiddos, and thought it seems rather interesting, so parents who are keen can check out their official website for more information.
*Note, there is a baby room near the entrance (right before the shipwreck tank/tunnel), perfect for parents with young kids!
The moment we stepped in, the kids were instantly drawn to the shipwreck aquarium with all the sharks, and a squadron of fishes swimming leisurely 'in front' of them. The tunnel gets quite crowded as people often stop to take photos, selfies and wefies with the fishes. Keep a close look out for the kiddos here in case they accidentally get knocked down by the enthusiastic crowd.
Once we passed the tunnel, the kiddos can explore and roam around on their own without constantly having to pull them close.
We followed the kiddos as they wander from one tank to another in awe, chatting excitedly among themselves. There was the occasional intervention when they squealed too loudly in excitement or started knocking on the glass panels of the tanks.
The most popular tank was the one with the clownfish and anemones. It's flooded with kiddos squealing "Nemo" and "Dory". It's probably a good thing that they relate what they seen on television to real marine life. And the S.E.A Aquarium provides the opportunity to see them up close, a great learning ground for them!
I particularly liked the interactive panels and boards with interesting facts about the different ocean animals in the tanks, parents can take this time to educate the kiddos on these animals.
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The aquarium is very stroller-friendly; there are ramps besides every tank and my friend. YT can just leisurely push her 2 years old boy in the stroller as we followed the other 2 kiddos around.
When we reached the Open Ocean observation area, we were pleasantly surprised to see tables of colouring paper and pencils for kids to do colouring!
Parents can just sit around watching their kids and relax by looking at the variety of marine life including the leopard shark, goliath grouper, saw fish, mahi mahi and a squadron of magnificent manta rays swimming leisurely in front of them.
If you have a stroller, there is a lift that you can take to the lower deck so that you can admire the fishes up-close or most parents just leave their strollers on the upper deck.
We ended our adventure with an up-close encounter with the starfish. Kiddos and adults can queue up to touch the starfish (under guidance and supervision of the staff) Mini was calm but curious as he stroked the starfish a few times. He even told the staff that he was stroking the mama starfish and there was a baby starfish at the other side of the tank.
Finally before leaving, Mini C requested to see turtles and the friendly staff told us that there are two turtles in the shipwreck tank near the entrance/exit area. Unfortunately it seems impossible to locate the two turtles in this huge tank. Told Mini C we will be back next time to say hi to the turtles!
Admission is free for kiddos below 4 years old, good news for families with young kids. Parking is known to be expensive at RWS, it's only $1.50 per entry for RWS members.
