29 Nov (Tue): Storytime with Sara at Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

Join us for a fun-filled storytelling session, specially designed for little ones. Children will explore Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden with Sara the Botanicosaurus and her squirrel friends, Fluff-tail and Twitchy. To conclude the programme, children will have the opportunity to get up close and personal with plants that are featured in the story, and even have the chance to rock the Suspension Bridge and play hide-and-seek in the Maze.

Suitable for children in N1 – N2 levels.

For enquiry and registration, please contact the Education at 64719961 or through email: nparks_sbg_edu@nparks.gov.sg. Online registration is available on www.sbg.org.sg (under "Education").

Time: 10-11am
Cost: $6 per child.
Venue: Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden, Bukit Timah Core of the Singapore Botanic Gardens
Website: http://www.sbg.org.sg/education/workshopchi.asp
Contact: Singapore Botanic Gardens 6471 9961

21-27 Nov: Highlights of the week ahead

For kids and the family

• Kids visit the Raffles Museum with Cicada Tree Eco Place
• Chek Jawa Walk with Cicada Tree Eco Place
• Greet our Forest Giants! for kids with Cicada Tree Eco Place.
• 1, 2, TREE! for kids
• Paint along with Pui San at Sungei Buloh
• Young Mathematician of the Garden
• Fun with Maths & Plants!

The school holidays are here! Lots of biodiversity events for kids and the family, on the Celebrating Singapore's Biodiversity blog. More events especially for kids and the family during the school holidays.

Walks in wild places

• Botanical Wonders of MacRitchie
• Mangrove walk at Sungei Buloh on Saturday and Sunday.
• HortPark Butterfly Garden guided tour
• Evolution Garden guided tour

Make a difference

• Horseshoe Crab Rescue & Research with Nature Society (Singapore)

Talks this week

• 26 Nov (Sat): "Singapore's Southern Haunt" by Debby Ng

For Nature Society (Singapore) members only

• Birdwatching at Semakau Landfill

New places to explore!

• New-look Punggol Point: Waterfront buzz Former seafood haunt features a park, 1.2km section of promenade by Jessica Lim and Shuli Sudderuddin Straits Times 21 Nov 11;

27 Nov (Sun): 1, 2, TREE! for kids

Trees are an important part of our City in a Garden. Without the trees lining our roadsides and parks, our city would be a harsh landscape of concrete buildings. In this programme, participants, both children and parents, can learn to recognise key features of trees and be able to identify the common trees in Singapore. This will be followed by a game session where families and friends bond together by playing the ‘1, 2, Tree!’ card game and test their knowledge of plants in a fun way.

For kids (primary school and above) and families

The sharing session on trees will be conducted by Mr Joey Gan, who manages the Heritage Tree Scheme at the National Parks Board (NParks).

Time: 2-4pm
Venue: Serangoon Public Library
Website and contact: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/

27 Nov (Sun): Mangrove walk at Sungei Buloh

Free guided nature walk along the Mangrove boardwalk under shady mangrove trees. Spot mudskippers, crabs and other marine life, learn about our mangroves, enjoy views of the Johor straits.

Suitable for young children.


Registration is not required for small walk-in groups. But each walk is limited to 15 persons per guide and is on a first-come -first-served basis. The walks are weather permitting and may merge with other activities at the Reserve. Those coming with large groups are advised to pre-register.

More about the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve on the wildsingapore website and Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve website. This walk is conducted by the volunteer guides of NParks' Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and is held every Sunday morning, subject to availability of guides.

Time: 9.30 am (subject to availability of guides) for walk in guests, register at the Visitor Centre.
Tour duration: One to one-and-a-half hours. Suitable for young children.
Entry charges: While the walk is free, admission fees to the Reserve apply: $1 per adult, 50cents per child/student/senior citizen.
Website: http://www.sbwr.org.sg/
Contact: info@sbwr.org.sg or call 6794 1401

27 Nov (Sun): Paint along with Pui San at Sungei Buloh

Free art-and-nature appreciation at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

Tham Pui San, a volunteer of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, is an avid artist who expresses his passion for nature through his art work.

Pui San welcomes artists of all ages or anyone who wants to learn. His objective is to encourage creativity while enjoying nature at the same time. Bring along your favourite drawing or painting supplies and enjoy learning different drawing techniques at Sungei Buloh.

More in the art in the wetlands blog.

Time: 8.30-11.30am, meet at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve ticketing counter (Visitor Centre).
Admission charges: While the art session is free, usual admission charges to Reserve apply. $1 per adult, 50cents per child/student/senior citizen.
Website: http://artinwetlands.wordpress.com/
Contact: Tham Pui Sam at thampuisan@hotmail.com or the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve at info@sbwr.org.sg or call 6794 1401

27 Nov (Sun): Greet our Forest Giants! for kids

Greet some lovely forest trees! Find out about the animals and plants that live on and around them. Planted along the Southern Ridges, these forest trees form the Sembcorp Forest of Giants - an arboretum project undertaken by the National Parks Board as part of its efforts to enhance the biodiversity within urban areas.

For kids aged 5-10 years. This programme is conducted with Cicada Tree Eco Place and made possible by the Garden City Fund and Sembcorp Industries.

Pre-registration is required and is on a first-come-first-served basis. Registrations close 5 days before each programme. All programmes will only commence with a minimum of 15 participants. To register please contact HortPark Visitor Services at 6471-5601 or NPARKS_HortPark@nparks.gov.sg

Time: 9.30-11.30am
Venue: Telok Blangah Hill Park, Multi-Purpose Plaza
Cost: $10 per child
Website and contact: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/

26 Nov (Sat): Talk on "Singapore's Southern Haunt" by Debby Ng

Can you dive with wild turtles and sharks in Singapore? Yes! Pulau Hantu is one of Singapore's most renowned Southern Islands for its myriad of micro and mega fauna.

Although it's been visited for decades, divers continue to discover new species records in the small but rich coral reefs of Singapore. How do these wild marvels cope with a relentlessly changing coastline, and how do they adapt to development? Join  us for this marine talk given by Debby Ng, a photojournalist with a passion for the environment, who will bring clarity to the usually murky waters of Pulau Hantu with her underwater photos and videos. More about Debby's work at Pulau Hantu on the Hantu Blog.

Time: 2pm
Venue. The National Geographic Store, 1 HarbourFront Walk, #01-19 VivoCity.
Website and contact: http://www.ngsingaporestore.com/exhibits/coral_reefs.html

To celebrate Universal Children's Day, the National Geographic Store will organise a short colouring session for kids after Debby's talk.

Please RSVP for the colouring session by emailing singapore.events@worldwideretailstore.com, or by registering on NatGeo's Singapore facebook page or just walk in and register at the store.

The National Geographic Store is also hosting a marine exhibition of posters of Singapore's marine life by wildsingapore from 1 Nov-31 Dec.

26 Nov (Sat): Botanical Wonders of MacRitchie

Learn more about our natural heritage and treasures! Come on down to MacRitchie Reservoir Park and learn about our silent giants - the trees!

This guided walk is held every last Saturday.

For registration enquiries, please contact Ms Mardiah Effendi Mardiah_Effendi@nparks.gov.sg

Time: 9-10.30am
Meeting point: Amenities Centre. A minimum of 10 persons is required for the guided walk to commence. In case of bad weather, the guided walk will be cancelled one hour before the schedule time.
Cost: $60 per group (maximum 15 pax) or $4 per person.
Website and contact: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/

26 Nov (Sat): HortPark Butterfly Garden guided tour

HortPark's Butterfly Garden is a 150-sqm landscaped theme garden  comprising an enclosure and an outdoor garden. Providing a visual feast  of tropical plants and nearly 20 species of native butterflies, the  Butterfly Garden enables visitors to learn about the different stages of  metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar into butterfly. Within the  enclosure, visitors are greeted with an up close and personal encounter  with these flying jewels and can observe how pupae emerge into adult  butterflies before taking their maiden flight.

The Butterfly  Garden also serves as an experimental garden for National Parks Board to  work on a Butterfly Species Recovery Programme to research on suitable  nectar and host plants for breeding a variety of butterfly species,  including locally extinct species such as Clipper (Parthenos sylvia) and Common Sergeant (Athyma perius).

Get  up close and personal with the flying jewels, and learn their different  stages of metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar into butterfly. Observe  how pupae emerge into adult butterflies before taking their maiden  flight within HortPark's Butterfly Garden.

This walk is free and is held every last Saturday of the month.

Time: 9-11am, please gather at the Butterfly Garden for the tour
Website: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/
Contact: 6471 5601

26 Nov (Sat): Evolution Garden guided tour

Take a journey through time, from the fiery planet that our world was in ancient times before memory, through the planet of dinosaurs, and into the modern world of 250,000 different flowering plants we enjoy today.

Journey through time with our volunteer guides in this one-hour tour.

Suitable for kids.

This walk is held every fourth Saturday of the month. Please register 15 minutes before the tour. Registration is on a first-come-first-served basis at the Singapore Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre.

Time: 9am (English tour)
Venue: Register at Singapore Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre before the tour starts.
Website: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/
Contact: Visitor Services 6471 7361