Children's Season 2012: Adventures of Marco Polo at ACM

Despite my best intentions, we didn't get to check out that many museums this June. Partly because our schedule has been quite packed (oops), but also because quite a few of the main events were held over weekends where I need the husband's cooperation (hah). The only festival open house weekend that we managed to attend was the one at the Asian Civilizations Museum (ACM) a couple of weekends ago.

The event started at 1pm. We turned up just before 2pm and man, was the place crowded! I wanted to sign us up for the interactive tour but all the earlier tours were full, and they only had slots available from 4pm onwards. That was a no-go for us, so we decided to just do our own thing.

We went up stairs and spent some time watching the Ramayana performance that had just started. That intrigued Noey but not so much Nomi. So the boys stayed on to watch for a bit while we girls wandered off in search of the Art & Craft room. I had hoped that it wouldn't be too crowded since some folks would have been watching the performance, but nope, it was packed. At least the room was huge so it could accommodate a lot of kids!

DD and Noey wandered over soon enough and I settled Noey down to work on the paper puppet craft. The biggest attraction for Noey here was the glitter powder that was available for you to decorate the puppet with. Unfortunately there weren't that many bottles of glitter and glue to go around, so it took a while before we were able to get some. I helped him glob on the glue and he had fun pouring the glitter on. Some parents were pretty creative and drew lovely patterns with the glue for the glitter to adhere to, but I decided to just let Noey slap it on. Nomi started trying to wander off after a while so we brought the puppet home to cut and finish, and decided to tour the galleries instead.

Noey and his half-finished piece craft work.

I realized later that we missed the clay making and painting station, which he might have enjoyed better.

We entered the galleries just as a tour was going on so we just tagged ourselves on to it and followed behind. The premise was interesting: as we led by a tour leader - Marco Polo - through the galleries, characters would pop up at different stations to bring the exhibits to life, as it were. So, there was a pirate in the room of Tang treasures, a fight to showcase the Malay Keris, and dancers who came out to depict Guan Tin, right next to the statue, to name a few. I thought it wasn't bad, but would have been better appreciated by kids over 7 years of age.

Noey was pretty interested in the tour, though it was a little hard for us to hear properly (since we weren't official tour members and were cling-ons behind!). He got a bit scared after the fighting with the Malay Keris though. We followed on for a while then decided to call it a day, since the kids were fading and the noise was getting to both of us.

Nomi liked these jars, which were the only exhibits she could see see properly without any assistance!

The children had a bit of a run-around outside by the river as we walked back to our car, and I think that was honestly the best part of their day! 

Running to Papa!

Truth be told, I kind of regretted persuading DD to go with me and the kids because it turned out to be so crowded. DD hates crowds and isn't usually keen when I suggest going for these events because of the noise and the people. I think it's going to be doubly hard to persuade him to go for another similar event again.

Unwilling to give up on the ACM just like that, I decided to go back another morning with Nomi. Unsurprisingly, we had a much better time without the crowds.

I realised that as part of the Count to Ten exhibition for this Children's Season, there is an activity trailsheet prepared by ACM for you to complete as you explore the permanent galleries. This highlighted fun facts about 10 specially selected objects and these were specially marked out in the galleries as you go through them. It was actually pretty interesting, and not difficult to complete -- drawing patterns, counting shapes, etc. It was way beyond Nomi of course, but I think pre-schoolers like Noey would have been able to tackle it. You can also redeem a small prize after you've completed it.

Do I have to do this activity sheet, Mummy?

Item 6 in the Count to Ten trail as identified in the Permanent Galleries

And after you are done exploring the main galleries, there is a Count to Ten gallery on the ground floor where the kids can explore the 10 identified items in a hands-on, interactive way. And get all the answers to the activity sheet. Nomi had a real good time in this room!

 

Checking out the Animals that make the Makara. This one is from Kelantan, Malaysia and can be found in the front of boats.

Aside from the Count to Ten trail, we also had more time to explore the different exhibits in the galleries, and chanced on this lovely "tea house" in the China gallery. They had adult-sized dress-up clothes, and a little game you could play picking up round balls with chopsticks. And this little corner with books on China and Chinese culture where we did a bit of reading.

Read to me, Mama!

We didn't stay for very long and left when it started getting close to Nomi's nap time. Before leaving, I also managed to view Shadow Spaces: Photographs of the Old Supreme Court, a free exhibition in the foyer on the 2nd floor which I particularly enjoyed. It was nostalgic seeing photographs of some of the places I had previously been to in the Supreme Court, like the Bar Room and the Library. I'm excited to see what comes out of the current renovations too.

It was, all in all, an enjoyable morning for us both. I think ACM has some interesting things to offer, when there is the space - and the peace and quiet - to appreciate it. Yes, I am quite an old fogey huh!

The Count to Ten gallery is part of Children's Season at ACM and is open till 30 June 2012.