Feed Me! at Gardens by the Bay

The school holidays are just around the corner!

I am looking forward to spending some time out and about with the kids during the week long break, and one of the places we plan to be checking out is Gardens By The Bay. In conjunction with the school holidays, Gardens By The Bay has planned a Children's Festival with lots of interesting programmes for kids to learn more about nature as they explore the gardens.

We were given a preview of one of these sessions a couple of weekends ago when we were invited to discover the interesting world of carnivorous plants with the Feed Me! programme. Yes, did you know that we have carnivorous plants right here in Cloud Forest at Gardens By The Bay? I don't know about your kids but mine are always peering into the pitcher plants whenever we visit, hoping to find a dead fly or two inside, so I knew they were going to be excited about finding out more about these fascinating plants.

We started the morning with a quick introduction to plants and how they usually make food and obtain nutrients.

Getting introduced and talking about what food they like to eat. 

 

Getting a simple introduction to photosynthesis.

Then it was off to the conservatories to take a look at some other interesting plants with special adaptations.

The tree grape -- a succulent which stores water in its trunk. It also has a papery bark that can help reflect sunlight when it's very hot.

Super fat bottle trees. Their swollen trunks are primarily for water storage.

Taking a closer look at aerial roots.

After that, it was time to take a closer look at the special category of plants that feed on more than just sunlight, air and water. They also love a yummy bug or two! We were introduced to three different varieties of such plants, all to be found at the top levels at Cloud Forest: the Pitcher Plant, the Butterwort and the Venus Fly Trap. Interestingly, they all have different features and methods of ensnaring their prey.

The pitcher plant uses a pitfall trap. Insects are attracted to its sweet scent, but once they enter, hairs within the pitcher plant prevent the insects from crawling out again. They eventually drown in the digestive liquid within the pitcher and are consumed.

One variety of pitcher plant that you can find at Cloud Forest. Looking innocuous.

The Butterwort was new to me. It looks like a regular plant to me, but it is actually a flypaper trap that secretes a sticky substance on its leaves to trap small insects. Very deceptive.

The Venus Fly Trap was everyone's favourite. A snap trap that closes on its unsuspecting prey, it is the most "exciting" plant, though I've yet to see it in action!

Butterwort on the left and the Venus Flytrap on the right.

After the field trip, it was back to the activity room where the kids got to make their own Venus Fly Trap craft. In line with the conservation message of the Gardens, almost everything was made from recycled materials, which I thought was a nice touch. The kids -- and their parents -- soon got busy coming up with a chomper of their own.

Helping to sketch the outline shape for the Venus Fly trap.

Busy cutting and pasting. Noey could mostly manage on his own with minimal help.

Ah-ah-mmm! Venus Fly Trap ready for action!

It was a fun and educational way to spend the morning.

If you're interested to participate in the Feed Me! programme, subsequent sessions are scheduled to be run 15 March (Sat), 18 March (Tues), 20 March (Thurs) and 22 March (Sat) from 10.30am to 12.30pm. You have to pre-register online at www.gardensbythebay.com.sg and a programme charge of $18 applies, in addition to conservatory charges. This programme is suitable for 4 to 6 year olds. There are also a number of other interesting programmes where the kids can learn about how plants reproduce (The Birds and The Bees), the little creatures in the ground and the roles they play in keeping plants healthy (Stories in the Understorey), and be a little explorer to discover the resident creatures at Kingfisher Lake (Discoveries at Kingfisher Lake). Do check out the list of educational programmes on the Gardens By The Bay website for more details.

If self-exploration is more your thing, there are a number of trails and activity sheets you can pick up to make your own discoveries. The new War of the Roses display at the Flower Dome promises to be quite a treat with over 60 varieties of roses on display and I'm looking forward to seeing that. As for the kids, I'm sure a visit to the FEO Children's Garden will be a must when we visit.

Now, let's pray that the weather holds out -- and the haze stays away! Have fun at the Gardens this March!