We went along with Stag Match Tuition Centre for the trip and certainly I brought back something which the boss, Alex, has shared with me. I must say he is pretty great with kids !
Initially, I felt overwhelmed by the crowd upon entering into the premises. Being in an unfamiliar place added on to my anxiety when I just turned around to say hi to a friend, chatted for barely less than 5 minutes, turned back and the boys were gone ?! I walked round and round but did not managed to find them.
But on the other hand, I knew that they were still safely within the premises and because we were tagged to each other with this watch-alike Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Bracelet before we enter for security reason. This is to make sure that no kids leave the place without their parents.
I ended up right in the middle of the premises and saw Alex and his team. I told him that I have lost the boys. He reassured me to just let the kids be on their own to explore, let them learn to cope on their own and learn something out of their own exploration. So ended up, I spotted Veron who had also lost sight of Adam ! Oh well, at least the mamas found each other and we went off to explore on our own.
Most of the visitors would prefer to visit the bank to have the ATM Card activated. It is not compulsory to activate immediately as upon entry, each child was issued with $20 Kidzos in cash and an atm card. But of course if you activate the card, you get $30 Kidzos in the atm card which you can withdraw at the bank or at the allocated atm machines if you need any Kidzos.
Tip: The child can always request to get paid or pay in cash (Kidzos) first. We went after lunch to activate and the crowd was not as intimidating as it was in the morning.
Since it was nearing lunch time, I walked around and managed to find my jobless Xav sitting on the ground among the queue where it led to the recruitment of Fire Fighters.
It was going to be at least a 1.5 hours wait after calculating base on the information and the number of kids in the queue. Hence, I told Xav to come back later and proceed to another station with a shorter queue. So what information can the charts tell you? These charts are available on the door of every station.
It tells you the following:
- The capacity it can take in for that particular station.
- The duration of each activity.
- The suggested age for the activity.
- How much Kidzos can be earned by working on the respective job or how much Kidzos are needed to pay in order to learn a new skill. Look at the bottom right square where it states Economy, if it has a "+4" means the child gets to earn Kidzos if it is "-3", it means that the child has to pay Kidzos for that activity. Refer to the chart below as an example.
With the above, it roughly allows you/your child to guage the waiting time based on the queue that has been formed. If the queue is too long, proceed to another station with a lesser queue. I hope this helps you to understand better before your visit.
We walked around trying to see which station has the least queue and he decided to purchase Insurance for himself first instead before starting on any jobs.
Note that these two stations require you to get an insurance for yourself and note that there is a height requirement for these stations. The Driving School needs the child to be a customer, to have their eyesight checked at the Optical shop.
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| Minimum height requirement is 1.3m |
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Minimum height requirement: 1.3m
Operating time: 10.30am - 6pm
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There is another wall climbing activity that has a height requirement as well.
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| Operating time: 9am - 5pm |
After "purchasing" an insurance coverage for himself, it was near lunch time. I told Xav to try queuing to join as a KFC Kitchen Crew. This station required Kidzos to be paid in order to learn this skill. Afterwich, they got to eat the chicken burger they assembled for lunch. What a great idea to kill two birds with one stone! There are other food stations like Pizza Hut & The Soup Spoon to pick up a skill and have a nice meal after that !
Tip: Queue for these food station probably half an hour to one before lunch time and the kids' lunch is settled.
I felt that this area could be further improve to shorten the waiting time. A small briefing could be done while the kids were waiting in the queue.
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| Briefing |
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| Kitchen Crews at work |
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| Satisfied boy =) |
Very likely that he was famished after all the waiting and queuing. Enjoy the fruit of his labour ! =p
He went for the next occupation as a Journalist. He got down to job with one camera and a piece of laminated sheet to fill up when he did his interview with a soccer star.
I followed behind silently to see what he was going to do. Take note that in fact most if not all of the occupations required zero parental involvement. So just stay and watch them play if you can. He got to interview the "star", record down his interview and manage to take some pictures of him.
Am sure he did not expected this, to type out his interview!
I know it is a DRAWBACK that parents cannot queue in place for the kids. I know how you feel! You must be feeling that since you have paid a costly entry into the premises, you would try to make sure that your child covers as many occupation as he/she can.
But again, I believe rules are set with a reason, it is a learning playground for the children, so let them learn to queue like how we adults queue. Do not get caught by the staff that you or your helper is queuing on behalf of your child and argue your way out giving 101 excuses. Let's just allow the children to learn and have fun in their own way.
I told Xavier that he has to learn to be patient and stay in the queue. If he leaves his queue, he had to re-queue again, time is going to be wasted and he may just have to wait even longer.
Tip: You might want to pass some snacks or a book for your child to keep them occupied while waiting for their turn. If your child is snacking or eating while queuing, do remember to keep the place clean by not littering in the premises.
Tip: Go with some friends ! At least the kids have each other for company when they are in the queue.
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| Working as Museum Curators @ Peranakan Museum |
The boys learnt how to label and handle the artefacts.
Duper happy to get to earn their salary together ! Through these activities, they learnt that they need to work in order to get paid.
The boys went to try out the cashier position at 7-11. Included in the cashiering duties, they were also asked and taught on how to handle situations should the items could not be found in the system. Younger kids get to pretend play as shop assistance or customers.
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| Cashier @ work |
The boys decided to reward themselves with a round of football match with their hard-earned money, pay $10 Kidzos for a match.
The boys managed to try out as a Courier Crew as well.
I would think this position is pretty awesome to get the kids familiarize with the surrounding as they need to send and pick up parcels from various stations.
They were also given scenarios like what if the receiver is not at the shop and they are supposed to troubleshoot on the spot in order to get their tasks done.
We started from 11am and this was the last station which Xav managed to join the queue to try out Kidzania's version of Lim Chee Guan Barbequed Meat Store Assistant. Most of the stations by 6.15pm were already running their last session.
Before you read on, look at the following next two pictures carefully and tell me what was amiss?
It may not seemed to be a big deal to some parents but I find the act ungracious and ugly. The information chart has stated it to hold only 6 kids. Xav was the 4th in queue and a group of mums came along with 3 kids in tow and joined the queue.
The activity was unable to commence just to rule out who did not queue or rather who was the odd one out. I did not stepped in as I wanted to see how Xav handled the situation. I had expected it to happen as he was the only child who did not have any "group" of friends with him as the 3 children before him came in a group. I observed his expression from the glass window and he was almost in a "why me" and helpless kind of expression and the staff actually came out and wanted to speak to me.
Before he had the chance, I asked him if there was any problem with Xavier being in the group and he was definitely 4th in the queue and the staff just have to hear this confirmation from me. I saw how the other mums told him that they had their own groups despite the fact that the older kids in her group blurted out that the third younger kid in the group joined in the group at the very last minute. It was clear that they were trying their luck to get Xav out. To me, this is a very ugly act against a child!
Without letting Xav knew that I had stepped in, I firmly told the staff that I did not see the need why it has to be Xav to be out of the room when he has queued up for the activity. I tell you, the poor staff was in such a difficult position but that group of mums just acted like nothing ever happened !? Nevertheless, the staff was nice to carry on with the activity.
After the activity, I asked Xav what was he being questioned about ? He told me that he was asked if he was in the queue and he might have to leave the room as there was an excess number of children. I knew it and I was glad that he was honest and stood up for himself but he needed to be more firm. I wanted him to know that I will not always be around when he is into a difficult situation. He has to learn to speak up for himself if he has done it the rightful way.
So parents, be nice and gracious so that everyone can have a pleasant experience!
That was what we have managed to cover for the day. Since there is going to be minimal parental involvement, parents can choose to relax in the cafes and there was a Parents Lounge on level 2.
There were a lot more occupations which Xav did not manage to cover and yes I will bring him back for another visit probably on a weekday. I see no harm and can still afford to skip a day of school after his term tests to visit Kidzania Singapore again just to beat the weekend / holiday crowd.
Remember to deposit your Kidzos (cash) into your account before you leave the place or you can keep the Kidzos in cash incase if you are going to use it in Kidzania in other countries.
The exit has to be through the Immigration Office to have the RFID removed, so be sure to head there to exit.
Overall, we had a pleasant experience. For more information on KidZania Singapore, check out www.kidzania.com.sg and https://www.facebook.com/KidZaniaSingapore/
Kidzania Singapore is located at :
31 Beach View, Palawan Kidz City
Singapore 098008
Tel: +65 6653 6888
Website: http://www.kidzania.com.sg
Facebook Page : KidZania Singapore
31 Beach View, Palawan Kidz City
Singapore 098008
Tel: +65 6653 6888
Website: http://www.kidzania.com.sg
Facebook Page : KidZania Singapore
Coming back to Stag Match Tuition Centre, they provide tuition services from Phonics for Pre-school and subjects like English, Math, Science, Chinese and Malay from Primary to Secondary 5.
They have branches located around our little red dot and they are giving back to the society by offering free tuition to under-privileged children whose family's combined household income is less than $3,500 a month.
Do give them your support! You can also visit them on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/stagmatch/
Thank you for reading and if you would like to stay tune for future updates, do follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram !
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored trip by Stag Match Tuition Centre, no monetary compensation is involved and all opinions are of my own.
