Media Invite
The latest blockbuster exhibition at ArtScience Museum is certainly worth a visit, whether or not you are fans of dinosaurs. It’s their largest exhibition to-date, in terms of space area, scope as well as the time frame in which it covers. We are talking about 3,700 square metres, more than 400 fossils and models, 50 original artworks and 600 million years of history here. I love how educational and interactive the whole exhibition is – Both the kids and I left the exhibition with so much more knowledge about dinosaurs and fossils.
To fully enjoy the exhibition, you may download the Dinosaurs: Dawn To Extinction mobile app from Apple Appstore or Google Playstore, free-of-charge. There are items you may unlock on this app as you go through the exhibition, thus enhancing the interactive element of the exhibition. Yes, that’s Jayne trying to convince us that dinosaurs are huge – as if we didn’t know. =P
What greeted us when we stepped out of the lift was this huge ferocious-looking dinosaur. We were full of anticipation!
Let me bring you through a pictorial tour through the exhibition. If you want to learn more about Dinosaurs and fossils, you need to visit the exhibition and read everything for yourself!
While some of the fossils are replicas, some are real. Obviously, they are extremely valuable, especially for research purposes.
Interesting interactive elements include touch and feel sections, where we can touch and feel the different types of fossils, jigsaw puzzles and also audio presentations of fun facts on dinosaurs.
Joey just couldn’t resist.
The centerpiece of the whole exhibition is probably the battle scene between the Lessemsaurus (the larger one) and the Fasolasuchus (the crocodile-like one). If you are using the mobile app, you will be able to listen to the whole story and find out the outcome of this battle.
It’s amazing how intricate all the details were.
When you are at the exhibition, make sure that the kids do not leave without attending one of their interesting workshops. Our kids attended in ‘A Day In The Life Of A Paleontologist’ workshop, and Joey even helped out as a volunteer towards the end. This workshop teaches the kids what paleontologists do, and how they go about discovering and examining fossils found and dug up from the ground.
Joey did really simple tasks such as pouring the liquid plaster into the mould to make a dinosaur’s footprint, but it certainly reinforced what she saw and learnt at the exhibition.
Dinosaurs: Dawn To Extinction exhibition was insightful, informative and educational, and I would strongly recommend it as an activity for the whole family to enjoy together during the upcoming school holidays. The kids would be intrigued and pick up a lot of new knowledge along the way. Even for my kids who are not dinosaur fans to begin with, they enjoyed the exhibition and kept talking about it thereafter. Thanks, ArtScience Museum, for the invitation!
Useful Information
Dinosaurs: Dawn to Extinction
Venue: ArtScience Museum
Date: 25 Jan - 27 Jul 2014
Time: 10am - 7pm
STANDARD: Adult S$24; Senior Citizen (65 years & above) S$19; Child (2-12 years) S$12
SINGAPORE RESIDENTS: Adult S$18; Senior Citizen (65 years & above) S$16; Child (2-12 years) S$11
Website: http://www.marinabaysands.com/museum.html
Activities for Children
Shadow Puppets Alive!
Daily, 10am-6.30pm - except when programmes are conducted in the Creatosaurus Space
Creatosaurus Space in Dinosaurs: Dawn to Extinction
Complimentary and open to Dinosaurs: Dawn to Extinction ticket holders.
This fascinating, hands-on demonstration reveals how paleontologists collect, record and identify fossils. There will be plenty of opportunities for audience participation, including handling tools and specimens, washing off the clay of collected fossils, identifying the bones, and making a plaster cast from a dinosaur's footprint.
Stop Motion Dinosaur Wipe-out
Saturdays | 12.30pm-1.45pm
Creatosaurus Space in Dinosaurs: Dawn to Extinction
Complimentary and open to Dinosaurs: Dawn to Extinction ticket holders. Up to 30 participants. Register at workshop venue 15 minutes before start of session.
Choose your favorite extinction theory and create your own stop motion animation showing the end of the world for the dinosaurs. Recommended for children aged 6 and over.
Dinosaur Tale
Sundays, 16 Feb, 2,16 & 30 Mar | 2.30pm, 3pm & 3.30pm (15 min performances)
Creatosaurus Space in Dinosaurs: Dawn to Extinction
Complimentary and open to Dinosaurs: Dawn to Extinction ticket holders.
Let magical puppetry and storytelling take you on a whirlwind journey of how animal life adapted over 600 million years, from sightless sea creatures and fearsome dinosaurs to humans today.
Sketch-a-fossil
Sundays, 2, 9 & 23 Feb, 9 & 23 Mar | 12.30pm & 1.15pm (45 mins workshops)
Creatosaurus Space in Dinosaurs: Dawn to Extinction
Complimentary and open to Dinosaurs: Dawn to Extinction ticket holders. Up to 20 participants. Register at workshop venue 15 minutes before start of session.
Bring fossils to life by drawing them in detail, with artist Isabelle Desjeux. Then make your piece stand out by placing it in a pre-historic landscape, in an optional collage activity. Children under 5 must be accompanied by an adult.
Sculpture Fun
Sundays, 2, 9 & 23 Feb, 9 & 23 Mar | 2.30pm & 3.15pm (45 mins workshops)
Creatosaurus Space in Dinosaurs: Dawn to Extinction
Complimentary and open to Dinosaurs: Dawn to Extinction ticket holders. Up to 20 participants. Register at workshop venue 15 minutes before start of session.
What better way to understand a fossil than to feel it in 3D? Carve your own sculpted shell or bone out of soap to take home. Children under the age of 8 require adult supervision.
Click to read the rest of the posts in this series:
