5 Free Or Affordable (Below $15 Per Session) Popular Children’s Activities And Classes That Parents Ought to Know (Run By Agencies Supported By The Government)

The cost of raising a child is expensive – almost $200,000 as we estimated in How Much Does It Cost To Raise A Child In Singapore Till Age 18. However, parents are not alone. Aside from the obvious baby grants and subsidies, the government also indirectly subsidises some of the discretionary cost of raising a child.

If you are a Singaporean parent, looking out for enrichment classes and activities for your children may have become part and parcel of your parenting journey. While there is an array of private operators providing an extensive range of enrichment classes at various prices, parents may not know that there are free and affordable alternatives available, run by agencies that are supported by the government.

In this article, we share 5 popular classes and activities that are free or offered at affordable rates that you can check out for your child.

Read Also: [2021 Edition] Complete Guide to Baby Grants in Singapore

#1 Free Robotics Sessions At The National Libraries

Many parents will agree that our libraries are superb places for our children to cultivate their love for reading and learning. To keep up with the increasing emphasis on coding education, our libraries have rolled out technology-related programmes at selected branches, targeted at children age 10 and above. Examples of classes available include Robotics and Coding, Digital Cutting Machine Starter Session, Remote Control a Robot, 3D Printing or Easy-as-IoT with Microbit. These classes are free to attend. Simply register on the National Library Board (NLB) EventBrite page or via the NLB app.

For example, Robotics and Coding Starter sessions are held either at Tampines Regional Library or Jurong Regional Library. Each session is about 3 hours long. In this beginner-friendly introduction to coding and robotics, participants learn to:

• Program a robot to drive in different directions using your own written programs
• Code using make: code, a block-based programming language for the Microbit that makes coding more accessible to users
• Use robotic sensors to sense the environment and make decisions based on what is sensed

Cost at National Library Board (NLB): Free.

Read Also: 4 Things You Never Knew You Can Do With The National Library Board App

#2 Phonics Classes (Below $15 Per Session) At Community Centres (CC) Or Residents’ Committees (RC)

Being articulate and well-spoken is a skill set that you can use for life. To help your young child to read and speak better, you may consider enrolling him or her on phonics class. The phonics classes held at Community Centres (CC) and Residents’ Committees (RC) centres are worth considering due to their reasonable rates.

The monthly fee for a phonics class at an RC is $43.12, once a week, 1.5 hours per class. This works to be $10.78 per session. For a phonics class at a private operator, a 1.5-hour session can cost more than $40.

Cost at Residents’ Committees (RC): about $10.78 per session. Check out the details here.

#3 ActiveSG Basketball Classes At A Bargain ($13 Per Session)

ActiveSG offers a plethora of sports activities and programmes at highly subsidised rates. The basketball classes at ActiveSG are very popular among parents who are thinking about leveraging basketball for Direct School Admission (DSA).

Under the DSA, when your child reaches Primary 6, he or she can seek admission to certain secondary schools based on his or her talent in sports, CCAs and specific academic areas.

Basketball is favoured as an option for DSA because of its availability as a CCA in most primary schools. Sports, such as badminton or table tennis, are also eligible for DSA but they may not be offered in some schools as a CCA.

Under ActiveSG, the fees for basketball classes are at a steal, at $130 for 10 sessions (1 hour each). Children as young as 5 years old can register for the programme. Joining the ActiveSG basketball programme from an early age can give your child an edge in being selected for basketball during their primary school CCA selection.

Cost at ActiveSG: $13 per session. More information can be found here.

Read Also: ActiveSG Membership: What Is It And What Can You Use It For?

#4 Free Inline Skating Sessions Through Healthy365 (Health Promotion Board)

Healthy 365 is a mobile application by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) Singapore which aims to encourage users to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Within Healthy 365, under the ‘Explore’ tab, in ‘Events’, search for ‘active family’, and you will find a listing of family activities for you to take part with your child (age 6 to 12). One of their highly sought-after activities is inline skating. The sessions on Saturdays and Sundays are often fully booked within hours after they are released for booking. These sessions are usually held at public venues like Singapore Sports Hub, Our Tampines Hub or outdoor parks.

For children, it can be easy to pick up inline skating within a few sessions. If you manage to get slots for some sessions, your child should probably be up and going, skating on his or her own by the third session. Should your child be interested to skate on a regular basis, then you can consider investing some money to buy a pair of skates for your child.

Cost Using Healthy365 app: Free. Download the app here.

#5 Engaging Science Activities At KidsStop (Singapore Science Centre)

KidsStop at our Singapore Science Centre (SSC) organises regular Science-related workshops and activities for children. This is a dedicated children’s Science Centre for children below age 9.

Their ‘Everyday Science’ activity on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at 10.30 am and 3 pm, allows your child to explore the science phenomena around them using commonly found objects. Intriguing themes like gravity look into questions such as, “Where do objects go when you drop them?”, “How gravity causes items to behave when they are dropped?”. In fact, you may check the KidsStop website for different themes all year round.

The activity is free, just need to pay to enter KidsStop. Ticket prices to KidsStop are at an unbelievable rate of $2 for Singaporean adult (off-peak) and $5 for the child (age 18 months to 8). They also offer school holiday programmes starting from $53.50 per child (2.5-hour session).

Cost at KidsStop: Peak Hours – $5 for adults and $10 for child. Non-peak Hours – $2 for adults and $5 for child. More information can be found here.

Read Also: How Much The Government Spends On Each Singaporean Child Until They Enter The Working World.

As you can see, there are quality children’s classes and activities offered by government-supported agencies which can help defray the discretionary cost of raising a child. Before committing yourself financially to longer-term and relatively higher-cost private classes for your child, you may consider letting your child try out some similar classes to see at these places to ascertain if their interest is sustainable.

Take your pick with any of these activities, give them a try and see if any of these classes work for your child!

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