Outdoor Fun - Botanical Gardens: Let's discover plants and animals

It was a nice cool morning, a rare treat from the previous weeks of hazy days. I signed Dumpling and myself up for a workshop with Botanical Gardens where it introduces children to Plants and Animals. This part of the 'tour' was conducted near to Tanglin Gate (Green Pavilion to be exact!). It was my first time there and I later found out that it was an entrance near Gleneagles Hospital.  

We bumped into 2 fellow mummies from the homelearning group where one was so kind to share some fish food with Dumpling for her to feed the fish in the pond :) (Thank you Dominique!!!) 

The group was split up into 2 smaller groups where 'Uncle TC' was our guide. Uncle TC is knowledgeable and quite a humourous guide; what I like too was the running commentary and questions he tossed to the children, getting them to observe and think. 

Above pic: Uncle TC - He reminds me a bit of Old Master Q. 

As we began our walk, he shared and singled out various plants and trees to the children pointing to some "bark-less" trees and how they do not provide habitats for other animals / insects. This was in comparison to other trees which had orchids growing on them along with ferns, etc. A symphony of 'chirping' greeted us as we explored on which added very much to the beauty of the morning. TC taught us the trick to identifying the sounds between a cricket and a cicada. 

'Oooohs' and 'aaaaaahhhhhs' could also be heard as TC shared a 'sample' of an exo-skeleton of the cicada and in simple terms, what happens during the metamorphosis. 

Though the grass just a bit damp, I love the subtle smell of the rain on grass and the dampness clearly did not deter the children from exploring. :)

(Above pic: children reading up on the signages and information of the various plants and trees)

It was nice that the kids had a chance to see 'live' fruits and not out of cans / bottles / baskets :)

Trivia: Did you know that banana trees die off after 1 round of fruit bearing. The 'tree' then propagates side-wards. 

The kids were quite pleased with their starfuit finds...

And look what I chanced upon? :)

The hour long tour ended too quickly and soon we were brought back to the starting point. But not before we spotted a squirrel on a tree and some cat tails in a pond. It was a lovely morning, a nice change for me from the hustle and bustle of work life. There's just something about being with and in nature that calms me down naturally. The tours are usually not costly (just $6 per head for this instance). It is a nice and gentle way to introduce Science to young children too. For those who are keen to find out more, here's the link to share. :)