The Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum – home to over 2000 specimens, fossils, skeletons and biodiversity galleries across 15 themes of life on Earth.
Imagine going back into time and rediscovering the beauty and complexity of creation in its purest and anatomical form. Nestled in the heart of lush and leafy NUS (National University Singapore) opposite the University’s Cultural Centre at 2 Conservatory Drive lies Singapore’s only Natural History Museum.
Fans of Jurassic Park or the Land Before Time will also rejoice, as there is a majestic trio of almost complete Diplodocus sauropod skeletons with two skulls.
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Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum & PAW Patrol Takeover
From now till September 13, join the PAW Patrol pups as they spotlight eight Thematic Zones at Level 1 Biodiversity Gallery. A similar vibe to the Amazing Race, only with no time constraint, work leisurely as a team with your family or friends to find the 8 PAW Patrol Trail Stops using the PAW Patrol Museum Adventure Booklet (comes free with any standard admission) and solve fun-filled and educational challenges through fascinating zones of specimens, fossils and skeletons in the Land before and of our time.
Enter into Biodiversity Land, Get Upclose & Personal with Each Specimen & Skeleton
The Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum has two levels – Level 1: Biodiversity Gallery housing 15 Thematic Zones (Life, Plants, Fungi, Towards Animals, Dinosaurs, Birds, Tropical Rainforest, Marine Cycles, Mammals, Molluscs, Arthropods, Water to Land, Reptiles, Amphibians, Fishes); Level 1M: Heritage Gallery with 3 Zones (Cabinet of Curiosities, Landscape Walk Peep Holes, Temporary Gallery).
You can traverse between floors via a lift or a spiral stairway which gives an awesome finale aerial view of the trio of Dino Sauropods if Level 1M is your last stop.
The entire museum is enveloped in quiet tranquility with low ambient lights and thoughtfully placed spotlights on larger-than-life statement skeletal exhibits such as the sperm whale or the jaws of a shark.
Each display casing of specimen, fossil, or anatomical mount is tastefully and subtly illumined, to draw in curiosity and wonder throughout the entire Biodiversity Gallery. You can truly get upclose and personal with most cross-section anatomies or zoological specimens. Just don’t fall asleep next to the Dodo bird.
Families with kids or prams will find it a breeze to complete the PAW Patrol challenge trails all on L1, and explore the different zones with the open concept zones and interactive audio stories/visual/tactile touch stations. But don’t miss out on finding partially hidden zones with thoughtfully designed informative panels and impressive specimen mount display at the Tropical Rainforest and Marine Cycles.
Discover Fun Facts about Biodiversity & Problem Solve along 8 PAW-fect Photo Zones at L1
We took up the PAW Patrol challenge trail as a family of four with two young toddlers and here’s what we found memorable on L1 at the Biodiversity Gallery!
Plants, Fungi Zone
The girls loved the towering and larger than life exhibits of the Titan Arum, Rafflesia Flower and beautiful tactile cross-section tree trunk mounts of Ten common trees in Singapore. The vertical mount of all kinds of Fungi was rather eye-opening and made us realised how each kind exuded its own unique beauty. Big Pea was tasked to guess which part of the Titan Arum gave off a super stinky rotting-meat smell to enable pollination, and she got her first guess right!
Dinosaurs Zone
Impossible to miss next, the girls ran towards the PAW Patrol Trail Stop board at the majestic Dinosaur Zone. They were in awe of the trio of Sauropods, towering over them and craned their necks as part of the challenge to show us how these long-necked Dinos ate leaves. Two had skulls, best viewed up close and personal on L1M, just up the spiral staircase.
Just behind the Dino Zone, the girls squealed as they matched the huge DoDo bird specimen to their PAW Patrol booklet. We explained why the Dodo went extinct and how they should play their role to protect wildlife and the earth we live in. Here’s their nature hero pose challenge “I Protect Animals!”
Arthropods Zone
We spied the next Rubble Pup PAW Patrol Trail Stop next to a Giant Japanese Spider Crab with 10 legs! The girls were intrigued – Is this a Giant Spider or Crab? Pointing out the long special limbs, claws and pincers, we explained how these tool-like body parts worked together for these crustaceans to find food.
Marine Cycles Zone
Spotting a blue-like zone at the corner of the Fishes Zone, the girls ran into the Marine Cycles Zone hoping to find the next PAW Patrol Trail Stop and there it was! A pair of Giant Clams big enough to house Little Pea Toddler, and also a refuge for sea animals. The little ones spent a bit of time in this blue zone listening to audio stories of marine life researchers and also getting acquainted with the Pacific Ocean Map on wall.
Tropical Rainforest Zone
Just next door to Marine Cycles Zone, we entered an emerald dark green zone of the Tropical Rainforest, spying PAW Patrol’s Skye Pup Trail Stop spotlighting Gliding Animals of all kind. The girls were so intrigued by the pan-out gliding animals on mount, especially the flying squirrel and the bat up-close, bat wings and all.
Mammals Zone
Their most favourite stop was the mammals zone, as it reminded them of the zoo. We said hello to a look-alike Ah Meng Orangutan, as they took in claws, hooves and horns of all kind in a one-stop animal kingdom display of taxidermy specimens found in Southeast Asia.
Rediscover Heritage Species with Cabinet of Curiosities at L1M
If you have more time, even if its just 15mins, don’t forget to visit L1M. We loved the Aisle of Cabinet of Curiosities, a beautifully curated Colonial collection of specimens and artefacts in interactive wooden cabinets which you can pull out and discover more, just like a historian.
This section highlighted Sir Stamford Raffles and William Farquhar’s early efforts and interest in advancing Western knowledge about plants and animals of Southeast Asia. I learnt about the efforts of naturalists towards helping to build this collection today and also how the predecessor to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum was the Raffles Museum. The highlight for the girls was the display of the Singapore Tiger’s Skin – Stripes and all furry glory flat-laid out like a Tiger Rug.
All in, we took about an hour and a half to finish the 8 PAW Patrol Trail Stops. We would recommend a longer stay of 2 hours or even more – so more time can be allocated to finish each trail stop as an object lesson and also explore each zone more in-depth.
Each zone was truly a visual encyclopaedia – a visual feast of specimens paired with beautifully curated and accessible content.
Don’t forget to have some fun at the PAW Patrol Photo Booth when you exit.
If you’re here on a weekend, drop in for the free Rex’s Dino-mite Badge Workshop from 11am – 4pm.
Snap and Win!
From now till 13 September, join in the PAW Patrol Photo Contest to win 1 of the 3 exclusive PAW Patrol packs and Dino Memorabilia. Just share and tag on IG FB @lkcnhm and DM a screenshot of your post to @lkcnhm.
Check out more details on PAW Patrol: A Museum Adventure
Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum
Where: National University of Singapore, 2 Conservatory Drive, Singapore 117377
Opening Hours: Visiting Time Slots (10am, 1pm, 4pm). The Museum is closed on Mondays
Ticket Pricing: SG/PR Adults $17, SG/PR Kids (3yo and above), Students, Seniors(60yo and above) $9, Standard Adult $24, Standard Kids (3yo and above), Students, Seniors(60yo and above) $15
Movie Ticket Holders of Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie gets 20% off Museum Tickets. Terms & Conditions Apply
Book here for Standard Admission Tickets
