National Museum of Singapore presents The Children’s Companion

As part of the National Museum of Singapore’s ongoing efforts to engage young visitors, customised content for children has been added to its Companion, the self-administered multimedia guide to the National Museum’s Singapore History Gallery.

The Children’s Companion is a complementary English guide to the collection featured in the National Museum’s Singapore History Gallery, and presents a streamlined but no less informative storyline to make the exhibits at the Gallery appealing to the younger audience. Initially targeted at children aged 9 – 12 years old, the entertaining content reaches out to children as young as 5 years old.

The Children’s Companion is the first personal multimedia handheld device specially designed for children in a museum or heritage centre in Singapore. Leveraging on the existing Companion which comprises an LCD display, a pair of earphones and a keypad, the Children’s Companion complements the National Museum’s physical collection of artefacts and enables children to enjoy audio and visual content. Children will follow a main character of the narrative, listen to descriptions as well as stories and dramatised scenarios related to the artefacts, by punching in the zone code that they are in (yellow markers conveniently located on the floor). This element of interactivity allows children to explore the gallery in a planned yet engaging route.

FEATURES OF CHILDREN’S COMPANION

 25 artefacts are featured in the Companion and one of them is the Singapore Stone, the National Museum’s oldest artefact. Others include a portrait of Sir Stamford Raffles and a 1936 report card from the Singapore Chinese Girls School.

 The length of the tour at 45 – 50 min is just appropriate for children.

 A fictional narrative is created and incorporated into the Companion to guide children.

 Special effects are incorporated to create a sense of realism.

With the Children’s version, the National Museum’s multimedia Companion is now complete, offering a comprehensive complement to the rich content at the Museum’s History Gallery, for both young and old to enjoy.(The adult version of the Companion is available in English, Mandarin , Malay and Japanese.)

For details, please visit www.nationalmuseum.sg.