6 new activities for the school holidays

Here's how to keep the kids engaged this December break

- Eddino Abdul Hadi

With the year-end school holidays finally here, I set out with my two daughters, aged six and 12, to explore the newest activities and attractions popping up around Singapore.

From tiny ant farms and massive dinosaur skeletons to thrilling adventures and creative hands-on fun, here are six fresh experiences we tried and loved.

COASTAL LIFE BOAT TOUR

What: An experiential, first-of-its-kind boat tour that offers encounters with fishermen and floating fish farms along the Strait of Johor.

Where: SAF Yacht Club, 43 Admiralty Road West

When: From Dec 15, 8.30 to 11.30am daily. Meet 15 minutes before the tour starts.

Admission: $150 a person, minimum of four people a trip. Go to str.sg/NxKk

Fun factor: We have probably crossed the Strait of Johor multiple times via the Causeway and Tuas Second Link. But this boat tour opens our eyes to how the waterway located between mainland Malaysia and Singapore also plays a prominent role in Singapore's seafood story.

A collaboration between tour operator Let's Go Tour and Fish Farmers Association of Singapore, it offers an authentic look at the maritime world and blends heritage, nature and food.

We get up close to fishermen on small boats hauling crab traps and casting nets for sea prawns the traditional, time-tested way.

We also stop by a fish farm on a kelong run by Straits Seafood Company and discover how farmers balance traditional methods with modern technology like net cages, feeding systems and sustainable aquaculture practices.

For example, we learn how local start-up Ento Industries developed a sustainable food supply solution by using food waste and turning black soldier fly larvae into fish feed. Note that participants will not be disembarking from the boat.