Past Events
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Craft Your Own Octopus
Craft a mini octopus using upcycled materials to add to an underwater display or take it home as a keepsake.
Our Friends in the Sea
In this collaborative preschool project led by eco-artist Didier Ng, preschoolers create turtles, fish, jellyfish, and more using upcycled and recyclable materials.
Fill in (The Blanks) Theatre Activity Kit (For Schools Only)
Celebrate Children’s Day with Fill in (The Blanks) Theatre, where children lead stories, play, and crafts in a surprise-filled activity box.
PIP's Arts Adventure
Explore something new with PIP’s Art Adventure!
About Octoburst!
Producer's Message
Dear young friends,
Octoburst!, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s annual Children’s Day festival, is back. This year, we will be on the move and going out to preschools, primary schools and even your homes instead to celebrate this special occasion, as the arts centre will be surrounded by the F1 race track on the day itself. We’ve got crafts and artful adventures for you and we hope you will discover new ways to play and create with art, wherever you are.
From October to December 2025*, you are all invited to visit PIP’s PLAYbox at Esplanade to explore a giant ocean world filled with imaginative sea creatures handmade by selected preschoolers from across Singapore. Look out for turtles, jellyfish and other sea friends, created with recycled materials in craft packs designed by eco-artist Didier Ng for the Our Friends in the Sea art project. While you’re here, you can add on to the display by making your very own “octopus” in our Craft Your Own Octopus activity!
For our primary school friends, we’re sending fun into some of your classrooms. Our Children’s Day Celebration Kit, created together with our friends at Peculiar Matters, is filled with silly storytelling games and crafty puppet-making activities. With a little dash of imagination, even the classroom can turn into a stage for laughter, creativity and play.
Now for the highlight—we’d like to invite all of you to be young arts explorers by joining PIP’s Arts Adventure! Pick up a copy of our activity sheet at Esplanade or get it online before you set off on a creative path of your choice, whether in music, theatre, dance or visual arts. Complete a path and you’ll earn a limited-edition enamel pin to celebrate your adventure. Go ahead to explore different paths and collect as many pins as you can!
Above all, we hope that Octoburst! brings you joy and helps create magical memories with the people you love.
Germaine Tay
Programmer, The Esplanade Co Ltd
*Except from 1 – 7 Oct when the centre is closed to the public for the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2025. Details on closure will be announced closer to date.
Behind the scenes!
This year, Octoburst! went beyond Esplanade’s theatres and spaces to reach children in preschools, primary schools, and classrooms across Singapore. Through hands-on crafts and playful activity kits, young participants discovered new ways to create, play, and imagine with the arts.
Here in our gallery, you’ll find photos and behind-the-scenes glimpses of this journey—from preschool craft sessions to Children’s Day celebration kits.
Our Friends in the Sea (Pre-schools)
Artist Didier Ng worked with preschools to guide children in making sea creatures—fishes, sea turtles and jellyfishes—using off-cut plastics donated by factories and recycled cardboard brought from home. Here are our young creators at work!
Photo credit: Top two photos–St Joseph’s Home Infant and Childcare; Bottom two photos–Little Skool-House @ Downtown East
Craft Your Own Octopus
As an extension of this project, families visiting PIP’s PLAYbox are invited to craft their own mini octopuses. Using bottle caps and other simple materials provided onsite, children can make an octopus to take home or add to the installation.
There are spaces throughout the exhibit where you can leave your octopus behind—tucked among seaweed, beside the turtles, or floating near the jellyfish. Each one adds to the growing sea of friends, and we’ll be updating this gallery as more octopuses join in.
Fill in (The Blanks) Theatre Activity Kit
To celebrate Children’s Day, we prepared and sent out more than 100 activity boxes to primary schools across Singapore. Each one was packed with playful storytelling games and puppet-making crafts, designed together with our friends at Peculiar Matters to spark creativity in the classroom.
PIP’s Arts Adventure
Here we are with our very special PIP’s Arts Adventure activity sheet!
You can become an Arts Adventurer by choosing a creative path in music, theatre, dance, or visual arts. Each path comes with different activities to complete, and those who finish a path earn a limited-edition enamel pin as a keepsake of their journey.
Pick up a physical copy of the activity sheet at Esplanade, or download the activity sheet to begin your adventure.
We’d love to see you in action! Do send us photos of your creations and adventures. We’ll be updating this space with submissions from our young explorers as they come in—stay tuned!
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PIP’s Trail (Self-guided)
A digital trail to explore and learn about Esplanade and its various spaces through games, puzzles and more.
PIP’s PLAYbox
A dedicated space for children and families to discover, imagine and play!
This children’s arts space includes a cosy loft, a roomy arts and craft area, a reading corner filled with books by Singapore writers and illustrators, as well as an outdoor play area.
Admission is free and for PIP’s Club members only.
Join Esplanade&Me
A free Esplanade&Me membership, with a PIP's Club badge for those with kids ages 12 and below. Enjoy exclusive ticket specials and create unforgettable family moments at Esplanade!
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Contact
The Esplanade Co Ltd
1 Esplanade Drive, Singapore 038981
+65 6828 8377