Playeum

What happens when we begin to see play not simply as an activity but as a way for children to communicate, connect, participate, and build relationships with the world around them?

Open Minds Open Doors (OMOD), developed through the collaboration between Playeum and Dr Esther Joosa, was created to support more inclusive and welcoming play experiences for children with diverse developmental pathways and their families.

Since 2019, the programme has explored research-in-practice approaches to how open-ended play can create opportunities for participation, communication, confidence, and belonging within community spaces. Through observation, reflection, and shared experiences with families, OMOD continues to investigate how children express themselves through movement, interaction, repetition, exploration, and play.

We warmly invite parents and caregivers to join an interactive workshop exploring the ideas, experiences, and reflections that have shaped Dr Esther Joosa’s design of the OMOD play programme and the publication Pathways Through Play.

Together we will reflect on:

•⁠ ⁠How children communicate and participate through play
•⁠ ⁠How materials and environments shape engagement
•⁠ ⁠How adults can better observe and respond without taking over the play experience
•⁠ ⁠How everyday moments can become opportunities for connection, confidence, and belonging

📍 Enabling Village, Singapore
📅 20 June 2026
⏰ 2pm - 5pm (3-hour workshop)

Registration Fee: SGD 5 per family (2 pax)
Registration closes on 18 June 2026.

Register now!
https://lnkd.in/gwx_9Q6W

Places are intentionally limited to support meaningful conversation and reflection.

Playeum is looking for an artist-facilitator to co-create and co-lead Artful Play, a weekly community programme for children aged up to 12 at SHINE Children and Youth Services.

If you’re passionate about child-led, creative practices, and enjoy working alongside children as co-creators, we’d love to hear from you!

Programme Location: Bukit Merah
Dates and Timing: Selected Fridays, 3–5pm

Applications are open until 8 June 2026. Please submit your portfolio, a short statement sharing your facilitation approach, and your rates to [email protected].

For more information, please visit playeum.com/artist-artfulplay

Meaningful engagement with children and families often begins not with knowing what to say, but with noticing, listening, and responding with curiosity.

Alongside our parent-child play sessions for KidSTART Singapore families, Playeum also ran volunteer training sessions to help volunteers connect more thoughtfully with parents and children.

The training highlighted the different roles volunteers could take on, such as greeters or playmakers, each with suggested prompts and strategies to ensure interactions offered families choices and supported children’s voices.

Volunteers, including SP Group employees and members of the public, learned to observe family interactions, start conversations with curiosity, and support parents in joining their children’s play.

By approaching interactions with genuine interest, volunteers built rapport and encouraged parent-child exploration. Through these experiences, they became part of an enabling environment that nurtures play, reflection, and encouragement - skills they can carry forward in supporting families beyond the sessions.

💡Read more about the impact of PowerUP Playtime and how it has made a difference for families and volunteers in our blog post: www.playeum.com/post/powering-up-play-for-connection

Calling all young changemakers in Singapore! With the support of the LEGO Group, Playeum builds on the voices of 201 children in Singapore who shared what matters most to them in 2024.

This May, we invite children aged 5 to 12 to deepen the conversation with us through “What Matters to Our Children?” — a playful Build the Change workshop where their voices take centre stage.

Through hands-on building with LEGO bricks and other creative activities, children will express what matters most to them and share how adults can better listen and support them. The workshop will be filmed, capturing their ideas and the process of play as part of our 2026 International Day of Play campaign.

This campaign aims to amplify children’s voices and bring their perspectives to a wider audience, including more children and decision-makers.

Workshop Details
📅 Sunday, 3 May 2026
⏰ 9.30am – 12.45pm
📍 Common Ground Civic Centre (near Bedok MRT)
💛 Free participation

If your child is interested in joining the workshop, please complete the indication of interest form here: tinyurl.com/wmtc0305

More details about the workshop can also be found in the form.

We’re grateful to continue learning with and from children, and to create spaces where their voices are heard in ways that matter to them.

Calling all school educators in Singapore! We’re excited to share that Charlotte from Playeum will be co-hosting this upcoming Play ∞ Learning session alongside Simin and Carol, with our friend Hoi Leong from Vivita Singapore.

Ever noticed your students drifting into the land of Zzz… where curiosity quietens and eyes grow heavy? What if we invited more wonder into the classroom? What if a small shift in how we play could open new doors to attention, connection and joyful learning?

Join us for an evening of playful games, real classroom stories, and simple ways to spark energy and imagination, for you and your students. Let’s rediscover how play can transform even the sleepiest moments into opportunities for engagement, creativity and delight.

📅 Friday 24 April
🕖 7pm – 9pm
📍 VIVITA Singapore, Kampong Eunos

🎫Limited places only. Book your free seat today!
https://www.eventbrite.sg/e/play-x-learning-tickets-1980683447510

“What would you like your family to do when you wear your hat?”

“A chicken dance.”
“A hug.”

These were some of the ideas children shared during a playful “Silly Hats” crafting activity at a parent–child play session. In these lighthearted moments, play opened up a safe space for children’s voices to emerge creatively.

Over the past few months, Playeum collaborated with KidSTART Singapore to run a series of PowerUP Playtime parent–child play sessions. Through hands-on activities involving loose parts such as blocks, cardboard boxes, and even light and shadow, parents had opportunities to practice skills that support their children's play. Many discovered how simple materials could spark storytelling, building, experimentation, and imagination.

Thoughtful parent–child interactions began to emerge: encouragement, patience, quiet observation, and trying new things together. Activities like making “Silly Hats”, Block Stacking Challenge, Shadow and Light Play became opportunities for role play, taking turns, and mediating disagreements.

We are grateful to families, volunteers, SP Group and KidSTART Singapore. These play sessions remind us that with time, open-ended materials, and encouragement, meaningful play and learning flourish together.

💡Read more about the impact of PowerUP Playtime and how it has made a difference for families in our blog post: www.playeum.com/post/powering-up-play-for-connection

It all started with a question at someone’s doorstep: Could a space for families to play together exist in Bishan?

Fast forward, and that spark has grown into Playdate, a weekly family playspace co-created by Bishan Community Club and Playeum. Every Saturday, children and caregivers step into a lounge transformed into a shared, playful living room, inviting play with open-ended materials that inspire creativity, imagination, and connection.

For parents, it is also a chance to observe and discover new sides of their children, including confidence, persistence, joy, and curiosity.

What started as a conversation is now a growing community where play sparks understanding for children and caregivers alike.

Read the full story and discover how Playdate is inspiring families and play: playeum.com/post/from-a-doorstep-conversation-to-a-community-playspace

We’re inviting you to PLAY with us at the Istana Open House this Lunar New Year! 🧧✨

Step into a world of imagination with Playeum as we celebrate creativity, family bonding, and community on Sunday 22 February.

🎨 Playful Portraits (9am - 1pm) - Sit for a one-of-a-kind portrait with artist Nikita Lauren and take home a memory made with heart
🖌️ Reimagining the Istana at Play - Add your touch to our community mural and come build a playful toilet roll city with us
🍿 Popcorn & Eco Bags for Good – Grab purposeful goodies that give back. Delicious popcorn with thanks to our wonderful supporter Uncle DiDi!

Every playful portrait and merchandise purchase supports our mission to champion children through play and the arts, especially those who need safe, creative spaces the most.

Can’t join us in person? You can still be part of the joy this Chinese New Year by making a donation. Your support helps us bring the power of play to more children and communities.

Make your donation at: giving.sg/organisation/profile/playeum 💛

Families of Bedok, let’s dream together!

Join Playeum’s Family Circle, a space where children and adults come together to share ideas and aspirations for family play time. Your participation will help inform Playeum’s ongoing planning, including inspiring future Connect & Create Family Playdates.

Come enjoy a meaningful time connecting through play! Plus, your ideas will make a difference for your family and others in the neighbourhood.

📅 Saturday, 7 March 2026
⏰ 2pm – 5pm
📍 Kaki Bukit Community Centre

🔗 Register your interest: https://bit.ly/connectncreate

Play can open a window into a child’s world. By listening or looking closely, adults can discover what matters to them. How to support them is shown by Dr Esther Joosa (PhD) through her work leading our Open Minds, Open Doors (OMOD) community play programme. Today we feature her interactions with nine-year-old John.

While most children in the programme are non-verbal, John is not. On the contrary, he is vocal. He frequently relates how several years ago, he was diagnosed with autism level 2. Since the onset of his attendance, he often relates his struggles to connect with peers because his initial interests were not understood.

In the play programme, he meticulously creates structures with blocks, dominoes, and Jenga, as well as enjoys time outdoors. He enjoys giving suggestions for play to the adults around him and notes his preferences, such as real, hands-on materials like clay that can be shaped, tested, and changed. These materials, he says, help children think, experiment, and learn about change.

As John reflects on inclusion, he observed that not all disabilities are visible and that some children hide differences to avoid judgement. He believes kindness and understanding should not depend on whether someone is different.

Through John’s reflections, his growing sense of meaning, creativity and autonomy appeared. The programme shows that listening to children can guide the design of play, choice of materials, and adult support. Play is more than fun. It is essential for creativity, connection, and growth.

When adults take the time to listen to children’s voices, observe their choices, and take note of ideas, play can become more meaningful, inclusive, and empowering.

The latest OMOD newsletter, written by Dr Esther Joosa, shares John’s journey and shows how children express themselves through play. Open Minds, Open Doors has been a collaboration between Playeum and Arts of the Earth since 2019 and is supported by the President’s Challenge.

Read the full newsletter and learn more about the programme here: www.playeum.com/omod