A Magical Morning at the Singapore Philatelic Museum’s New Harry Potter Exhibit

Accio, wand! The new Harry Potter exhibit at the Singapore Philatelic Museum is a flying car full of fun for everyone. We’ve got all the deets, mama!

My Son Bertie (age 8) is a massive Harry Potter fan; he’s reading his way through the fab books and is currently on number 5, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He won’t watch the corresponding movie until he has finished each book. Seriously, his choice!  So when we heard that there was a Harry Potter-inspired exhibit at The Singapore Philatelic Museum, we were super excited!

While the initial draw of stamps for younger kids might not be huge, the new exhibition Collecting Magic: From Stamps to Wands is absoutely brilliant. The fact that it’s FREE to Singapore citizens and PRs also doesn’t hurt!

Once in the door, the kids were drawn to the moving portraits  –  created by students from Nanyang Polytechnic’s School of Interactive and Digital Media, a la Hogwarts – and immediately raced up the stairs to the Harrry Potter room. Full of memorabilia and collectibles from private collections from around the world, it’s a jam-packed exhibition. But then again it’s just one room, so easy to keep an eye on multiple kiddos, and not likely to take up more than an hour of your time.

Bertie absolutely loved the interactive wand exhibit where he could use a wand  to cast spells across two screens! He was also fairly mesmerised by the LEGO mock up of Hogwarts.

My daughter Esme, 5, was super excited to push the luggage cart into the famous 9 3/4 platform and to sit in the Hogwarts Express Carriage and look at the jars of magical sweets!

Each of us took a turn on the Nimbus 2000 — and got stacks of photos with the awesome Hogwarts in the background. Sadly I never quite caught that golden snitch, though.

Finally, we couldn’t resist a little photo op with the gorgeous Dobby the House Elf – not too dissimilar to Esme!

The cute little museum on the edge of Fort Canning is a great place for kids to learn about how stamps are a window to the world. It manages to creatively explore topics like science, technology, history and culture. From Shakespeare to Monkeys there is plenty to see, who knew?!

All in all, if you have a free hour, it’s a really nice little trip for the kids.  Handily – just around the corner is The Fabulous Baker Boy with over 27 different cakes on offer – what a perfect end to a morning out! 

Collecting Magic: From Stamps to Wands is on from now through 30 June, 2017. Opening hours: Monday to Sunday, 10am – 7pm. Tickets cost $8 for adults and $6 for children aged 3-12; Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents are free.

Singapore Philatelic Museum, 23-B Coleman Street, Singapore 179807, Singapore, Tel: (+65) 6337 3888, www.spm.org.sg