Free fun for families at Changi Airport Terminal 3: September school holidays, Children's Day

Don't be surprised if your kids clamour for mala hotpot at Changi Airport Terminal 3. No, they've not acquired a taste for the spicy, tongue-numbing Sichuan flavour. Neither is there a new mala restaurant at the airport.

What they want is to have fun at the Flavours of China "mala hotpot" playground, introduced as part of its Changi Loves Kids' September school holiday and Children's Day programmes.

Hats off to the creative team who came up with this mala hotpot ball pit that's filled with cushions resembling prawns, chilli, mushrooms, cabbage and carrots.

There is also a see-saw carousel and rotating sphere (pictured) spicing up the fun. You and your kids will need to wear socks to enter the playground.

Redeem two passes to the playground from Sept 6 to Oct 6 when you spend at least $50 in a single receipt at Changi Airport Terminal 1 to 4 public area's retail and F&B outlets ($80 for supermarkets).

Besides getting of a "taste" of Chinese culture at the "mala hotpot" playground, your family can also explore China through an Instagrammable contemporary art installation China, Lit! This is located near the Skytrain station.

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Here, there are content panels featuring top must-see and must-do lifestyle experiences in the Chinese cities of Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Xiamen.

You even stand a chance to win a pair of airline tickets to any of the five featured cities by scanning the QR code on the content panels.

And who doesn't love video gaming? Play some of Playstation's newest titles at ST3PS at basement 2 - all for free, but just remind your kids to queue patiently. These games include Overcooked 2, Super Bomberman, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled and EA Sports Fifa 20. The latter hasn't even been launched in the market yet, so you'll be among the first to get in on the action.

There are six cosy stations where you can play with your kids, but nothing beats the experience of playing the games on the big LED screen. For this, you'll need to spend $35 spent in a single receipt to be entitled to one play slot of 20 minutes.

This series of series of events and activities at Changi Airport will run till Oct 13. Find out more, including the opening hours, at www.changiairport.com/changiloveskids.

This article was first published in Young Parents.