Playful Living

And What Knots Series by Winnie Lim

And What Knots Series transforms humble fabric squares into playful prints of classic games - Snakes & Ladders, Checkers and Aeroplane Chess. Wrapped, each piece carries a gift. Unfolded, it invites play and social connection. Designed to shift with purpose, the fabric can become a wrapper, carrier, board game and what(k)nots.

QRious Giving by Kevin Chiam and Ang You Shan

A flip-dot interface playfully reimagines and enriches the act of digital donation in a world of cashless payments and where scanning QR codes become second nature. The project was designed in collaboration with Samaritans of Singapore (SOS).

YOU PLAY WHERE ONE? by Edwind Tan

A gachapon machine that dispenses miniatures of Singapore’s iconic playgrounds, each featuring coordinates to its actual location. These playgrounds, once beloved communal spaces, now linger like endangered species. YOU PLAY WHERE ONE? encourages us to rediscover and preserve these playgrounds before they disappear entirely from Singapore’s ever-evolving urban landscape. The project was supported by National Parks Board’s Garden City Fund.

Curious Mushrooms by Esther Ng

The collection, Curious Mushrooms, showcases wild mushrooms found in Singapore. Made in stoneware and porcelain ceramic, the mushroom bells invite touch - tap its cap and a gentle chime rings, like spores drifting in the wind. Blurring product and nature, it grows from its environment, offering a quiet moment of interaction. An invitation to pause, to play, to connect - in sounds.

Hue Blocks by Li Xue Lim

Hue Blocks reimagines the familiar Post-it into unique, colour-rich forms, quietly inviting subtle play through idle stacking, balancing, or colour arranging - guided by intuition and what simply feels good. It transforms moments of pause or distraction into gentle opportunities for grounded play. Designed to blend effortlessly into the everyday, it offers soft sensory grounding that is at once understated and welcoming.

5,4,3,2,1 by Maggie Seah

5,4,3,2,1 is a pair of rolling stamps inspired by key sensory grounding techniques used in clinical psychotherapy for anxiety. Designed as tactile, portable aids, they invite playful journaling as an exercise and gentle reminder of these techniques.

Take a breather by Lee Hsiao Fong

Designed to evoke childlike wonder and a mindful pause, this series of tabletop pinwheels invites playful breathwork and visual delight. Through gentle, pursed-lip exhalations, one can animate the pinwheels - engaging one’s breath as a calming mechanism to create mesmerising hypnotic patterns. ‘Take a breather’ and enjoy a lighthearted reset!

Pinch Notifications by Shawn Ng

Pinch Notifications is a whimsical and decidedly annoying reminder to be mindful of our phone usage - playfully calling out our digital consumption habits.

A Dreaming Apparatus by Roger Ng Wei Lun

A Dreaming Apparatus is an interactive installation that transforms elements of the teahouse into playful, generative worlds. It invites visitors to step into dreamlike realms where imagination itself is an act of care -tending to our inner landscapes, sparking joy and wonder, softening the routines of everyday life.

(Invisible) Puzzle by Edmund Zhang

A puzzle that has to be solved through touch rather than sight, challenging our assumptions about how jigsaw puzzles are typically experienced and who they are made for. Designed in collaboration with Amanda Yip, a visually-impaired artist and co-founder of Rebirth Ensemble, an accessible fine arts consultancy in Singapore, the work reimagines her artwork as an immersive tactile puzzle, expanding how we experience and interpret visual art.

An exhibition in a tea house that showcases the quiet power of play in everyday life.

In the nation of Singapore where efficiency and productivity are prized, play is often sidelined - dismissed as trivial, childish, or unproductive. But what if play isn’t a distraction, but a vital way of thinking, connecting, and creating?

Playful Living invites visitors to rediscover the quiet power of play in everyday life. Here, play is not a luxury, but a fundamental human need, essential for nurturing a more imaginative, empathetic and deeply human way of living.

This exhibition is made possible through the support of our project partners, including Samaritans of Singapore (SOS), National Parks Board’s Garden City Fund and Rebirth Ensemble.