Little India With Children: Where To Go, What To Eat, What To Teach Them

As you step into Little India, be prepared for an assault on the senses!

Little India is one of the best places in Singapore to take a child, and one of the easiest to do badly. Go at the wrong hour with a pushchair and it’s an hour of apologising in a crowd.

Go on a weekday morning. Sunday is by far the busiest day of the week here, and the five-foot ways are narrow. A weekday before noon is a different place: open, calm, and much better for small children.

Use a carrier instead of a pushchair if you can. The pavements are uneven, the shops are tight, and Tekka isn’t built for wheels.

Where to go with children

House of Tan Teng Niah (Kerbau Road): the bright multicoloured villa, and the easiest thing here for a young child to enjoy. Two minutes and a photograph, but it works.
Tekka Centre: wet market downstairs, hawker centre and textiles above. The market is a real sensory experience for a child: fish, goats’ heads, mountains of spice, live crabs. Some children love it and some want to leave in ninety seconds. Both are fine.
Indian Heritage Centre (Campbell Lane): air-conditioned, well designed, and the most child-friendly stop. It runs family activities and trails, and the building itself is worth the visit. This is the one to plan around if it’s hot.
Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple (Serangoon Road): an extraordinary building. Etiquette below.
The flower garland stalls along Campbell Lane and Buffalo Road: jasmine and marigold being strung by hand. Children are usually more interested in this than in anything in a museum.
The spice shops: ask if your child can smell a few. Most shopkeepers are happy to oblige.
Little India Arcade: bangles, sweets, henna, and small enough not to lose anyone.
Mustafa Centre: open around the clock, enormous, and overwhelming for a toddler. Better without children, or with older ones who find that sort of thing funny.

Temple etiquette for children

Visitors are welcome. Explain the rules before you go in instead of hissing them at the door.

Shoes off before entering, left at the rack.
Dress modestly: shoulders and knees covered, for children too.
Quiet voices, and no running. It’s a working place of worship, not an attraction.
Ask before photographing, and never photograph people praying.
Don’t point your feet at a shrine or a person, and don’t touch the statues.
Walk around the inner shrine clockwise if you’re walking around it at all.
You may be offered something: a blessing, ash, a piece of fruit. Accepting graciously with the right hand is the polite response.

Eating with children

Indian food has a reputation for spice that puts parents off unnecessarily. A great deal of it is mild, and the mild things are the ones children like most.

Thosai (dosa): a large crisp savoury pancake. Almost universally popular with children, and not spicy. Order it plain, with the sambar and chutney on the side so they can dip or not.
Idli: soft steamed rice cakes, very gentle, good for toddlers.
Plain naan or roti: safe territory for a cautious eater.
Butter chicken or dhal: usually mild; ask.
Mango lassi: the reliable winner.
Indian sweets from the Arcade: very sweet, so one between everybody.
Always ask for mild, and say it’s for a child. Kitchens here are used to the request.
Nuts appear in a lot of dishes, in sweets especially. Say so clearly if there’s an allergy.

Practical notes

MRT: Little India station (North East and Downtown lines) puts you at Tekka. Rochor and Farrer Park are the other ends of it.
It’s hot and largely unshaded. Morning, water, hats, and an air-conditioned stop planned in the middle.
Toilets at Tekka Centre and in the malls; less easily elsewhere.
Cash helps at the small stalls, even though cards are widely taken now.
Bargaining is normal in the arcade and the small shops, not in the malls.
Around Deepavali, Serangoon Road is lit up and there’s a festive bazaar. Spectacular, and extremely crowded. An evening visit then is for older children.
Hold hands near Serangoon Road. The traffic is constant and the pavements are narrow.

Frequently asked questions

Is Little India good for young children?

Yes, with the right timing. Go on a weekday morning. Sunday is by far the busiest day and the pavements are narrow. A carrier works better than a pushchair given the uneven ground and tight shops.

What can children do in Little India?

The House of Tan Teng Niah for the colours, Tekka Centre’s wet market for the sights and smells, the Indian Heritage Centre for an air-conditioned break with family activities, the flower garland stalls on Campbell Lane, and the spice shops, where most shopkeepers will happily let a child have a smell.

Can children visit a Hindu temple?

Yes, visitors are welcome. Remove shoes at the entrance, dress with shoulders and knees covered, keep voices quiet, ask before photographing and never photograph people praying, and don’t point your feet at a shrine or touch the statues. Explain all of this before going in rather than at the door.

What Indian food will my child eat?

Thosai is the reliable one: a large crisp savoury pancake, not spicy, with the sauces served separately so they can dip or not. Idli is gentler still and good for toddlers. Plain naan, dhal, butter chicken and a mango lassi cover most cautious eaters. Ask for mild and say it’s for a child; kitchens here expect the question.

When is the best time to visit Little India?

A weekday morning, before it gets hot and before the crowds. Around Deepavali the entire Serangoon Road is lit up with a festive bazaar, which is spectacular but very crowded and better suited to older children in the evening.

What to remember

Weekday morning, carrier not pushchair, and plan an air-conditioned stop at the Indian Heritage Centre for the middle of it.

Order thosai. Ask for mild. Let them smell the spices and watch the garlands being strung. That’s the part they’ll remember.

And teach the temple rules in the street, not in the doorway.