We joined the Royal Selangor DIY Pewter Tour during our recent trip to Kuala Lumpur.
The Royal Selangor DIY Pewter tour was divided into two parts:
Part 1: Trip to Royal Selangor: – museum tour, factory demo tour, and a handcrafting activity making your own pewter bowl.
Part 2: FREE 3-hour city tour too! What a deal!
The city tour is pretty much standard fare, but trip to Royal Selangor is especially unique. Here are are information and tips when planning this national icon with kids:
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Book through KKDay for convenience, priority access and an additional discount.
We’ve been repeat customers of KKDay because of how convenient and reliable their services are, particularly during our recent visits to Hong Kong. Part of the Royal Selangor DIY tour includes pick-up and drop-off services at the hotel, a major plus when traveling with two young kids.
I like how KKDay partners only with reputable tour providers. Joe, our tour guide/driver was very accommodating. Baby Paul was feeling a bit under the weather, so Joe gamely allowed us to take short detour to the pharmacy to buy saline solution for Paul’s nebulizer. (Paul didn’t join us for this tour and was resting at the hotel with our nanny).
Booking with KKDay also gave us priority access to the guided museum and workshop tour. Walk-in guests have to wait for an available guide.
You can also get an additional 5% off using the code “APP5OFF” when booking through their app.
2. Kids below three years old aren’t allowed (but they make exceptions!)
Hannah just turned two years old when I booked the tour (you have to indicate the birthdays of the kids joining). A staff from KKDay called us to say that Hannah was not allowed, but we asked them to reconsider since Hannah would be supervised althroughout the tour and during the DIY class.
They were rightfully concerned because the kids would be using real wooden hammers and metal tools. So glad the KKDay staff were very hands-on and spoke with Royal Selangor on our behalf to allow Hannah to participate!
3. Fill up Royal Selangor game card and get a prize!
I guess Royal Selangor knows that kids (and even adults!) drift off during museum tours, so at the start of the tour they handed out a game card for kids to participate. If they answer all questions correctly and have their cards stamped during the factory tour, they can pick a prize at the end. Guess who was the nerd in the group who listened intently to get all the answers?
Here is Mati picking his prize!
4. Touch and Taste
It was great to know that a LOT of the exhibits were OK to touch. We were more chill about the kids going around and exploring, instead of chasing them saying “Don’t touch this or that”.
An added bonus was that pewter isn’t really breakable, so I didn’t worry much when they were looking at the licensed Star Wars and Marvel collectibles at the gift shop either.
After the museum, we had a short break before going to the workshop section. They let us sample a cold energy drink in a pewter cup and told us that the cup could retain the temperature of the drink for up to 30 minutes. Hannah gulped her drink with gusto and asked for seconds!
5. School of Hard Knocks at Royal Selangor
After we visited the museum and the factory, we went into Royal Selangor’s School of Hard Knocks (very clever name) and warning, it can get very noisy! I honestly don’t know how Gordon, our instructor for the day can put up with all the hammering sounds all day!
Mati and Hannah were very eager to start pounding, but good thing Gordon called our attention. He gave us clear, short instructions on each step – from wearing our apron properly, how to hammer our names into the bowls (letters towards us, and give two strong taps), how to hammer the flat pewter piece into a symmetrical bowl.
It was a very relaxing experience just creating something new and doing it together as a family.
6. Making Memories and Keepsakes
The entire DIY experience takes less than 30 minutes. They let us take home our aprons, personalized pewter bowls, and gave us certificates of participation.
I love how low-tech it was, and that the kids learned first-hand how something is made from start to finish. Mati and Hannah had a sense of ownership with their pewter creations, a product of their hard work and effort.
We really enjoyed our time at Royal Selangor, and I appreciated that the tour was well thought out. It was a refreshing choice of activity, apart from usual park, zoo or amusement park visits.
You can learn more about how to book the Royal Selangor DIY Pewter tour here.