5 Fun Places to go with your kids

“Where shall we go today?” This is a question that comes to my mind every weekend morning. I have come to realize that the places kids below 6 would enjoy are places that they can run around and put their curiosity in place.

Hence, I have put together some great outdoor and indoor places that my kids enjoy.

1) Lower Pierce Reservoir

This is a great place to bask in the ambiance of nature’s smell, feel and look. We drove slowly along the way leading to the reservoir while we kept a lookout for monkeys. We did not wait long and monkeys came out of the trees and stayed by the road. We stopped our car, and the monkeys came closer. Obviously they were waiting for us to throw some bananas or food to them. But many road signs advised against this for many reasons of upsetting nature and creating danger. We took some photographs. The kids were having fun distinguishing the sex of the monkeys.

Finally we reach the park. What a refreshing ionized air after an earlier shower. There is a steep slope to a small field below. We walked along a side route to the field and caught some grasshoppers. The trees were showered with crystals of rain droplets. We stood below the tree and Kel shook the branch and we enjoyed a short burst of shower underneath. At the nearby water, we threw some bread and turtles swam close. It’s so peaceful and serene, you would mistaken this place for a countryside.

Before we left, we decided to run up the steep slope with the kids. XX was quick to follow my instructions to keep close to the grass and was the first to reach the top. Kel and I guided the younger one. It’s amazing that he was able to run up the steep slope on his own without much help.

We’ll definitely be back to this place again. Nothing is more refreshing than nature.

Admission Fees: Free!

2) Pasir Ris Park and Playground

Almost all of Singapore’s playground features can be found here!
The playgrounds range from spider web-climbers, swings, to flying fox. There is even a musical play area with drums and bells that create echoes and music when you hit them. My kids’ favourites are the long shaky balancing bridge, the multi-slide playgrounds, the spider web-climbers and the swings.

As if these are not enough, there is a beach just beside the park where kids can build sandcastles, play Frisbee or ride bicycles. We will usually lay our beach mat and have a small picnic while enjoying the sea breeze. Kids can spend long hours here without feeling bored.

Admission Fees: Free!

3) Explorerkid Indoor Playground in Pasir Ris

This is a huge indoor playground with plenty of running space.
It has a multi-skill play area where kids can dispense their endless energy. Adults can join in and I love to run after my children and often have to squeeze, crawl, roll, duck down, twist and turn inside the play area since I am 2 to 3 times bigger size than the kids inside. They love to see if I am right behind them. It really is fun and great bonding!

Moving from the multi-skill play area, we come to an obstacle play station call “Adventure Highlands”. This station has a minimum height entry. My girl managed to brush against the height marker and hence was able to challenge herself through the obstacles. She had to walk on tight rope from a height and used some thinking to be able to complete the obstacles. It’s a good experience and she enjoyed tremendously.

Next, comes the “Lit Ball Pool”. Kids immerse themselves happily in this colour- changing pool of balls. There is also a ball shooting station call “Ball’O’City”.

Kids can have a great afternoon full of fun play without getting bored.

Admission Fees: Ranges from per hour to full day play rate and also on whether you are a member. About $15-$22 per hour for peak period.

4) Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden – Singapore Botanic Gardens

We love this garden and with the circle line fully opened, we were able to take the MRT and reach this place in less than 15 minutes.
When we exit from the MRT, we were able to follow the signboard and reach the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden in about 15 minutes by walking. However, there are so many interesting trees and plants that lined up along the path. YH was very interested in collecting some fruits and we had a bag for him to keep some collectibles. The journey to the Children’s garden is fun and educational as Kel explained to the kids on what was written on the small information signboard in front of different species of trees.

 

By the time we reach the Children’s garden, 40 minutes have passed!
There are lots of funs in this garden built for children. There is a tree house playground, a water play area, a dry sand play area, shaky bridge, an area with big mock up trees that teaches photosynthesis. We went straight to the water play area. Even though this area does not have much play stations, only a few water fountains, many kids ranging from 1 to 7-8 years old had great fun here. And we notice that this place is a get-together for different nationalities. In fact, we are the only Singaporean family during the 2 hours we were there!

 
Admission Fees – Free!

5) East Coast Park – Building sandcastle

There are so many things to do in East Coast Park, but I purposely choose playing sandcastles to introduce to everyone.

Recently we had bought a professional sandcastle play set. It is developed by “Beach Works” and the set costs about $40. We actually chanced upon the Beach Works team promoting the sandcastle play set and were impressed by how the founder (who did the demo) promoted his baby. You must be wondering what is so different about the play set. Well, the founder actually links the basics of building a sandcastle to many life’s skills. For eg, without a good foundation and the right pressure and mix of water, the sandcastle will not be able to withstand layers of build up or new moulds of sand on top of it. And this applies to studying and learning. We all need to have a good foundation and yet we can only learn well in an environment of right pressure (no overpressure or underpressure from parents).

Hence, we bought the set and had much fun building the sandcastles which really look good with the right tools. We can never achieve such fabulous-looking sandcastles with normal toy sets. The sandcastle set is a wonderful excuse to have families get together to build something beautiful from team work. And what the founder said was right – the sky, the sea, the refreshing air, the sand are all free!

Admission Fees: Free!

Out of the 5 places I have introduced here, 4 have no admission fees! In a small place like Singapore, parents are always trying to find places to bring their kids to. There are actually numerous interesting places out there and you need not spend too much too. Ask around and google online! I am sure you will find more great places and, REMEMBER to share with me!