10 Fun Outdoor activities for the kids 2013

Singapore is a small, sunny island. We do not have much land. However, there are much to see and play and have fun if you look properly and explore around. Every weekend, we bring our kids outdoors. Even when I had morning sickness, was heavily pregnant and after my baby was out, we continued bringing the kids out. We want our kids to enjoy their childhood while they can and while they still want to tag along with us on weekends.

I have put together 10 fun outdoor activities to do with your kids.

1. Bottle tree fishing

This is more like catching fish than actual “fishing” with a fish rod.
We pay S$10 for a small fish net catcher and a lovely small tank to put the fishes in. Just catch as many fishes as you can and put as many as you can inside the small tank. The owners of Bottle Tree are quite generous with the kids. They “top up” the fishes in the fishing area every half hour or so and make sure each kid’s tank is full. They have prawning too if you are interested in that. We have not tried it though. They have restaurants which serve really good food. We have tried the Chinese restaurant and love it!

 

Fees: S$10 per person
Location:
Bottle Tree is beside Khatib MRT station
81 Lorong Chencharu (Yishun)
Singapore 769198
Website: http://www.bottletree.com.sg/

2. Gardens by the Bay

Gardens by the Bay is a creation of a city in a garden. It is located in the heart of Singapore where land is more than expensive. So, I really admire our government’s bold decision to spend on greenery and creating a nature for Singaporeans and all to enjoy. There are 2 main attractions to go to: Flower Dome and Cloud Forest. The Flower Dome replicates the cool-dry climate of Mediterranean regions with plants and flowers that are not seen in Singapore. The Cloud Forest is a cool-moist conservatory which showcases plant life from tropical highlands and there you can see the world’s tallest indoor waterfall.

It’s a good visit for our kids where they get to enjoy and appreciate different species of flora and beautiful landscaping. It educates kids and even adults on what kind of plants and flowers survive on different climates and teaches us some fun facts.

Fees: Ranging from S$8 per child to S$28 for adults depending on which attraction you go to. For more information on fees, click here.
Location:
Bayfront MRT station Exit B
18 Marina Gardens Drive
Singapore 018953
Website: http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg

3. Marina Barrage kite flying

We love coming here. There is a vast greenery for everyone to gather, relax, picnic, fly kites and have fun. Over here you can have a good view of the Marina Bay Sands and the Marina Bay area. The views in the day and at night give a different feel and are both breathtaking. We usually bring a ball for play besides flying kites that can get a little boring after they are sent up in the air. On weekends, it can get a little crowded with families and friends. The skies are littered with many different types of kites and towards dusk, many professional kite flyers will showcase their huge kites with LED lights.

Location: 8 Marina Gardens Drive Singapore 018951
Fees: Free
Website: http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/Must-See.aspx

 4. Safra Toa Payoh Swimming Pool

This is our favourite place for swimming. There is a kids pool with some fun water play by the side. The water shooters in the pool are great fun for the kids and cleverly designed to stop short of water reaching people by the side of the pool. There are deep pool and training pool. If you are hosting a party, you can consider the BBQ pits by the pool side for rental. You can relax and enjoy free music that is played at the pool area. One plus point is we love the warm water shower that public pools do not have, so it makes bathing peaceful without kids’ protest and screams.

Location: 293 Lorong 6, 319387

Fees:

Free for Safra members

Mon – Fri S$1.15 for concession, S$2.20 for adults;

Weekends: S$1.70 for concession, S$3.30 for adults.

Website: http://www.safra.sg/About-SAFRA/Overview/SAFRA-Toa-Payoh.aspx

5. Bishan Park fish catching

Bishan Park has undergone a major renovation and reopened with 3 interesting playgrounds and a river which has water level low enough for kids to wade in to catch fish. This river is the highlight of Bishan Park. It aims to bring the park users closer to the water to enjoy nature at the footsteps. Our kids had great fun enjoying walking into the river which would not be possible in other places that the Kallang River passes through. Grab a pail, or tank and fish net, and have fun catching fish just like our old childhood days. Bring along clothes to change as your kids will definitely get wet as they stoop to get hold of the fishes.

Location: Along Bishan Road and Ang Mo Kio Ave 1
Fees: Free
Website: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=8&Itemid=73

6. MacRitchie Reservoir Nature Trail

We woke up one early morning at 6am and left our house before 7am to bring our kids to experience the nature in MacRitchie Reservoir Park. It was all worth the effort to wake up early to enjoy the morning fresh air, the lush greenery and tall trees that lined the trail, sounds of insects, sights of monkeys, etc. There are so much to see on our leisure walk along the trail. We saw an insect dangling from its spun web and the kids were in awe to see it travel up and down the silk line and that wasn’t a spider!

Also, if you interested in more nature walk path, one good blogger at Journeys of the Fabulist provided very good advice and directions. Read here.

Location: MacRitchie Reservoir Park

Fees: Free

Website: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=naturereserves&id=49&Itemid=75

7. East Coast Park picnic

East Coast Park is where most Singaporeans go for a taste of sea salt and sea breeze with their families and friends. The sea is not so clean compared to the blue waters in other islands like Pulau Rendang and in Bali. But since we do not have many choices of seas to go to for a swim, we allow our children to have a dip in this one. Someone ever mentioned that nowadays kids do not know that sea water is salty. I couldn’t agree more. XX and YH had a wonderful time floating around in the salty waters and they love it, not to mention they enjoy licking the waters. There are so many things to do at East Coast Park like roller blading, cycling, picnicking, building sandcastles, barbacue and checking out the good food in the East Coast Lagoon food village. (Currently the food village is closed for a major renovation and will be opened end of the year 2013).

Location: East Coast Park

Fee: Free

Website: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=14

8. Pasir Ris Park Cycling

This is another of our favourite place. I wrote about this in earlier post. The playgrounds here are so interesting and of so many different kinds, kids can spend the whole morning checking out the flying fox, music and drum area, web climbing, obstacles climbing and many more. After that, you can rent bicycles and cycle around the park with rental costing about S$5 for 2 hours. There is a horse riding area called Gallop Stable (that you can check out too.) It’s a good place to spend time with your kids where they can have healthy outdoor play.

Another good blogger ExpadDadSG has put together some parks in Singapore that you can check out too! Read here.

Location: Pasir Ris Park

Fees: Free for playgrounds, Rental applies for bicycles

Website: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=26&Itemid=73

9. Woodlands Waterfront Park Playground

This playground is an interesting one but may not be suitable for those with height phobia. It can be a little challenging for young kids or even older ones since they are more scared of falling than younger children. At least that’s what happened to XX who had to be encouraged for a solid 20 minutes before she attempted the last part of reaching the fun part at the top. YH had no problem getting to the top, passing XX without a sweat. There is a also a 400m jetty where you can have a paranomic view of the Straits of Johor.

Website: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=90&Itemid=73

10. Playgrounds to recommend

I have here 2 good reviews on 2 playgrounds in Singapore.

One is on the Sembawang Battleship Playground which I have not checked out yet, but it really looks so interesting I need to add to this list! I would love to bring my kids there one of these days. Read here for the good review and many photographs that blogger on CheekieMonkies had put in.

The next one is on Vivocity Shopping Mall playground. It has been there for quite many years but we seldom bring kids to the malls that are far from our place, hence have not check it out yet. But will be doing so very soon.

If you have other interesting places to bring kids out, please share with me! We are constantly looking for fun places to keep the kids active in outdoors!