24 Oct 2016
Formerly called the Bottle Tree Park, ORTO which reopened
quite recently is as big as 7 football fields and is a multi-recreational park
where you can bring your family for a day outing.
J was invited to Katapult Trampoline Park for a birthday
party last month and I had the chance to check out the park facilities and
activities.
The party room was quite a nice size for about 20+ kids and
some adults. The staff decorated the room nicely in a Minecraft theme for the
birthday boy who was delighted with the room décor. Parents can watch their
kids play in an elevated viewing room which doubles up as a café area and
registration area.
Katapult overlooks the Longkang fishing atrium outside. It’s
nicely done up for younger kids to wade the nice ‘rivers’ to catch guppies. A
fee of $12 gives you a tank and a net to catch as many fishes as you want. J
was quite sensitive about the fishes’ welfare and decided that if he caught a
tank full of fishes, he would need to build and get a bigger habitat for them
at home or they’d be cramped in the small tank. He said if one of the fishes
had a disease, it will spread to the rest like wild fire and they will all die.
So he decided he will not go longkang fishing to avoid ‘killing’ the fishes.
But I saw many small kids having a great time doing this activity and being
‘close to nature’.
Downhill from where Katapult is there is an area for paint
ball shoot out and a bicycle kiosk filled with new looking Velo bikes and
scooters for rent. Just at the road side gate of ORTO is the park connector
that follows the MRT track line in Yishun. You can hire a bike and go riding
along the park connector.
Next to the bike kiosk is a large area with a couple of nice
looking restaurants that overlook a big lake where fishing takes place. There
is a large platform jetty area and next to it, a prawning set up as well.
http://orto.sg/visitors/orto/
*************************************
SEMBAWANG SHOPPING CENTRE18 March 2016
At the rooftop (level 3) of Sembawang Shopping Centre lies an interesting playground with both wet and dry areas connected by a 3-way slide. There is Little skool house and Greentree Montessori enrichment centre situated in the building whose kids use this playground so avoid school days morning stretches around 10am when the dry area will be crowded with kids from these centres.
************************************************
DRAGON PLAYGROUND OF YESTERYEAR@ TOA PAYOH
Visited June 2014
Visited June 2014
With J’s burgeoning
interest in all-things-dragons, I decided to bring him to an old fashion
playground in which I used to play in when I was a kid in Toa Payoh (opposite
Toa Payoh Safra seen from the main road). Alas when we arrived, the area was
cornered off for re-development works as the blocks of flats surrounding that
old playground were to be torn down. Thankfully, the dragon was intact and to
be preserved as a yesteryear icon, so J had loads of fun climbing up and down
the dragon structure which ends in a white concrete marble slide. It’s a pity
the rest of the playground was not really used anymore.
*****************************
KIDS AMAZE - SAFRA TOA PAYOH
First visited Nov 2012, updated visit 27 Oct 2013
Nov 2012
Visited the newly opened Kids Amaze at toa payoh Safra recently with a friend and her child visiting from Melbourne. The playscape was quite large and spacious but not as tall as the Safra Jurong, which can be quite intimidating. Rather than built upwards like Safra Jurong's playscape, this was more spread out with only 3 levels high. As you can see from the pic, it had the usual tunnels, climbing structures, ball pit and Jerome enjoyed the slides which he said were fast enough to his liking but not too long and tall. The only disappointment for him was that there were no foam balls gun shoots like in Jurong Safra. Jerome and his friend covered the area in an hour plus, perhaps because they are now older (at 6), they called it a day after less than 2 hours' play. Maybe younger children may spend longer time here exploring the place. Rating by the 6 year olds: 7 upon 10 for fun factor. Good for : toddlers (they were setting up a toddlers section when we were there) and kids up to around 6-7 yrs old.
Update: 27 October 2013
3-lane wave slide
one of 2 tunnel slides which were quite fast
We participated in the It's Pumpkin Time Halloween Party at Safra Toa Payoh this year because J wanted to don his batman costume made by grandma complete with Batarangs and Bat Lasso for the party. The event was jointly organised with Kid Amaze so we had lots of playtime in the Indoor playground. This round, I managed to take photos of the tunnel slide and the 3-lane wave slide plus the toddler and baby play room below. The place is made of 6-7 'pavillons' of playscape and one of them housed foam ball machine, namely 2 types. First there was a machine that blew air upwards so foam balls can remain in the air, which amused J for quite a while. The second machine sucked up foam balls to a top container and when enough balls were collected, it tilts and drops all the balls down at squealing children standing below.
Rates: $11.20 (public), $9 (Safra member) for weekdays; $12.85 (Safra Member), $16.85 (public) weekends; $9/11.20 for 0-3yrs weekdays, $12.85/16.50 weekends. Accompanying adults pay $2.15.
http://www.safra.sg/en/Enjoy/Kidz-Amaze/Facilities-Rates.aspx#.UnUJJSb2Opo
Rates: $11.20 (public), $9 (Safra member) for weekdays; $12.85 (Safra Member), $16.85 (public) weekends; $9/11.20 for 0-3yrs weekdays, $12.85/16.50 weekends. Accompanying adults pay $2.15.
http://www.safra.sg/en/Enjoy/Kidz-Amaze/Facilities-Rates.aspx#.UnUJJSb2Opo
Baby & toddler playroom
*******************************
Causeway Point Mall Indoor playground.
15 September 2013
Located in a glass covered room on level 4 of Causeway Point Mall in Woodlands (next to Woodlands mrt) is an indoor playground with a climbing and slides structure. It is not a big space but good enough for toddlers and young children to climb, run, play hide and seek (on and below structure) and 2 points of exit via a curved or a straight slide. There are some seats inside this air-conditioned room, for parents and caregivers to sit and watch over their charges. One side of the glass wall faces out of the mall so sunlight can stream in. This would be more suited for 2-5 year olds as my 6-year old went in to check out the play structure and was out in 10 mins unless he could make friends to play a game of catching or hide & seek there, the structure is not sufficiently challenging for school-going kids.
****************************
XPLORER KID @ Ang Mo Kio Hub
Visited 14 June 2013, posted 11 July 2013.
Bought a group deal ticket and J went with his god-brothers to AMK Hub Xplorer Kid during the June hols to escape the haze outside. We turned up at opening time at 10am and it was rather empty, we were one of three families of kids.
The play structure is 2 levels, and at some points, 3
levels where the longer slide is located. The whole set up is not very big but
there is enough room for adults to hover around to check on the kids. My mummy
friend and I had to pay $2 each to enter the premises, there wasn’t many seats
for supervising adults, just an Ikea mammut table with some chairs that I
believe are meant for the kids as all their water bottles were placed there.
Our kids stayed the 1 hour time given for 3 entrants. I
think one hour is just nice, J would have been bored before that if he went
alone, I think there’s not that much to occupy slightly older kids save for the
Ball blasters. Otherwise, charges are $9 ($20 for public) and $15 ($22 for
public) for non-peak (unlimited play) and peak (first one hour) for members. It can be
quite expensive as a member of the public. It’s worthwhile to get the membership
(now going for $15 per annum) if you frequent the outlets at Xplorer Kid.
Otherwise, go for group deals like me.
http://www.explorerkid.com/play_rates_packages
***************************************
CHOA CHU KANG SWIMMING COMPLEX
Visited 25 May, posted 28 June 2013
I’ve heard and drove past the highly popular and well-reviewed Sengkang and Jurong West swimming complexes run by the Singapore Sports Council and am so glad that these public pools have become a mini ‘wet and wild’ water theme park for the masses, at an affordable entry price. I was happy to find out from another mummy that our neighbourhood Choa Chu Kang Swimming Complex also had some of these theme park-like facilities.
We visited the Choa chu kang pool on a cloudy Vesak Day morning, while it was still drizzling. J paid $1 for a child ticket while us adults (my friends and I) each paid $2, my mum was happy at the $1 senior citizen rate she was entitled to. We didn’t realise that the Ezy link card was the normal mode of payment for entry in public swimming pools, simply tapping your card as you go in. This just shows how long ago I last visited a public swimming pool!!
As it was still cloudy and drizzling, we were only one of about 3-4 families in the whole complex so when the Wave Pool started, we had the entire place almost to ourselves, such luxury. The Wave pool was not very big compared to Wild Wild Wet’s pool but it was still good fun, I reckon the waves were a lot stronger than that of Wild Wild Wet’s and Civil Service Club at Bt Batok. The Wave pool adjoins and is linked to the Jacuzzi pool, J had difficulty coming out of the Jacuzzi area because of the currents there when the wave pool was operating, so do take note of the current there for the younger kids. You can rent big round floats for $2 each at the kiosk and beyong a line at the wave pool, only big floats were allowed. The lifeguard blew a whistle at J when he brought his small float out deeper beyond the line. He is able to swim (though not confidently) but prefers to bob up and down holding onto his kickboard, it’s a lot of fun, especially ‘body surfing’ with the waves into shore from the waters.
J enjoyed the lazy river ride (see below pic) on his kick board, but the river didn’t really have much current so people entered it from both directions, it wasn’t uni-directional like other parks we visited. In the middle of the river was a line of spray jets from the top. My friends and I enjoyed the twirling closed tube slide which began about 3-4 storeys high. The good thing is you don’t need a float to go down this slide, just cross your arms on your chest and you are good to zoom down (see the coil slide tubes at the background of pic below). This ride had sudden dips along the way but on the whole, it’s not scary as the gradient is not very steep so you don’t go very fast down. The slide ends in a 0.8m pool so my friends who couldn’t swim could still fall into this pool and recover on their feet immediately. So it’s rather safe. Besides, there are many alert lifeguards in the complex who are rather strict with water safety.
There were 2 water playgrounds for the younger kids, one with a tunnel slide, climbing structure and water sprays (see first pic) and the other shallower one with springer animals and a see saw (see second pic).
*********************************************
WOODLANDS DINOSAUR THEMED PLAYGROUND
3 June 2013
Dinosaur themed
playground
Dino-crazy J had been requesting me to bring him to this
playground ever since his uncle showed him a pic of a brontosaurus slide on his
smartphone. This playground is situated at Fu Shan park in front of block 827
Woodlands Street 81. We went there on a cloudy afternoon with little light to
take pic in the very shaded playground park and within a few minutes of our
arrival, it started to drizzle, turning into a thundery May shower. The dinosaurs
were well constructed and life-like which delighted my son but he was a tad
disappointed that the slides and structures were full of dead leaves and twigs
and a bit of mud such that he did not feel like sliding down the slides as they
looked quite dirty. The playground looks rather sad and neglected, which is
such a pity as careful thought was obviously put in building the dinosaurs to
fit the undulating surfaces and hillock of the area.
The blue Dimetrodon sits on a hollow log where you can run
through the tunnel and play hide and seek. The orange Sphenacodon has a small
slide in between it but had some leaves and mud on it so J did not try sliding
down or letting his hot wheel cars run down the slope like he used to do. J
took a photo under a brollie, with a blue Parasaurolophus which was just a
statue without any play structure. As we climbed up the hill, we were met
halfway with a dinosaur which J said was a Megaraptor though he wasn’t 100%
sure given that the details of the claws and feet were not to be seen but
buried in the soil. The Megaraptor looked as if he was climbing up the hill and
beside him was a medium steep slide of decent length. J did not attempt this
slide either as the sounds of thunder caused him to worry for his safety. We
were bitten by mozzies as we explored the rather densely wooded area, so do
remember to spray mozzie repellent if you are visiting this park.
On the other side of the hillock on the way down the hill
was the entry into a big long necked plant-eater sauropod which could be an
Apatosaurus, also known as the Brontosaurus but J said its neck was too thick
to be one, maybe it was not constructed in proportion. Inside this Apatosaurus
is a platform of sorts that leads to a rather small slide at the end near its
tail. The bulk of this structure is actually the platform and not the slide, to
J’s disappointment. There is a regular playground structure next to the dino themed park which is clean, so J got to do some slides and climbing after all.
************************************************
PUNGGOL WATERWAY PARK (Update)
Update: Feb 2013, posted 24 May 2013
We visited Punggol Waterway again, this time on a wet Feb evening, via a 14 km
bike ride starting from Punggol Point Park where my friend’s house was. This
was J’s first real long bike ride after converting from his Kinderbike balance
trainer to a pedal bike and he was very excited. It was drizzling slightly but
he was very gung-ho and wanted to go ahead despite the wet weather.
Punggol Promenade riding along the sea
We started
off with a few of my girlfriends after work on a Friday evening at 6+ and
admired the sunset along the Punggol Promenade and Beach, which was very
pretty. We rode westward to Punggol Marina Country Club on the Punggol Park
Connector, crossed and rode along the road (Sumang Link) on the pedestrian
walkway for a short distance , pass Serangoon Reservoir dam to cut into the
Punggol Waterway Park.
Serangoon Reservoir Dam
Punggol Waterway Park fountains at night
Seeing Punggol Waterway Park at dusk was a different
experience from the morning light the last time we were here more than a year
back. We rode the distance of the park to reach a foodie place along the PC on
Riverside Walk, near Riveria LRT. We ate pizzas and pasta at the bistro, there
was a seafood restaurant and Popeye as well. After dinner at 8 plus, we began
our ride back to our friend’s house at 24th avenue via the Nature
walk path which was rather muddy and full of puddles by then. J’s riding skills
were tested as he manoeuvred past mud patches and squealed with delight riding
on puddles and had a splashing good time! We were riding in the dark only with
street lamps and our bike lights to guide our path. If hubby and my mum knew what I was putting J
through, they would definitely shake their heads in disapproval! J was totally exhausted when we arrived at our
car to drive home, at 930pm. Quite a feat for a 6 year old’s first real long
bike ride!
Promenade ride at dusk
Nature Walk Path (pic from Hardware zone)
Click here for the North East Riverine Park ConnectorRoute which we covered (Part of) -. The scenary along the promenades, the sea, the beach and the reservoir were
fantastic and surreal at some points, I will surely do this ride again sometime
soon, I hope.
*****************************************
CHOA CHU KANG PARK
20 Apr 2013
I was pleasantly surprised when I visited this playground park with J on a weekday evening at around 5 plus. The park is big enough to do some rounds of jogging and for kids to ride their bikes. J was quite happy riding his bike around the park but even more happy with the numerous playgrounds there.
There was a regular playground on a semi-soft dry surface with curved , wavy and straight slides. To get to the slides from the steps, you'll have to climb through a thin steel step-up stricture (see pic below) which I reckon only 4 years and above can handle this. There was also a toddler area with musical exploration panels where you can use sticks and twigs picked from the ground to play some drums, bells, chimes etc. There is a car and lion springer for the little one to rock on.
Beyond this playground is the sandy area where there was a climbing net carousel which was popular with the kids playing there.
At the sand area, there was also an adventure obstacle climbing course which J enjoyed the challenge of climbing it, thoroughly. I reckon you'll have to be at least 5-6 yrs to handle these obstacles (see below). There were other climbing structures too in which younger ones can try climbing, at different heights according to ability.
There was another area with a dish-like flat wide swing where a few kids can get on the swing to swing together. The park has some fitness corners catering to joggers, whom I saw a few when we were there. There is also a big amphitheatre in the middle of the park and if you need to catch a bike, there is a restaurant which serves halal and zhi-cha cooked food too. I saw quite a few people dining there close to dinner time.
Choa Chu Kang Park is situated beside the Kranji Expressway and off choa chu kang drive. It's walking distance from CCK MRT.
***********************************
LOT 1 MALL PLAYGROUND
1 Feb 2013
This semi-sheltered outdoor playground is found on the top
floor (5th level) of Lot 1 Shopping Mall at Choa Chu Kang next to
the MRT station. It is a no-shoe zone so you’ll have to leave your shoe at the
steps as you enter the playground. There is a main playground structure with
small slides suitable for toddlers but watch out for the bigger kids running
around playing catch or some rough play if you have younger ones going up the
structure. The small spring riders are also suitable for the younger ones. There
are more challenging Kompan play equipment for the pre-schoolers like the net climbers
and spinners. The supernova (stationary
carousel where kids learn to walk around a circle achieving balance) was under
repair, so was the water play area. J was quite happy with a bouncy kind of
spinner and stayed with that for a while. There is also a small TV room that is
air-conditioned, we found some students studying there though.
************************************
See also my blog on infant-toddler and preschooler child development - sharing from my doctoral studies on early childhood education and my product reviews on kids stuff
**************************************
SKYBUILDER'S PLAYGROUND @ LIMBANG PARK
19 Jan 2013
We have moved back to HDB heartlands to be near J’s
school as he started P1. We were curious as we drove by Limbang Park when we
saw a really high slide and noticed it was called a Skybuilder’s playground
park. Limbang Park runs under the MRT track from Choa Chu Kang to Yew Tee
MRT. It is situated on an undulating
hill so the park has mainly flat ground but some hilly humps here and there, making
it quite an exercise if you wanted to ride a bike around the park, as J found
out. There was a fitness corner and one for the seniors which J found quite
entertaining trying out the equipment, there was a smaller playground for
younger children (maybe 2+-4 years) with smaller climbing structure and slides. One set of purple slides though were very steep (but short) even for older kids so younger ones should be careful about that one.
The highlight was the huge playground Skybuilder
structure which had 3 long and high slides going up to 3 storeys high. It was quite a climb up the slide
but J and his friend had a really good time sliding down, sometimes with his
toy car. The other side of the slides had a challenging but fun curved climbing structure with holes for kids to climb up to the slides if you did not take the stairs.These taller slides are great fun for school going kids (5-12 years
according to the Play equipment website). I found another Skybuilder structure
at Jurong West Street 24/25 (Jurong West Park) and one also at Teck Whye Garden. From a town council magazine, there seems to be one atBlock 386 Bukit Batok West Ave 5 and Jalan Bahar Park as well. I am sure there
are similar playgrounds in other parts of Singapore.
Limbang Park also had a suspension bridge which was quite fun for kids to cross, what with active boys trying to be daredevils and swaying the bridge purposely as they cross, but J's bike could not go through it, not safe to do so too. All in all, it was a nice outing on a Sunday early evening, it was not too crowded.
*********************************
KIDS AMAZE - SAFRA TOA PAYOH
Nov 2012
Visited the newly opened Kids Amaze at toa payoh Safra recently with a friend and her child visiting from Melbourne. The playscape was quite large and spacious but not as tall as the Safra Jurong, which can be quite intimidating. Rather than built upwards like Safra Jurong's playscape, this was more spread out with only 3 levels high. As you can see from the pic, it had the usual tunnels, climbing structures, ball pit and Jerome enjoyed the slides which he said were fast enough to his liking but not too long and tall. The only disappointment for him was that there were no foam balls gun shoots like in Jurong Safra. Jerome and his friend covered the area in an hour plus, perhaps because they are now older (at 6), they called it a day after less than 2 hours' play. Maybe younger children may spend longer time here exploring the place. Rating by the 6 year olds: 7 upon 10 for fun factor. Good for : toddlers (they were setting up a toddlers section when we were there) and kids up to around 6-7 yrs old.
LOWER SELETAR RESERVOIR PARK
Feb 2011
Feb 2011
We chanced upon this nice outdoor playarea for kids when we were driving past, to Little Ozone at the Orchid Country Club. It's located along Yishun Avenue 1 see street map and Nparks site. J enjoyed the shallow moving streams and water features. There is a main fountain area with the heritage bridge that leads to a nice jetty structure out into the waters. There is a little performing stage at the end of the jetty. We were there on a weekday afternoon (sometime in early 2011), the place was rather deserted save for a few students in school uniforms smoking and playing in the moving streams at the same time, I kept J away from them as they were a bit rowdy. Other than that, the place was tranquil and a good place to hang out with kids who would definitely enjoy splashing around.
There was a toilet but I didn't check if washing facilities were available, best to bring a change of clothes and a towel. I always carry along a large sized pet bottle of tap water to rinse my kid after such water play and best to avoid such water play during the HFMD periods. The carpark is small though, maybe around 10-15 car park lots only.
*************************************
PONGGOL WATERWAY
Nov 2011
water play feature (not in use yet oct 2011)
We checked out the Ponggol Waterway on a sunny Deepavali (2011) morning during its initial opening days, thinking there won’t be a crowd but boy were we wrong…it was rather crowded. We had difficulty trying to figure out where to park and decided to park by the roadside. It was rather pleasant and tranquil by the waters, at the pockets of spaces where there weren’t many people. We found good photo spots by the waters and next to a bridge walkway. There was an exercise corner and a sand play and water play area for the kids to have some fun in the sun. It’s a good place to cycle if it isn’t crowded. I hope to see more shaded spaces and trees along the shores so that people can lay a picnic mat and basket by the waters and enjoy the outdoors. We didn't see any playground, it would have been good to have one.
*****************************************************************************
LITTLE O'ZONE
Feb 2011
Feb 2011
I've been here with J several times, even though it's not exactly near my house, it's located at Orchid Country Club. We like this place though it's not big, there usually isnt' a crowd on weekdays (there was once we were the only patrons in the playground!) and the entrance fees are reasonable. The preschool on the premises uses this as their play gym, how lucky the kids are.
We (our Lifesparks family ministry) once held an Easter party here for underpriveleged kids and both our guests and our kids had a blast :-)
The toddler area is generous and big with lots of toddler climbing and sliding structure and even a small trampouline and ball pit.
I'm sadden to hear of news of Little Ozone's closure in August 2012, most likely because it did not have that many customers, since it was located in a rather inacessible place...sigh.
************************************
ANG MO KIO WEST PARK PLAYGROUND
Nov 2010
Nov 2010
We visited this playground right after it rained on Deepavali morning in Nov 2010. This was recommended by another playground blog. We knew it's ground was sand so we brought some sand play toys and Jerome was quite happy just playing with the sand as most of the slides and stuff were rather wet.
Features: there was one main climbing structure with quite a few interesting and colourful slides with varying levels and directions though it was more suitable for a kid at least 3 plus because the climb up could only be done via the structure which had no simple steps to get up to the slides. There is another structure with steps for younger children to get to the slides which are lower and less intimidating.
There were swings, a bouncy army jeep replica, some bouncy animals, a big merry go round metal structure which were very attractive to the kids especially when they see adults push other kids round and round quickly, everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon. There was a small sand and water play structure but it was filled and stuck with clumps of sand so it can't really be used especially when it is wet.
There is also a big web-like structure for kids to climb (with supervision!) as there will usually be older kids on this structure who can sometimes pose as a hazard if not supervised especially when they get rowdy or rough.
Cons: It can get very crowded on weekends and public holidays. By the time it hit 11am, the playground was rather crowded despite the wet weather. I can imagine how popular it is on weekends and other sunny days. It's one of the bigger and newer playgrounds we've seen conveniently located near the central of AMK opposite the library and next to a Mcdonalds.
Parking is limited along the road leading to the playground. One can park at the Mcdonald's carpark or across the road the other side behind the library, which is what we did.
There were sand flies but we managed to find some spots away from the flies.
Jerome's fun rating: Quite good , a 4 upon 5.
good for : toddlers (playing sand) and kids up to around 8-9 yrs old.
good for : toddlers (playing sand) and kids up to around 8-9 yrs old.
See also my blog on infant-toddler and preschooler child development - sharing from my doctoral studies on early childhood education and also my product reviews
Infant-toddler resource blog
Infant-toddler resource blog
it looks good for the children ,outdoor playground equipment
ReplyDelete