What a find at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve!

Somebody once asked me how did I first started coming across so many playgrounds in Singapore and I was sharing with them that it was all so easy because my family and I love the great outdoors and we are always looking for the next place to hike and explore. National Parks Board has done a great job, most parks have playgrounds and guess what we found at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve???

Rather, I should say guess what we found at Hindhede Nature Park? Park your vehicle at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and walk towards the Visitor Center. The boardwalk to this Hindhede Nature Park is on the left of the visitor center as you walk towards it.

The gem at this place is the ingenious incorporation of two long slides into the slopes of the area. See below:

This slope with a rope attached adds to the variety of ways that one can get up to the top. You can see that there's a slide going down from the left, admist tropical plants of all sorts!


This is the other slide that is to the right of the steps, and mind you, this is only half way down the slide. So exciting, I wonder why we are the only group of people there at 5pm on a Saturday???



This playground is not just about the two slides but there are even more climbing features at the top of the hill. This rikety bridge above leads to more rickety bridge below, which leads to the slide.



As mentioned, there's more to this playground, you can find ropes to climb as featured above. There are also balance beam, trampoline and more climbing equipments.


Walk another few metres and you can find this flying fox or T swing. Sit or stand on the T bar and swing yourself across. Enjoy the movement through space.

Another few metres away, there's the must have of all playgrounds: swings.

I really love the ruggedness of this playground. It's so close to nature. It has all the touch, sight, smell and sound that our city children hardly had the chance to experience and much as I want to keep this place secluded for myself and my family, I really wish more children would have a chance to enjoy it. So if you are reading this, spread the news of this lovely place and I hope the next time I'm there, it would be a little busier!

Playgrounds in shopping Malls

Recently, I am seeing more playgrounds in shopping malls and am excited about them. Here's a run down of the shopping complexes that I know of that have a FOC playground in their compound:

Outdoors -
1) IMM (3rd floor, there's also a water featured play area as in photo below)

2) Hougang Mall (5th floor, featured above)

3) Bishan Junction 8

4) Suntec City (exit from door beside Toys R Us)

5) VIVO City (2nd floor, large, crowded on weekends, water features also available)

Indoors -
1) Paragon (small, beside escalator leading to Toys R Us)

2) United Square (a really small one outside Colds Storage)



Look forward to my reviews on each and every of these play grounds!

More reasons to love Pasir Ris Park

Today's feature on Pasir Ris Park (again!) is going to focus on climbing. Climbing is really important to a child's development especially in promoting the coordination of both side of their body. This integration of both side of the body needs both our left brain and our right brain to talk to each other and hence enhances our brain processing. The below are some excellent climbing equipments you can find at Pasir Ris Park, all for the fee of $0.00!!

A Climbing wall that challenges the very young (they can just plan how to crawl through the hole!) to the very old. Your child may need a little encouragement to get started as it can look quite scary and they may not know what to do and may think that the only way to "play" is to climb all the way up so high!


Yes, one of the way to play with this is to climb.

Don't fret if the little one is too scared to climb on this. They may want to just try bouncing on the black "trampoline" in the centre or if they are less than six, you may want to skip this equipment totally.



I did not take a picture of the entire piece of this equipment but it's actually a huge fake mountain with slides and such rock climbing studs all around it. An unusual piece of equipment but I love unusual stuff, the more novelty there is, the more stimulating it is to the child!

You can climb up via the "rock path....


Or you can walk up the slope of this fake hill.
Oh, you can slide down the proper slide Or you can slide down on the slope Or if you are daring, walk down the slope.

And if you think that's quite a fair bit of things to climb at Pasir Ris Park already, here's more!
An entire playground with a variety of steps and ladders to get to higher ground and there's this new climbing frame that was recently added on:


The "proper" way of playing is actually to stand on the frame below, hang on to the parallel bar on top and walk across. Then again, as I always say, there's no "proper" or "right" way of playing, just remember SAFETY FIRST.

About climbing: The picture tells a thousand words.
For those eyeing the huge colourful playground behind: this is the largest such pre-fabricated composite playground I have ever come across in Singapore.

Yet another feature that I love, this equipment requires a child to visually guide her body as to how much space there is in between the blocks and hence know how far apart to raise her legs. She needs not only to coordinate her eyes and legs and hands but also the moving blcoks challenges her balance!

There's so much more to show around Pasir Ris Park but I'm going to take a break from it. Discover this wonderful park for yourself by making it the must go this weekend! If you see me there, come say hello!

The Promised English version

To all who have been waiting patiently for the English translated version of the report on zaobao, this is it:



Click on the images to enlarge for full size

Acknowlegement: KK Women's and Children's Hospital.

I simply love Pasir Ris Park

Here's the educational side of Pasir Ris Park. This new addition is in the form of a maze and it appeal to those who are very young to the older kids looking for a game to play with their friends.



Not only can you get your child to point out the spelling of his name, you can also teach your pre-schooler all the letters of the alphabets. I like how the capital letters and the small letters are all jumbled up. Get your child to point to all the big letters (uppercase) and then all the small letters (lower case). Hone their concentration, scanning ability and perseverance through this activity! Have a race to see who can find a letter faster if you happen to have more than one kid with you (it doesn't matter if you don't know the kids, get them to join in the fun that you are having with your child may help your child make a new friend on the playground!).


If your chid has yet to learn how to write the numbers and letters, this is a great board to teach them to trace around each number. Moving his entire arm to write it big help to enhance a child's memory of how a letter is formed. Why not head over to the sand area after this to do some writing on the sand with a stick? Write a big 8 and get your kid to walk the shape of the infinity! It'll prove quite a challenge!


Keep that stick that you find to write on the sand as you can change it into a drumstick (this help children to see that an object can be of multiple usage and develops their creativity and flexbility). Now for those staying in the east, you do not have to go all the way to Science Centre to let your child try out how different sizes of percussion instruments make different depth of pitch and tones!

Pasir Ris Park: more vestibular input anyone?

The playground at Pasir Ris Park is really my new found love. Well, I had been there many times in the last few years but stopped going about a year ago as I found other new interesting play dens. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I visited it again about a month ago. The park (especially the playground) had undergone a new face lift and new features had been added while old ones replaced, repaired and "renewed". I had to say it's the King of Playgrounds for young children now!
You can visit this royalty at http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=26&Itemid=73 for the map of Pasir Ris park. To get to the playground, go along Elias road and follow onto Pasir Ris Road. You will soon see the playground on your right and you may park along the road side for free.

Remember I talked about the wonderful sensation of vestibular the last time? Well, you can really get even more of this sensory input at the following equipments. A good dosage of it enhances children's ability to balance and coordinate both sides of the body. It is even said to be one of the foundation for good visual and auditory processing and hence academic skills.


The new age see-saw.




"I can sit to make this toy move back and forth and then I can stand. I can make it bounce up and down while trying to look at mummy in front. I have to try hard to keep mummy looking clear while bouncing ... I need to work my eyes really hard. Ok, I had enough. One, two, three, jump off!"


"Ho, ho, after so much moving around, I am ready to show off my balancing skills on these. Wow, it's shaky. I like standing on this beam, see, i can balance balance and then, jump off. Show you one more trick, I can walk on tip toes along the beam, arrgh, mummy, hold my hand!"


"Hmm, dun like all these big boys. They are shaking the bridge and making it too hard for me to balance. I shall try again later. When they are not around I can run really fast along the rope, I can do it without my shoes too! I can also climb along the ropes at the side and hang on pretending I am a spider!"


"You know what, this is a fun slide. It feels nice and cold and I can see myself in it. Down I go, I will show you how I can also go down on my tummy!"



" What? Time to go home? Well, mummy and daddy can walk on the pathway. I am going to walk along the big roots of these trees.... balance, balance, balance, jump!"

Pasir Ris Park - It's all about the vestibular system

Close your eyes and feel yourself moving forward, squatting down, turning around and trying to balance on one leg. The vestibular system was the sense organ that had just helped you to know where you were in space! Unfortunately, most of us did not learn that we had such an important "sixth sense" when we were in school. It's not too late, make sure your children have a good time practising using this crucial sense organ of theirs. You can do it all at Pasir Ris Park!


Swings are aplenty at Pasir Ris Park. For most part of the day, they are under the shade and if there are not so many people waiting, do let your child swing to his or her heart's content. Most children knows just how much their body need and would stop when they have enough. Stopping too soon may deprive them of ever getting to the point where their body can make sense and organise that vestibular sensation.
(If you are working with a child with autism, do speak to your therapist before letting your child "swing to his or her heart's content". For the matter of fact, do not take for surface value all mentioned in this blog as the sensory system of the child with Autism works differently.)


For those who are with children who are scared of the swings or who stay less than two seconds on a swing, try standing in front of them, go down to their level, make good eye contact and reassure them as you perhaps even just let them sit and talk to you. We can put them in the bucket swings which provide more support and play "kick daddy's tummy" as the swing gently bring their outstretched legs to touch your bouching belly.



This roly poly merry go round is great fun for the kid when he can have it all to himself. Sometimes, children need time to just explore on their own and feel how their body is going to react to all the movement challenges that this equipment is going to offer. Especially if your child is hesitant with such spinning equipments when there are many children around dictating the speed and movement of this monster, do find a quiet time of the day and encouage him to push, pull, sit, stand, crawl, sprawl on this lovely spaceship.



This piece of equipment is quite a new find on playgrounds, but it is making it's presence felt in more and more playgrounds around the island. I have seen parents puzzling over how to play with it but as usual, stand back and observe the kids and they will be teaching you tens of ways of how to play with it in minutes. For your young children, you can carry them up to hold on to the railings and they can go for a merry go round ride hanging on for their dear life with their tiny hands. Quite dangerous if you are not sure if your child's gonna have the strength to hold on for the round... unless you are going to be running around with them.
For the older kids who can reached it and make themselves hang and spin around, they are on for a whole lot of great vestibular stimulations.
So, if you have a young one and want to make use of this equipment, bring along a towel, a rope or the like and tie it to the railings. your child will have a good time holding on and running round and round, spinning the big big wheel! Lots of vestibular input and most importantly fun factor ++. BEWARE: flying ropes can hit eye and cause blindness.

I took the ZaoBao reporter for a tour to 5 playgrounds!

This article was published on the 4 August of the Lian He Zao Bao. If you are visiting this website after reading the article... I would like to extend a warm welcome to you! You are most welcome to comment and let me know how useful this site has been to you.


The five playgrounds were 1) Sculpture Park at Seng Kang 2) Hort Park 3)Sun Plaza Park at Tampines 4) West Coast Park and 5) Jurong Lake Park.



If you do not read mandarin, fret not. I will be getting a copy of this article in English and will publish it on this blog. Look out for it!

Where is Hort Park?

Hort Park is located along Alexander Road and you can find out how to get there from the following link:
http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=17&Itemid=73

Hort Park: the new kid on the block

Apparently, Hort Park has been around for a while but not many knows about it until the recent launch and publicity. Whatever it is, I love its newness, its tidiness and its cleanliness. Most of all, its my new found play ground! There's so much for the kids to enjoy, they don't have to be nature lovers, there's so many features in the park that you can use to entice their natural desire to play and explore.

Actually, the park has put in a lot of playground equipment in its enclosure to appeal to the kids. May be they are doing so with an intention to provide additional incentives for them to visit and hopefully appreciate the beautifully landscpaed park and develop an interest in horticulture. Whatever the reason, these play grounds equipment were certainly well selected and provided our children in Singapore with yet another wonderful place to develop themselves through a meaningful occupation. My next blog will share with you some features of these equipments at Hort Park but meanwhile, I'd like to explore how else our children may enjoy the other features of the park...

There are many such small pieces of landscaped gardens in Hort Park, showcasing the efforts of various companies and organisations. As you walk your children through these little gardens, encourage them to explore the different texture of the ground, the grass, the pebbles, the leaves (dead and alive). They may want to jump from stepping stone to stepping stone and indeed, if you look below, you can see that there are various shapes and sizes and distances between stones to challenge your childs motor skills and spatial (space) awareness.

I was really quite excited to see the variety of textures that the children would be able to walk/jump/run/gallop/hop/sit/crawl on in one given setting. There's wood, there's the usual wild grass (you know what I mean?), the well-kept carpet grass, the synthetic grass, pebbles of different sizes, man made "stones", sand, road, foam and so on. There are also steps of different width and slopes of different gradients, all within a few steps of each other. Where else can you find such a well equip gym??

Go to Hort Park one of these days, it's worth the trip, if nothing, it's beauty will surely unwind your soul. BTW, there's not much shade, so choose a cloudy day or not so warm part of the day.

Jacob Ballas Children's Garden

There was so much talk about the new Jacob Ballas Children's Garden at the Botanic Gardens I thought I should really bring the kids. Coincidentally their school took them for an excursion there and I followed along. Subsequently I decided to bring them there again as I felt the Garden has much to offer and the kids hadn't had enough of it!!!

The tree house playground is really kind of the highlight of the small Garden if you are there on a free and easy trip by yourself. Otherwise the Garden offers many educational tours, check out: http://www.sbg.org.sg/education/workshopchi.asp

As for the tree house playground, the children get to climb up to platforms which were build around the tree trunks. There's the usual slides thoughtfully build at two levels so that kids who are not keen for the bigger challenge can start out on the lower one first. These slides are enclosed "tubes" and hence exposed the kids to a different kind of spatial and visual experience.


Set amongst the trees, this big"spider web" is fun for the kids to imagine themselves either as the spider or the prey that's stuck there. When more kids are together, you can throw in the idea and let them suggest the rules to the game. It could be just a simple game of tag or an elaborate story with many plots.

There are the lower and smaller webs that children can practice their climbing skills first before attempting this big web.


Other than the webs and the regular steps that lead up to the platform, wooden ladders like these provide the children yet another way to get up. Make sure the kids try out the different ways!

There are many other features in the garden that provide for a huge variety of sensory experiences in nature's way. There's a fallen tree trunk laid across a mini river that can challenge the child's sense of balance and depth; there's a suspension bridge for movement and view, there's lots of leaves, flowers and pebbles and twigs and branches for touching and smelling, and you can even walk behind a water fall for that auditory experience. There's also another playground with merry go rounds and climbing features build on sand. There's even a sand digger on this playground. To top the list, there's a water feature area where children can play with water sprouting from the grounds and practise eye-hand coordination when filling up their watering cans! Last but not least, there's a maze made of bushes to test your child's sense of direction.