Fun on Friday Afternoons

My girl goes to full day child care everyday but since I'm on maternity leave, I've decided to fetch her early from school every Friday so that we can go somewhere fun and spend time together.

So far, we've been to 3 play areas in 3 weeks! And most of them are pretty new =)

#1: Westgate Wonderland
I had actually brought my girl to the Westgate playground 3 weeks before its opening as I thought that it was already opened. Sadly, it was not. Since then, the girl kept asking me, "mummy, the tree house playground open already or not?"

When I finally got news that it was going to be opened last week, I shared the good news with her and brought her there immediately (after using it as the reward for good behaviour of course).

Tree house playground

Her favourite aunt helping her through the obstacle course within the playground

It was actually pretty scary for a young child.
My girl would have cried in fear if not for her Yee Yee (aunt)

Out through the slide

The sister said that this playground is more suitable for older or more daring children. It is only suitable for younger children if they have an adult or an older child accompanying them. There was an area for younger children and toddlers but my girl got bored of it after a while.

We decided to get my girl changed into her swim suit for some water play since the sun was scorching hot!

Water playground

Although the little fountains were good enough for the little kids (babies and toddlers), it was really boring for the older kids. The area was also really cramped such that even the parents watching the kids had little place to stand.

And the crowd on an ordinary weekday afternoon was also crazy! There were so many people at the playground, you would have thought it was the school holidays or a weekend or something!

Maybe it's because the playground just opened; or maybe (and most likely) it is because Jurong East is a really crowded neighbourhood!

It is unlikely that I'll bring my girl back to this playground again, unless of course we happened to be there and my girl really wanted to play.

#2: Star Vista Water Fountain
We were at Star Vista for dinner when we stumbled upon this fountain in the middle of the mall.

Fountain of lights

Initially the girl was hesitant to approach it as she was afraid I would scold her. When I looked at her encouragingly (I always keep a towel and her extra clothes in the car for situations like this), she hesitated no longer =)

Getting all wet!

She only played for a while though as it soon got a bit cold. Was fun while it lasted =)

However, I don't think the fountains are active all the time as we were there for dinner last Saturday and I saw a small display set up in the area where the fountain is (obviously this meant that the fountains are not active). You may need to give the mall a call to double check before heading down.

#3: Gardens by the Bay, Children's Garden
Been wanting to check this place out ever since I've heard about its existence. Once again, I brought my girl to this playground way too early before it was officially opened to the public (too excited you see). Last Friday I was sure it was opened so I picked an excited little girl from school and took her to the Children's Garden.

Yay, you bringing me out to the playground, right mummy?!

Far East Organisation Children's Garden

We started with the "dry" playground, which was actually for older children age 6-12 years old. But we thought we would let my girl try out the structures just for fun.

Walk the plank

Pathway of different obstacles with varying difficulty

Play structures were encased within the garden

My girl needed some help to climb up this structure and it was a good thing that a staff was around to help her!

Wooden bridge linking one "tree" to the other

This playground was indeed not made for young children like my girl but she still had fun (with a lot of assistance of course). I was really jealous that I couldn't be part of the fun. Why don't they have playgrounds like this when we were children?! I would have loved to climb up and slide down in this playground!! :P

The heat of the afternoon sun drew us to the water playground, where we got my girl changed into her swim suit. I love that they kindly provided many lounge chairs for parents to relax while watching their children play in the fountains.

Lounging with a great view

Water fountains for children ages 6-12 years old

Water fountains for children ages 6 years and below

According to Gardens by the Bay, there are sensors within the water fountains which will detect the movement of the children and flow accordingly! Kinda cool in my opinion.

I think this is by far one of my favourite water playgrounds as the parents also get a place to relax (the lounge chairs are awesome!) and chit chat while their children play.

If it wasn't so inaccessible (you need to walk really far from the MRT station to this playground), I would probably go there more often! =)

I'm already planning the next fun place to bring my girl this Friday. Can you guess where we're going next? =)

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This post is part of my MadPsychMum Fun in Singapore Guide to all things exciting for kids! 

Check out other fun playgrounds and attractions in Singapore! =)

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