It all started with a trip to Mc Donald's at West Coast for brunch. DS was eyeing a brightly coloured playground as he chomp on his kid's meal as fast as he could and after that we braved the hot sun to check it out.

Turns out this is just one part of a very large adventure playground that really is a combination of  eight playgrounds targeted at different age groups.

We were first attracted by the Big "Leaves" structures by the road and my little boy will always tell me he wanted to explore the place. I finally give in to his request as I too was curious where the inviting entrance will lead to. As he ran up the foot path towards the water wall feature which reminds me of a water fall, I am glad I let my little one bring me through the urban park.

Bond, play, eat and have fun! There is much more to life than studying and kids learn best when they are getting enough outdoor time and excercise.

Visiting a museum or a place of interest can give us a more in depth experience and teach us more about art, history or science than just reading about it.

Unleashing your little one in a park, garden or playground often leads to hours of fun and learning. Some Singapore parks offer the opportunity to see fauna and flora that you don’t usually get to see in the concrete jungle we are so accustomed to.

 Many parks and shopping malls have playgrounds build within the park. These are excellent for developing the motor skills of a child.  Very often this is the place where children made friends and  built up their social skills. Some of these playgrounds offer a little variety that is more than our usual neighborhood flare and kids role play and explore an in their “ships” and “trains” and encourage their creativity.

Location(s)

HortPark is a one-stop gardening hub that brings together gardening-related, recreational, educational, research and retail activities under one big canopy in a park setting.  It is a knowledge hub for plants and gardening and provides the platform for the industry to share best practices and showcase garden designs, products and services.  This 23-hectare regional park in South-Western Singapore is also a park connector, connecting Telok Blangah Hill Park to Kent Ridge Park.

As a gardening hub, HortPark aspires to nurture a gardening culture by focusing on 3 key areas of:

Location(s)

Opening hours: 5 am to 12 midnight daily

Admission: Free

Besides the thousands of different varieties of flowers, this grand old dame of Singapore tourism parks sports mini specialized gardens, retail shops, nature galleries, and plenty of cafes to provide rest and refreshments while taking a break from smelling the flowers.

And don't forget to check out the educational tours and workshops for children that the SBG offers (we're KiasuParents.com, after all).

Location(s)

Opening hours: 7.30am to 7pm (Monday to Saturday); 7am to 7pm (Sunday and public holidays)

Admission: Free entry except on Saturdays, Sundays, Public Holidays and School Holidays

• $1.00 per adult
• $0.50 per child / student / senior citizen

There's nature galore at the only 1 of remaining natural reserves in Singapore.  The mangrove provides plenty of flora and fauna found there, and of such variety that you would be amazed to find in Singapore.