Having little ones to care for on a daily basis can zap your energy on most days, leaving you with little inclination or motivation to bring them out to play. “It’ll be easier when they’re older and more settled,” you may think.

However, reality bites. The truth is that our kids grow up in the blink of an eye.

As parents, we need to learn to treasure every moment with our children and enjoy them even in their difficult moments.

If you’re stumped for ideas on how to date your children, here’s our bucket list of must-visit places to bring them to this year.

If your child loves animals

The Animal Resort (Closed in Jan 2021)

Tucked away in a corner of Seletar West Farmway, The Animal Resort gives families a peek into rural Singapore life of the past, when animals used to roam about freely. Think sandy paths, lots of natural foliage and rustic animal facilities. While the place is quite run down and simple, it offers a unique experience for most Singaporean kids used to living in a concrete jungle, giving them a more kampong style encounter with the animals than one would get at the zoo.

Here, they’ll get to see, touch, and feed a good range of animals, including fish, turtles, chicken, geese, cassowary, rabbits and horses. There’s also a small play area for the kids.

T81 Seletar West Farmway 5, Singapore 798061
Open daily 10am – 5pm

Admission is free, and feed for the animals is sold for a few dollars.

For more information, visit The Animal Resort.

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Singapore Zoo

Besides being home to over 2,800 animals representing over 300 species of mammals, birds and reptiles, don’t forget to head to Rainforest Kidzworld. This rainforest-themed water wonderland has sprayers, rain arches, water slides and a wading pool area that your kids are sure to love. Include this in your trip at the zoo – added bonus that it’s a great way too cool off after a hot day of walking around.

Where: 80 Mandai Lake Road, Singapore Zoo, Singapore 729826
Open daily 9am – 6pm

Zoo Admission Charges apply – Adult $33 | Child (3-12) $22 | Senior Citizen $15

See also: Things kids can do and learn at the Singapore Zoo

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If your child loves to build and all things construction-related

Diggersite

The only one of its kind here, this amusement centre gives children the experience of operating construction machinery that looks just like the real deal – except smaller!

Where:
JCube Roadshow: 2 Jurong East Central 1, #03-17, Singapore 609731 (near Ice Skating Rink, next to Teo Heng KTV studio)

ORTO Yishun: 81 Lor Chencharu Singapore 769198).

Opening hours:
Diggersite Roadshow @ JCube
Monday to Friday: 11am – 9pm
(Mon to Friday including School Holidays but excluding Public Holidays)
Saturday & Public Holidays: 10am – 10pm, Sunday 11am – 9pm

Roadshow opening hours subject to changes without prior notice

Fees: Bundle promo $18 for 3 rides/ $30 for 5 rides

Ride duration: 5 min. No admission fee, prior appointment or registration is required. Complimentary use of safety helmet and vest for photos.

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If your child loves to play indoors

Kidz Amaze

Let ’em loose to roll, whoosh and tumble at Kidz Amaze, one of Singapore’s largest indoor playgrounds. This specially designed kid-friendly playground arena consists of attractive, interactive and safe soft play-centres that can keep young kids occupied for well over an hour!

The playground at SAFRA Jurong boasts one of the highest indoor spiral slides in Asia measuring 18.5 metres tall and an interactive foam ball arena equipped with foam blasters. There’s even a side room with fun activities for infants and young toddlers at both centres.

Kidz Amaze SAFRA Jurong
9 Sentul Crescent, S 828654
(Closed for maintenance every last Mon of the month. Unless otherwise stated.)

Kidz Amaze SAFRA Toa Payoh
293 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh, S 310190
(Closed for maintenance every first Mon of the month. Unless otherwise stated.)

Opening hours:
Mon to Thu: 1pm – 7pm, Fri: 1pm – 9pm
Sat, Sun & PH : 10am – 9pm
School holidays (Mon-Fri) : 10am – 7pm

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If your child can’t get enough of snow

Snow City

If your child wants a quick getaway from the sweltering and hot weather in Singapore, there’s only one place to go – Snow City! A snow chamber that offers all year-round snow experience in sub-zero environment, Snow City is also Singapore’s first permanent indoor snow centre. You can even snow tube down a three-storey high and 60-metre long slope!

Where: 21 Jurong Town Hall Rd, Singapore 609433

Admission Fees:
For Singapore Citizens and Permanent residents
1 hour snow play session (Single venue) $12 per child, $15 per adult

Non-Singapore Citizens
$18 per child or adult

2 hours snow play session (Single venue)
For Singapore Citizens and Permanent residents
$18 per child, $25 per adult

Non-Singapore Citizens
$23 per child, $28 per adult

Opening hours:
Daily 10am – 6pm (last admission at 5pm)
School & Public Holidays 10am – 7pm (last admission at 6pm)

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If your child loves pretend and imaginary play

KidZania (Closed in 2020)

At KidZania Singapore, kids (aged 4 – 17 years old) can independently explore a huge city-themed park, complete with buildings, paved streets, vehicles and a functioning economy, just like in a real world but kid-sized! Through a realistic role-play experience and interactive games, they get to learn about different careers, how a city functions and even pick up early concepts in managing money.

Each KidZania location offers experiences that are relevant to a particular region, culture and geography by way of food, entertainment and professions, complete with real-world brand names for added authenticity. KidZania Singapore is the first KidZania in the world to house a full-wing fuselage of a Boeing 737 – your kids will have a blast being pilots and flight crew for a day!

Where: Palawan Kidz City (Sentosa Island), 31 Beach View, #01-01/02, Singapore 098008
Mon to Thu : 10am – 5pm
Fri, Sat, Sun & PH : 10am – 8pm

Timing is subject to change. Please refer to the session displayed when you book your tickets.

Admission fees:
Kids (4 – 17yo): $58 (Usual) | $55.10 (Online)
Adult (18 – 59yo): $35 | $33.25
Toddler (2 – 3yo): $25 | $23.75
Senior citizen (60yo and above): $25 | $23.75
Infant (under 2yo): FREE

To avoid disappointment, you are strongly advised to get your tickets via online purchase, so that you are guaranteed admission on your chosen day.

Opening hours: Daily: 10am – 6pm, 20 May: 10am – 4.30pm

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The City

The City is an Interactive Learning Playground that brings to Singapore exciting, first-of-its-kind children role play and pretend play experiences in realistic environments and scenarios. Within The City, children can try out different adult roles and professions in a fun, safe environment.

Designed for 2 to 8 year-olds,  watch them transform into Cooks, Cashiers, Doctors, Nurses or Policemen, dressed in the respective uniforms and outfits. They can drive on mini streets, navigate traffic signs and lights, and explore small-scale real-life locations; such as the supermarket, café, beauty salon, medical clinic and much more!

The City Flagship
177 River Valley road #03-04A Liang Court Singapore 179030

The City @ Katong
112 East Coast road #03-31 i12 Katong Singapore 428802

Opening hours: Daily from 10am to 7pm

Admission Fee:
Under 2 years, $18
2 years and above, $22
Adults, Free
Babies under 1 year, Free (if accompanied by a paid sibling)

Weekdays – unlimited visit. Weekends, School holidays & Public Holidays – limited for 2 hours. Socks must be worn by all guests (adults and kids) while in the playground and may be purchased at the reception counter.

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If your child loves to read

PIP’s PLAYbox

Nestled on the 4^th floor of the Esplanade is a little haven for parents with young ones. PIP’s PLAYbox is an activity space that includes shelves of books – mostly by local authors – an art and craft corner, and lots of comfortable nooks and crannies for children to sit and sprawl to read or draw. The space is designed especially for children with bright furnishings, lots of natural light and a colourful mascot called Pip.

Photo credit: Esplanade

Where: 1 Esplanade Dr, Level 4, Singapore 038981
Open hours: 11am – 6pm daily

Admission is free

Closed for cleaning and maintenance from 2 – 3pm daily.

See also: Child-friendly Libraries in Singapore

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If your child loves plants, nature and the outdoors

Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

Asia’s first children’s garden and is designed to provide unique discovery and learning experiences for your children. Through play and exploration, children can cultivate an appreciation for plants, nature and the environment. It meets the demands for nature education in an increasingly sophisticated tropical Garden City.

Opening hours: 8am – 7pm (Last admission at 6.30pm)
(Closed every Monday, except when it falls on a designated Public Holiday)

Admission is free.

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Marina South Pier Rooftop

Photo credit: The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA)

Fresh, clean air, lots of space to run (1400 sq metres to be exact), amazing views of ships at sea, a delightful playground and shaded areas to plant your picnic mat – this is the ideal location for a picnic since you can keep one eye on them having fun in the sun while you’re sitting in the shade!

Where: 31 Marina Coastal Dr, Singapore 018988 (Located on the third floor, right next to Marina South Pier MRT Station)

Admission is free

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If your child love cartoon characters

Fans of the little penguin Pororo will love this theme park which combines fun activities with opportunities to learn. Children will be exposed to a variety of edutainment programmes during that time there, picking up skills and knowledge in art, science, cooking, and even magic tricks, not to mention enjoying the chance to make new friends along the way.

Where: 6 Raffles Boulevard, Marina Square, #02-29, S 039594
Opening hours:
Sun – Thu: 10:30am – 8pm
Fri & Sat: 10:30am – 9pm

Admission fees
Toddlers (1 – 2yo): $24.50
Children (2 – 12yo): $33.50
Accompanying adults: $6.00

The fee is for 2 hours of playtime. Additional playtime will be $5 per block of 30 minutes (or part thereof). Babies below 1-year old are entered free.

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If your child is an energiser bunny and loves to jump

Let your child jump off all that extra energy in style! Guaranteed to tire our even the most energetic of kids, trampoline parks are also a great way to stay cool while “exercising”. Young jumpers will need to be accompanied by their parents.

Katapult Trampoline Park

At Katapult, the equipment is new and clean, and space is well ventilated – an essential when many little bodies are sweating up a storm. What’s more, Katapult is also the only trampoline park in Singapore with an Olympic trampoline for wall-running! Can you imagine their excitement?

Where: 81 Lorong Chencharu, #01-11 ORTO, S 769198

Admission fees range from $15 to $19 for an hour of jumping, depending on the time of day.

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BOUNCE

Featuring three zones on a 24,000 sq ft arena, the venue consists of trampolines, (including an Olympic grade, high performance area), X-Park, the first in Asia, ninja warrior-like obstacle course and a Leap of Faith, a popular station amongst adrenaline junkies.

Opening Hours:
Sunday to Thursday: 10am to 10pm (Last booking at 9pm)
Friday to Saturday: 10am – 12am (Last booking at 11pm)

You can get tickets online via Klook.

By Dorothea Chow and Michelle Ang.

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Do you know of a place that children will love? Share them with us in our comments below!

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