I came across an article on Facebook that kids prefer unstructured play over activities like going to the movie or museum. I am one who always prefer to bring my kids for planned activities be it to the museum, meet and greet etc , outdoor excursions as I believe we need to achieve “something” from an outing. So the article let me sit back n rethink of activities I “planned” for my kids.

After a month of reduced outside activities (during my confinement) , I felt the older kids needed some time off from child care be it together or one on one with either parent.

Finally, confinement’s over. And the first activity with all 3 older kids was something unstructured which caught my eyes. A gym , a playground…not quite..i can’t put it in any of the category as I believe it is first of its kind in Singapore….. it is a place for ages 2 to 12 to just do about anything their creative minds take them. And as a parent, it is interesting to discover how my kids of different ages interpret Kaboodle Kids.

I have been to many kids’ play area, this place is pretty small and my first impression, don’t think my kids can play very long here. Boy, was I wrong, we played till it was closing time. (and it being small has its advantage for a parent with many kid, it was really easy to keep an eye on my 2 year old).

When I first arrived, I was given a folder of the background of this place and most importantly some past structures that were built by other kids. It is really useful for for me because I really don’t know where to start (as I am not a very creative person) but my kids were least interested in the examples in the folder…they just want to play the way they want to play it…unstructured. (I guess there were some truth in the article that i read) and I must not always need to achieve “something” from our outings.

Firstly, there was a ready structure where the kids could let the balls roll along the track. From there, the older two kidsds added more track and small J was happily feeding more balls into the track.

Small J found some random blocks like the one in pic and made it to be like a rocking chair! He truly found things to occupy himself and didn’t cling on me at all for the entire visit.

C was happily building simple structures and she most happy bringing blocks here and there building..nothing too complicated.

 Big J didn’t really focus on doing any structure per say and was everywhere.  I spoke to Jin, the founder of Kaboodle Kids, she mentioned kids J’s age play better with kids their age as a team, ie build together. And some daddies have as much fun as the kids! 

This place not only let the kids unleash their creative minds and expend some energy (it takes effort to bring blocks from one place to another) , it also give me as a parent the opportunity to discover more about my kids at their different ages by observing how they play with the blocks.

I am totally against child care organising outdoor excursions to play gyms as I see no additional value add, however, a visit to Kaboodle Kids is different. There is much more to be achieved if there are kids of the same age building structures together and having mini competitions. How often do you have so many giant blocks for your free play (this place reminded me that I should retrieve my Haenim big blocks from the store for them to have more unstructured play at home!).

For my readers of my blog, Jin has kindly extended an 10% discount by mentioning my blog (valid till 30 September 2015).

Do check out the Youth day special which I thought was really value for money with the additional activities thrown in.

Kaboodle Kids

Block B 02-05B Big Splash

902 East Coast Parkway

Singapore 449874

Operating hours: 10am – 6pm daily

3 years old & above

• Monday – Friday                                             $25            unlimited hours
• Saturday, Sunday & Public holidays            $25            2 hours ($10 for every additional hour thereafter)

Below 3 years old

• Monday – Friday                                            $10             unlimited hours
• Saturday, Sunday & Public holidays           $10             2 hours ($5 for every additional hour thereafter)

They also do birthday parties for up to 18 kids for 2 hours from rates of $1000 to $1200 which includes food.

Now I know where I can park my kids whenever I have my meals at Big Splash or after a morning day out at the beach and I needed some Me-time! I am actually planning to do a foot massage (there is 1 at Big Splash) with baby in tow (I have been seeing many mummies latching baby while doing foot massage) and there is no prize for guessing where i can “dump” the older kids!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored review. No monetary compensation was received, and all opinions are my own