It's the school holidays! If you, like me, find yourself with energetic children on your hands, one great way to keep them entertained and bouncing off walls that are not your own is to bring them to an indoor playground. That's just what I did one morning, when the kids and I rocked up to Playful Elves for a morning of fun.
Situated at West Coast Plaza, Playful Elves occupies a unit on the second floor which isn't huge, but surprisingly manages to pack a lot in. There are a number of different play areas and even a little cafe for parents to grab a bite while watching the kids play.
We're at Playful Elves!
The first thing that will catch your attention -- and certainly that of the kids -- when you enter the gates is the Race Track. With its road layout and enticing foot-to-floor cars just waiting to ridden, it was no surprise that the kids both immediately made a beeline for this. This was one of the more unusual features for an indoor playground and I liked that there were a good number of vehicles, 5-6 in total, so there was enough to go around. I also liked that the material for the road provided some traction, so the cars didn't move that quickly. Much safer when there are tiny tots around, I think!
My happy little driver. Beep beep!
"Mummy get in that car and play with me!" Unfortunately, Mummy butt was too big for the little cars or I would have loved giving them a whirl...
Right behind the Race Track was the one of the kids' favourite areas -- the Bouncy Castle. This certainly needs no introduction. Just climb, bounce and slide! This was one area that we spent a lot of time in, as the kids kept coming back to it, even after they'd wandered away to explore other areas. It was pretty hardy too, as yes, they made me go on it, which I managed without too much problem. The slide was a pretty fast one which both children definitely enjoyed!
Whoosh! Happy faces on slide-y places!
Bounce!
When the kids were able to tear themselves away from the Bouncy Castle, it was off to explore the Magical Play Forest. And even though it didn't look too big, the kids still found plenty to do.
Climbing!
Sliding!
Balancing!
Fiddling with wall puzzles!
Woven into the playscape was another favourite piece of equipment -- ball canons! There were four in total and the kids had a field day collecting balls and bringing them up to shoot at their favourite target -- me. I'm afraid I was an easy target!
Sniper Meips at work, with her full bag of balls ready!
Tied in with this were a couple of cool features which we also had fun with. A ball blower that Noey was quite tickled with as it allowed him to "magically" suspend balls in mid-air, and a ball dump. You fill the latter by putting balls into a vacuum suction device. the balls are then transported up in a steel net, and then, at the press of a button, the balls come raining down on you! It is a lot of fun.
Balancing all three balls at once.
Balls come raining down!
One more thing which we almost overlooked with all the big exciting play areas around us: the Train Table. Noey, who has never been able to say no to a train table, made sure to spend some time there putting tracks together and rolling trains and cars along. There's also a box of Duplo there too for the kids to improvise with or just have fun building.
This boy just can't resist train tracks...
Aside from the play equipment, another thing I like about Playful Elves is that they regularly run additional activities and contests to add to the play experience. And with good prizes too! In November they ran a Thor photo contest where the kids got to dress up as the prince of Asgard, with the winner of the most popular photo winning a pair of movie tickets. The little boys looked so cute muscled up in the Thor outfit! Our friends at Owls Well Blog also got to meet some of their favourite characters on their visit.
While we were there, the kids were given the opportunity to decorate their own cupcake, which they were all too happy to do.
Noey getting trying on his own to squeeze out the cream for the icing. I was glad that it was fresh cream so it wasn't too sweet.
Meips had to get some help.
Decorating = as many toppers as he could fit in, with as much chocolate rice and m&ms too.
She was most interested in the eating!
The kids also got glitter tattoos, which our little miss was most pleased with.
This was conducted in the Playful Elves' party room, which incidentally looks like a nice cosy birthday party venue. They have party packages available which are fairly comprehensive and include the exclusive use of the entire playscape and cafe area. That's certainly a plus for me.
Noey getting his tattoo done in the happy party room.
For the month of December, your kids can enjoy Princess or Super Hero makeover sessions for an additional fee, or choose to join Alfie's Savoury Camp where they can enjoy activities like cupcake decorating, face painting, chocolate moulding, balloon sculpting and more.
Want a piece of the action? Now you can as we have TWO PLAY PASSES TO PLAYFUL ELVES (worth $20 each) to giveaway!
To stand a chance of winning a play pass, you MUST complete all of the following steps using the Rafflecopter widget below:
1. Be a fan of the Playful Elves Facebook Page
2. Be a fan of the Life is in the Small Things Facebook Page
3. Like this giveaway post on Facebook and leave a comment telling me why you want to win the play pass, together with your e-mail address.
You can also follow the additional optional steps in the Rafflecopter widget to gain more chances. (Do note that this giveaway is only open to Singapore residents.)
Good luck and maybe we'll see you there!
Whee!
Playful Elves
West Coast Plaza #02/02-04
154 West Coast Road
Singapore 127371
Tel: 61000353
E-mail: administrator@playful-elves.com
Website: www.playfulelves.com.sg
Operating Hours: 10 am to 9pm daily
* Our play session and this giveaway were kindly sponsored by Playful Elves. All opinions, as always, remain my own.
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Our giveaway of Jamie's America is still on -- don't miss it! Click here to enter if you haven't!
Love the race track!
ReplyDeleteCarol, Cmeilim@gmail.com
love the train track too!
ReplyDeletej_xian@hotmail.com
So many things to love. The race track and train track rock me most!
ReplyDeleteRobert, robert_sim@yahoo.com
Yay new playground!
ReplyDeleteBeep Beep! The makeover sessions look so fun. I'm batman!
ReplyDeleteOur kids love the moment when the balls fall from the "bulldozer" :)
ReplyDeletecheers, Andy
(SengkangBabies)
How I wish there is such a place when I was younger! D: It looks fun!
ReplyDeleteLooks fun! Hope I can win the giveaways for the kids!
ReplyDeletethe place looks fun :) train track looks fun for my gal
ReplyDeleteLorna tan
My boys would love the cars!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the nannies are charged extra when they go with the little kids inside?
ReplyDeleteGreat post and I love their name- Playful Elves :D
Like the race track
ReplyDeleteThe bouncy castle will be a hit with my girl
ReplyDeleteI love the entire play area.Looks so cool.Kids will have loads of fun....and loving the makeover sessions too...
ReplyDeleteArsheitha Ganesan
akilaarsheitha@gmail.com
its not too big which is good coz i can eye power from the outside
ReplyDelete