Fun Times with the Playful Elves {Christmas Giveaway #2}

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.) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

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!

Noey the Builder at the Lego Duplo Kids' Event

We recently received an invite to attend the Lego Duplo Kids' Event. You already know that we must have accepted the invitation, right? With delight. After all, if there's anything this family loves, it's Lego.

Noey was really excited when I told him we'd be going to play with some Duplo, and in an indoor playground to boot. While he fiddles around with Lego quite a bit every day, he is most creative when it comes to building with his Duplo. There's just something about the size and shape of it that makes it perfect for little hands. Guess this comes from them being made specially for kids from 1½ to 5 years of age. These Lego folks really know their stuff huh!

The event was held at Hokey Pokey at Suntec City and since it is a play gym that we've never been to, we were both pretty excited. Still, the boy only had eyes for his favourite bricks.

"Where's the Lego?" he asked immediately when we arrived.

Not so fast, boy. 

First, there were pictures to be taken by the photo wall.

Do I look cool or what?
(Wait, don't answer that.)

And some messing around to be had on the play equipment.

Slip sliding away!

But after they had their fill with the toys, the kids were rounded up and the Duplo bricks were brought out to play!

The kids were put through two sets of challenges. The first was to build their dream house. 

"I'm going to build a SUPER BIG house!" Noey proclaimed as he scrambled to gather his blocks.

Building a long long wall.

Developing a rather large compound.

  It was a pretty sizeable structure that he ended up with in the end but I think he ran out of steam.

With le Château de Noah in the background. Love all the colourful structures!

We moved on to the next challenge where the kids were asked to build their favourite animal. For this, he was in his element. What did he build? Why, dinosaurs of course! He was even dressed the part.

"Diplodocus," he said, when asked what he was building. "They are herbivores."

He ended up with a Papa and Mama Diplodocus (a variety of long-necked dinosaurs), and a baby Pterosaur (a winged, flying dinosaur). 

And would you believe it, his dinosaur family won first prize in the 4-5 year-old category! For that, he won a box of Duplo bricks which totally made his day. And his Lego-loving Daddy's day too. He couldn't wait to get home to open it!

Noey and his prize! That's about as thrilled as I can get him to look with his forced smile.

And once he did, it was back to building.

With the new blocks, the tower can go even higher!

Just another day in this family.

 

* This post was sponsored by Lego. Thanks Nuffnang and Lego for the invitation to the Lego Duplo Kids' Event!

Happy Willow

Another day, another playgym.

I always perk up when I hear of a new playgym. Noey is a big fan which makes me a big fan, especially since he has now finally stopped insisting that I follow him through the entire structure. He still makes me do it the first couple of times but once he's familiar with the layout, he's off doing his own thing. Which leaves me free... to play with Naomi. I'm looking forward to the day I'll be sitting down having my coffee while the two of them have fun on their own!

During the March school holidays, we had the opportunity to check out Happy Willow at Fusionopolis. A new playgym in the west! And the rates -- $18 per child above 2 years, $10 per child between 9 months to 2 years, for 3 hours of play time on weekdays -- seemed rather reasonable. So when wet weather foiled our park plans, off we went.

The playing area was divided into two, with a general kids' playing area, as well as a small section for toddlers. I was a little disappointed that the toddler's section consisted essentially of a really small fenced in portion of the ball pit, a semi-cylindrical cushion, and a bunch of rather large soft stacking blocks. I tried to get Nomi to play there but she got bored quickly and wanted to follow Gor-gor around in the general playing area instead.

At least that was more interesting. It wasn't big, but that was one of the things I liked about it. It was easy enough for Naomi to potter around, and she had fun trying out the rocking bull, flying fox, the mini rock wall and of course, the bigger ball pit. Admittedly her favourite activity was to try to chase Noey everywhere and walk in and out of the play area!

Noey was generally happy to play alongside us, though he did insist that I go down the slide with him a couple of times. It was a bit of a fast one. The funniest incident of the day was when another little boy, maybe about 5 years of age, tried to persuade me to slide down with both him and Noey on my lap. And he kept insisting even though I said no. Errr, sorry kiddo, maybe you go look for your own Mummy to slide down with you? I already have my hands full with one squirmy kid! And another on the sidelines!

One interesting feature of this playgym was the book corner. There was a collection of books that had been carefully curated, judging from the popular titles which I spotted, and lovingly wrapped in plastic. The kids were free to help themselves to the books, which had to be read in the reading area and not brought outside.

There was also a storytelling and craft session when we were there. It cost an extra $6 though so we didn't join in, though they were nice enough to let Nomi to sit-in on the story-telling when she wandered over.

We called it a day when nap times approached.

It was, on the whole, a fun outing for all. I am glad that I have another reasonably priced option for a rainy day!

It's a Jungle Out There!

On the first day of the school holidays, we took advantage of being free from the school routine by heading out to check out the newest indoor play gym in town, Amazonia, together with FY and her 2 boys. Feels like everyone has been sussing this out recently, from the number of updates I've come across on Facebook and Twitter on this.

For us, it was the most impromptu of playdates. I had messaged her the day before, randomly asking if she was going to bring her boys out during the school hols and asking to tag along so that I would have some company. A few quick exchanges and we were set for the next day.

I think Noey knew he was in for a treat when we entered and were greeted by the highest slide I've seen in a non-theme park environment.

The pièce de résistance of the gym -- the massive slide!

Noey quickly made his way up, with me trailing close behind. And before I could finish my question -- "you SURE you want to go down?" -- he was off!

Slowly, then ZOOOOOM!

I think he started to have second thoughts on the way down, judging by the death grip he was keeping on the side of the slide all the way down. He only relaxed as we neared the bottom, and after that he refused to go on it again till the end of the session when he plucked up courage to try again. Haha.

The entrance into the toddlers play area, where Noey decided to retreat to instead, after the stunt with the slide.

Messing about with the puzzle board.

I was glad we were there on a weekday. Maybe it was because it was only the first day of the school hols, but the hoards were not out that day, so Meips was able to have a free run, or rather, roll of the place.

Meips having her BIG (remember that movie?) moment on the step-piano. Cool chicks munch their fingers at the same time yo.

Ball pits are always a hit. When we're not busy scolding older children for throwing balls around.

Spot the baby! Even Meips got in on the act. Not for long though because she kept trying to eat the balls.

FY's 2 boys had as good, if not a better time, especially YK whom I didn't manage to catch a single pic of till the end because he was too busy climbing and shocking his Mum by coming down the slide all on his own. Awww. Well done kiddo!

We decided to have lunch there, which turned out to be a bit of a mistake. I was lazy to uproot the kids since they were clearly having a good time so I thought it would be easier to just feed them there and let them return to playing. The food wasn't bad -- they had pretty decent lunch special for $11 which came with a main course and a drink. But after everyone was fed and after factoring in the extra time we spent there, we had a bit of sticker shock when we saw the final bill! Next time we will go for the 2hrs of playtime and get out!

Teriyaki Salmon rice set, which came with a soft drink, for $11. Much more worth it than the other main I ordered which was supposed to be fried chicken with rice but came with fries instead.

For those wondering, the rate was $20 for 2hrs of play for tots under 3, $30 for kids 3 and above. Accompanying adults enter free. The rate sheet indicated that they charged for babes 3 months and upwards, but when I asked about Naomi they let her in for free. Thankfully, for I might not have wanted to go in if I had to pay for her. You get cheaper rates if you take up a membership but the member fee was quite steep -- $75 if I remember correctly. I wasn't sure it'd be worth it unless we go back ALOT.

Incidentally, I typed out this whole entry on my iPad and it's hard work! My laptop started acting up so I sent it in to get it looked over. Can't wait to get it back! One-finger typing is painstaking work...

Polliwoging

A couple of weeks back, we had the opportunity to visit Polliwogs, not once, but twice in 2 consecutive weeks. Guess everyone had the same good idea at the same time!

Our first trip was with little TYY and Anya. It was our first time there and I was suitably impressed, in particular with the open plan layout of the place. After having been to other rather claustrophobic and narrow play gyms, this was a refreshing change. The toddler area was also rather large and had a ball pit and a mini slide and lots of empty space for the little ones to crawl/toddle around. I realised though that Noey could easily manage the main apparatus so there was no need to confine him to the toddler area. Even Anya, who is a relatively new walker, also had no trouble charging up the ramp when we were not looking and giving us all a scare!

Unfortunately Noey was being a real terror that day, which meant that I really wasn't in a position to take any photos. For some reason he went trying to stick his fingers into the eyes of other little kids while going "EYES!" really loudly. Yes, I'm sure those kids knew those were their eyes he was trying to poke out, thankyouverymuch. Even after some stern talking-tos and firm raps on the hands, he still attempted his nonsense every once in a while so I had to watch him closely before I landed both of us in trouble with unhappy parents!

(So for those of you who think Noey is a well-behaved good boy, no, he isn't usually. I just don't talk about it too much.)

Burger Kings and Queen, post-Polliwogs

He was much more interested the second time we went with "Noey friends!", as he would say. On a playdate with Raeann and Kate, Noey seemed to have warmed up to the place. One go on the slide -- which was really quite excitingly fast, even for me -- and he was hooked!

Scrambling to get into position...

"WHEEEEE!"

And here we go again...

It would have been great if he was happy to go on his own but sadly for me, it was "Mummy come up!" and "Mummy slide!" over and over. He easily went up and down more than 15 times, and I was starting to sweat by the end of it.

Kate prefering the more civilised ball pit

As usual, the girls were more than happy to hang around their parents, leaving me the only one who had to constantly chase my kid around the area.

Even when he came over to join the group he got up to no good.

Raeann: Gasp! Hey, that's my Mummy's iced coffee!

Braids for Raeann! Unfortunately she refused to let us actually secure the look with the rubber bands.

It was probably because we went on weekday mornings both times that there was not much of a crowd present, giving the babies plenty of space to explore and play. The noise level was pretty manageable too. Of course Noey did get a bit too close to some of the slightly older kids a couple of times and get himself shoved. There wasn't too much I could do and hey, he just has to learn to deal with it on his own. Happily he just moved away and played elsewhere without getting into others' way.

If only the drive wasn't so long for us... I'd be happy to go back more often.

"Can we come back again soon, pretty please?

The Polliwogs
1020 East Coast Parkway #01-02,
Singapore 449878
(behind Waraku Restaurant)