#playingwithyourchild – Page 8 – Ask the Clueless Middle Age Dad

Clueless Dad Toy Review #8: Monopoly Junior Party Edition

After another long hiatus from writing, here we are again with a toy review. We got the “Monopoly Junior Party Edition” from the missus’ cousin. The previous owner was the daughter of missus’ cousin whom missus and I affectionately called “dinosaur girl” for her spunk and her liking for t-shirts with dinosaurs on them when she was a toddler. “Dinosaur girl” is now a teenager and way pay the recommended age of “5+”. This is a game with some vintage.

Box art says “fast-play”. Very true for our little one.

Having introduced our little girl to board games via the game, “I Love Candy”, missus and I thought that despite the recommended age, we could possibly teach our 3 year old to play the game in a simplified manner.

The game plays similar to any Monopoly game. You roll a dice and move your counter on the board. You get rewarded or penalised according to where you end up — kinda like real life, haha!

We decided to do away with the accounting for money and really simplify the game for our daughter. Instead, we decided that the winner is the one who lands on the most property squares first. We did away with the need to pay to build a property, you just had to land on an occupied square to plant your flag.

Simplifying it thus, it allowed our daughter to follow the game and participate actively. It helped her to reinforce the concept of taking turns. So well that, there are times when missus and I forgot whose turn it was and we turn to our daughter.

This had become one of our daughter’s favourite pre-bed time activities. We had observed a really cute indication of how much she liked the game. One day, she asked missus, “who gave me this [the game]?” Upon learning that it’s her aunt (missus’ cousin), the little one said, “my auntie very pretty!” — calling someone “pretty” seems to be the little one’s go-to praise to express gratitude. When her aunt’s got mentioned, the same praise comes out from the tot…

Missus and I are very grateful too. I think we can get pretty good mileage out of this game as we have up to this point only been playing it in a really simple way. As the tot increases in her cognitive range, we can possibly add back the original elements of the game in tandem.

That’s it for this sharing. Hope that I can write more often but it’s been a case of not having the time combined with not really having that much to write about. The latter is an admission that we are in a rut in terms of doing new interesting things with the little one. We will try our best to break out of it. Till next time, stay safe and healthy.

Outdoor Space: HillV2

4 Hillview Rise, Singapore 667979

Disclaimer: This isn’t a new place I am reviewing. It’s a place we are quite familiar with but I haven’t gotten around to penning it in a blog post.

Nice break on Hari Raya Haji (or Eid al-Adha in Arabic) Tuesday (20 Jul 21). We had one day of work on Monday to start off this work week before this very much welcomed break. The little one enjoyed a day of sleeping in till after 8 am.

In view of the recent upswing of Covid 19 cases, we’ve had to consider carefully where we bring the little one out to get our lunch. We decided that it should be somewhere that is predominantly outdoors. I suggested HillV2 to my missus. We had been there a few times previously. It fits the bill as a tiny retail area arranged in a ring with a courtyard and a fountain in the centre (see pano picture below). Plenty of outdoor space for the little girl to run around.

There are food and beverage outlets here as well as a supermarket (click on this link for the store directory). So for this particular visit, missus and I went about separately to get groceries and lunch. The little one was assigned to me to keep her in the courtyard area.

Assigned to watch over the little one…. Yes, she’s still in her onesie sleepwear. It’s a lazy public holiday morning and noon 😬

We ordered takeout from Jiak Modern Tzechar. The eatery serves simple stir fry dishes which is known in Singapore and Malaysia as tze char which comes from the Chinese Hokkien regional dialect.

The little one on this occasion showed a lot of interest in looking at the fountain. She is showing an early interest in photography and likes to take photos using my mobile phone. Here are some of the photos she took.

3 year old photographer’s work: Not sure about the framing and composition but it looks decent.

Little photographer had her head tilted way back to get this shot. Pretty artistic 👍

Inspired by the little one, I took the following photo myself. They had some nice greenery in the court yard and I took a photo of a shrub with a nice looking flower.

We were in and out of HillV2 within 30 minutes to reduce our exposure. It was a fruitful trip. We got lunch, groceries and the little one got to hone her photography skills. A great place to get things done plus having a little frills in the form of a nice little court yard.

That’s all the sharing I have for now. Take care everyone and stay safe.

Update: In the afternoon on the same day of our visit, the Singapore government announced further tightening of Covid 19 control measures. Food establishments are again prohibited from doing dine-in business with effect from 22 Jul 21. This is less than two days’ notice for them to prepare. Feel really sorry for food and beverage business owners 😞

My Beef with Singapore Playgrounds

We recently revisited the Pandan Gardens Leisure Park which I reviewed in a previous post. When we first visited the place, our daughter was not able to access the playgrounds there as they were taped up during the soft lockdown Singapore went through between May and June 2021.

At this park, there are two playgrounds in the vicinity — one close to Block 406 and the other closer to Block 407. I swear that they are both almost interchangeable. They were made from the same kind of plastic and colour scheme (red, yellow and blue — maybe in honour of Columbia or Romania whose flags are in these colours?)

My first impression of such playgrounds is that they are lifeless and unimaginative. The one that got to me more amongst the two playgrounds above was the lower one in the picture above. It had two sets of staircase leading up to one windy slide and that’s it….

Not to mention how it lacks much variety in how children play with it, it also will lead to a problem of children having to wait a bit longer to access that one solitary slide. So one can imagine that this is not the type of playground that could accommodate many children playing at the same time.

I remember a time when playgrounds in Singapore use to come in much more variety. They used to be built in many interesting shapes and sizes. And you can find each type only in specific neighbourhoods. A prime example of this is the “dragon playgrounds” in Ang Moh Kio and Toa Payoh. In Pasir Ris where I used to live, there were boat-shaped playgrounds and in neighbouring Tampines there were watermelon-shaped ones.

I guess the plastic and foam revolution in public playgrounds in the 2000s ended all that. In the name of safety, playgrounds have become very cookie cutter and many of them lack character. I suppose it’s inevitable as children have become much more “precious” as Singaporeans generally have less of them and also less per family (my missus and I with our sole little munchkin are probably in good company).

Ultimately, though we tried both playgrounds at Pandan Gardens Leisure Park, we never guessed that our daughter would be engaged by neither and instead by a fitness corner meant for grown-ups (see below). She investigated both playgrounds for what I reckoned was less than 5 minutes combined. She found incredible fun dangling from the lowest horizontal bar.

The MVP of our excursion is….. horizontal bar number two!

What I do wish for the future of playgrounds in Singapore is more variety and if that is not possible, more character. If the foam and plastic revolution is here to stay, they should find a way for the old favourites like “dragon playground” to be reborn in the current safety-first paradigm.

The relevant authorities such as NParks and Housing Development Board can work with playground manufacturers to design and build modular playgrounds with distinctive Singapore designs. They could have a few designs in which they can replicate to reduce the costs. And who knows, the distinctive designs could have a market overseas and the Singapore government can earn royalties from them.

That’s all the griping for today. Haha. Stay safe and healthy everyone.

Update

I found out that there was an attempt at resurrecting the dragon playground design with modern materials. I’m not that impressed by the results though I must say that I had not visited the playground myself and only found it on the Internet. Missus didn’t like it either. The photo I found from “Little Day Out” is as below for your own judgment. This was an unmarked location in Google maps.

Enter the dragon… (photo taken from Little Day Out)

Screenshot in Google Maps. Very strange looking motif on the sides of the platform on which the “dragon” sits. What’s up with the rubber tapping depicted here?

Playgrounds for Tots in Western Singapore

Over the three weeks that missus and I kept our daughter away from school in May-June 2021 while Covid-19 cases in Singapore were fuelled by the Delta variant, I had to plan outdoor excursions to channel the little one’s energy. I did so by researching on Google where are the best playgrounds for tots in western Singapore where we live.

This will be a blog post that is a work in progress as I find and visit new playgrounds with my daughter.

Here are three that we have tried out. The criteria I used are: (1) accessibility for toddlers (staircases — my daughter isn’t a proficient climber), (2) some sort of rocking playground equipment (which my daughter likes) and (3) foam surfacing (little one hates sand and I am always worried about sand flies).

West Coast Drive / West Coast Place

Opposite Hundred Trees Condo

Good well designed playground. It has everything that I looked for and more — the bonus is that the many trees at the small park where it is located provide shade even at noon time. We were there three times already and my daughter hasn’t gotten tired of it. A keeper for sure.

Pano shot of the small park where the playground is located.

I realise in retrospect that a good way to find playgrounds with foliage cover is to use the Google satellite view. This is the view from the top.

Total coverage by trees means protection from the scorching heat…

Firefly Park

Outside Sparkletots Preschool

312B Clementi Ave 4, Singapore 122312

I thought this to be an okay playground. Been here twice. First time it was after some rain and my daughter didn’t fancy getting her bottom wet sliding down. The second time round, the weather was fine and my daughter really took to it. Not a playground for midday and afternoon though (see below).

Red pin is where the playground is. The foliage doesn’t provide complete coverage….

Playground Near Clementi Community Club

Block 340 Clementi Avenue 5

Another playground we went twice. Actually discovered this place while looking for the Firefly Park playground. Turns out I was way off and this was actually on the opposite side of the road from Firefly Park.

Double slide. Little one insisted we did a simult-slide….

Good playground with the requisites I was looking for. There are also fitness equipment for adults which the little one found interesting as well.

Again, foliage only covers this playground partially (see below).

Surrounded by trees but they don’t cover the playground. Not for afternoons….

That’s it for the sharing. Will update this article as I discover new playgrounds. Stay healthy and safe everyone.

Playground At Blk 8 Holland Avenue

Block 8 Holland Avenue, Singapore 271008

Found this little gem while driving past Holland Avenue at the intersection with Commonwealth Avenue.

Playground for aspiring space travellers…

This is a great playground for tots as there are three different levels of slides accessible by a set of stairs. There is also a swing which are for older kids but our little one did okay with a little help getting on it.

I thought that in fact she did much better than me when I was a kid. She was able to intuitively time the movement of her kicks with each down swing to maintain the momentum without missus and me helping to constantly push her — I didn’t figure that out even when I was much older!

I also thought that this playground had the most character of the ones in this blog post. It had a unique space exploration theme to it with a rocket as one of the roofs and a satellite dish on another (see below). All too often, modern playgrounds in Singapore looked like they are cut from the same mould with very similar or in some cases, identical design elements.

Mission control and rocket readied for launch…

We went to this playground when it was quite overcast but I think it’s a promising hot weather playground. On location, I could see that there were ample trees planted around the playground. On Google Maps satellite view, I could also see that there appears to good shade provided by the trees.

The playground is marked by the dropped pin. Mostly green means good protection from the sun…

Update on 1 Jul 21: Drove past the playground at noon and am happy to report that it was mostly shaded.

Update on 16 Jan 22: I think a toddler makes your vision blinkered. All your focus has to be on them and you don’t see the surroundings as much. Anyway, we revisited this playground. Discovered an interesting “art gallery” at the ground floor of a public apartment (8 Holland Avenue) just next to the playground. The space feature wall murals of pop art (see article link) by a group called Social Creatives. Check it out if you are in the area.

Clueless Dad’s Toy Review #1: Mubei 8 Glyph Track

This will be my first review of the toys my missus and I got for our daughter. My daughter is our only child and we have decided that, due to us being parents rather later in life, we won’t have the energy for her to have a sibling.

Unwittingly, I have assigned to myself the role of acting as her surrogate sibling. My wife refers to me as “大伴” or “big playmate” to our kiddo. This means that I get to play with toys alongside her. My toy review will be done from this perspective.

The toy in my first ever review is the “Mubei 8 Glyph Track” which is a simple set of wooden tracks which you are supposed to arrange into the figure eight for an infinite loop (see below).

We got this toy at a random Chinese bookstore in Singapore. Relying on my wife’s memory, the set cost S$29.90. I saw on Aliexpress.com the price was S$29.79 — damn, we were ripped off by 11 cents!

The toy doesn’t come with any instructions. You have to rely on what’s on the box art to put together your track pieces so they look something like what you see below.

The way: trains that move in a zero displacement mode in an infinite loop….

I guess they didn’t provide instructions so that you can exercise your imagination — or that they want to save on costs and the possible embarrassment of awkward English instructions translated from Chinese. The kiddo ignores the way it is supposed to look and builds it the way she wants as below.

Oh oh! Is it supposed to look like this?

The set also includes some pieces in which you are supposed to use to create scenes along the track. They are as below.

Either the trees are indoor Christmas trees or the human figures are not to scale…..

I had found that the way to play with the pieces to engage my little one is to arrange them as you would domino pieces to be knocked down.

My daughter goes crazy for this when the last domino falls, swinging her little arms wildly to clear the deck (as below — pardon the blurry photos).

My verdict on the toy set: good fun for daughter and father. We both found different ways to engage with it. My daughter still has the attention span of a gnat but she could actually spend quite a significant amount of time on this — relatively speaking though, it’s still only just 5-10 mins.

Will give this toy 4/5 thumbs up. At almost 30 dollars, this isn’t cheap but it certainly is cheerful. My kiddo had been playing with it for almost a month and still found it fun doing so — as do I as well! Remains to be seen how much mileage we’ll get out of this but it is a go-to toy for the moment.