top (free) places to bring kiddies to...

...according to the little one at least! In no order of preference.

1. The airport. T3 is best right now. no crowds, huge empty spaces to run and pretend to be a plane taking off (or a bird depending on mood).
2.Ikea at Tampines. Again, huge space. lots of pretend things to do in the pretend rooms. Maeve loves cooking, so the little pots and pans etc serve her well, and following the footprints to some activity or chasing the rotating light Ikea signs are great fun too.
3. The Jacob Ballas children's botanic gardens. lots of fun in the sun with sprinklers (bring a change of clothes and a towel), mist machines coming out of flowers etc.
4. Vivocity. If the weather is nice, lots of outdoor spaces with slides, sprinklers, shallow pools of water or just enjoy walking on the perimeter or the mall taking in the (limited) sea view and (lots and lots of )crane views. If weather's nasty, indoors is also great fun as the space is big enough plus there's a nice cafe with outdoor swings and good views.
5.sentosa. at least i trust that the sand is relatively clean. just bring a spade, some cups and maybe a change of clothes and remember to slip, slap, slop.

the not free (but free for us because of our co-op membership) favourite place is currently the bird park for its lori aviary where she gets to feed (and pet) the lorikeets. now, our recent trip had her distinguishing the various colours, red, blue, orange at the moment. she was also tickled by the penguins (and has been trying to walk like that ever since) and the big-eyed owls.

we're planning our next few sat morning excursions to the following places:
1. pony riding (or pony feeding if she's not allowed on it) at Pasir Ris Gallop Stables.
2.Go-go-bambini at dempsey where you pay $6 for under-2s to play and parents get to chill out at the attached cafe. (i think it'll be a great place to meet friends with other kids. they socialise, you socialise. everybody wins)
3. some farm. I've seen the sign for a goat farm on the way to work somwhere in the boondocks, so i'll try to locate it and bring her to milk goats or something. she's "into" animals right now, but which toddler isn't!

as for rainy/too hot weather where i'd rather not expose her to the elements, then blowing bubbles is also popular (by this i mean, i blow, she chases and pops them). The other fun to do thing is to pick locks. i take her downstairs with a set of keys and she tries each letterbox (it takes a whole hour!) and sometimes pretend-posts letters. The positive externality of that is that i've gotten to know more neighbours this way, especially when she picks their letterbox! when she gets bored, playing hide and seek behind the pillars always works.