I decided to bring Anya there after reading about it from MummyMoo. The outing is actually part of our potty-training as I wanted to ensure that Anya is comfortable with either eliminating in her diaper or using public toilets when we are outside. I thought choosing a fun place to go will take her mind off the anxiety and stress she has been feeling and so off we went!
Here's my two cents' worth of the place:
While this is our first visit to any indoor playgym / playground, I actually checked out a few others like Fidgets and Amazonia before. Unlike the others that I have seen before, Hokey Pokey appears to be less, well.., impressive (if I might put it that way) at first glance. Reason being: there aren't many big-scale playground sets nor structure that send children into a climbing and jumping frenzy. They have one big slide that send the children down into a huge ball pool and another separate smaller ball pool. And that's about all. The rest are really small-ish slide sets - think 'little tikes' and 'fisher and price' types that you can find for sale at Toys R'us.
However, upon closer look, I actually like what I see. You see, the thing here is they have many many MANY toys. Yes, I can't emphasize about the sheer amount of toys they have. Unfortunately, I didn't take many pics of the place as my attention was divided between Anya and Arielle most of the times. There are musical instruments (not just one set but a few! For example: They have at least 5 different types of drums and 3 sets of xylophones), rides and tricycles, a huge wooden set of transportation system (cars and trains; roads and tracks!), a set of handyman tools and work top, two kitchen sets, a burger joint, dolls and many others. There is also a huge shelf that contains smaller toys and stuff (think stackers, loops etc) as well as a Xbox / PSP (I could never remember which is which!). Which leads me to another point why I (or rather, why I think Anya) love about this place - they have a good selection of both girls' toys and boys' toys. And of course, gender-neutral toys too!
As such, it feels more like we have entered the nursery of a family with both boys and girls, albeit a very well-stocked nursery, rather than an establishment. Having only gender-neutral and girly toys at home, it was a refreshing change for Anya to lay her hands onto boys' stuff. It was a plus point that they are equipped with so many musical instruments as Anya has been really into them since she started kindermusik lessons. And of course, she went bananas in the ball pools. Which kid won't, eh?
All in all, our toddler had loads of fun in that 2.5 hours spent there. When it was almost time to go, I preempted her at the last 10 minutes. She knew what that meant and it sent her into a mad frenzy to go through everything at least once. It was a comical sight as she shuffled half-haphazardly all over the place to tinker with this and that.
In conclusion, we think the place is really fun, especially for toddlers and early pre-schoolers. By that, we meant say... 18 months old to 4 years old. Any older than that (they allow up till 6 years old), I suppose the place still offers snips of fun here and there. After all, they do have a wide range of toys. And then, there is always the Xbox (or whatever that was).
One little not-so-good experience to share though: At one point at the slide into the ball pool, one of the older kids (5 or 6 years old?) was wading his way out and placed his hand on the slide just as Anya was going down (I was waiting at the end to catch her). His hand caught one of Anya's leg and sent Anya going head down instead. I think my heart almost came out of my mouth at that juncture. Thankfully, Anya merely had a momentarily shock and recovered quickly. Thank God for cushioned ball pools! So as parents, we really gotta be vigilant that our child(ren) play safe and nice.
Still, in the end, we (as in The Husband, myself and, of course, the tod) liked the place so much that we signed Anya up as a member which is currently going at an opening promotion of $38 instead of $50. Quite a good deal if you intend to bring your kids there on a regular basis.
Looking forward to our next visit to Hokey Pokey! :)
Hokey Pokey Pte Ltd
3 Temasek boulevard
#03-027E/F Suntec City Mall
Singapore 038983
8 comments:
Were you there earlier today? (Saturday)
Babymoo and I were there between 2pm - 4pm. We may have just missed you guys!
Glad Anya had fun! Agree about the gender specific and neutral toys exposure. It was funny seeing the boy attempt to 'baby' the dolls! He had fun washing dishes in the kitchenette, too!
My son Kyle was there with a friend last week and they are almost 5. At first glance, I felt that they were a little over-age for the place, but turned out that they had alot of fun with some of the toys. I guess kids dont really outgrow those pretend play kitchen sets, even boys like them :)
Hi Regina,
Oh nope, wasn't there. The Husband and I sorta agree that we'll probably try to avoid the weekend crowds. Was it crowded?
Oh yes, and Anya had soo much fun at the handyman's work table. It's good exposure really. Btw, I like to think kitchen sets are gender-neutral. After all, most acclaimed chefs are males! :)
Hi Rachel,
Oh yes, I suppose they do huh? So having those pretend-toys are better investments since they can be around for a long haul. Heh!
Hi! Thanks for sharing! How's the membership like? Is it $38 annually? Any restrictions on how often and how long you can play there each time?
Hi Joyce,
Surprisingly - it wasn't! Caden was on his own from 3.00pm - 3.30pm, when he was joined by one other boy.
I think most parents are avoiding playgrounds due to the outbreak of HFMD.
Hi Jerb,
Their membership is originally $50, it will be only $38 for one year if you sign up in the month of March. They have a FB page which I actually linked it up, but somehow it didn't came up. Here is a link of pictures on brochures of their current promos. Do go through them to know more about what membership entails. Hope it helps. :)
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.348942568480200.74615.278532082187916&type=3
Regina,
Wow, really? The day I was there, there were at least six kiddos around at one point! And it was a weekday evening. Maybe I should try dropping by next time during weekends if we are in the vicinity. :)
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