R.P.

Parents with toddlers who are 18 months or older or walking/running steadily would probably be quite familiar with the following places on our sunny little island.

• Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
• East Coast Park
• Jacob Ballas Children's Garden
• Regional & Community Libraries
• Sembawang Park
• Singapore Changi Airport (the new Terminal 3 in particular)
• The Southern Ridges (9-kilometre chain of green, open spaces spanning the rolling hills of Mount Faber Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park and Kent Ridge Park before ending at West Coast Park)

What do all these places have in common?

• Spacious. A must have for walking/running toddlers.
• Have facilities which keep toddlers occupied (Let's face it! Tots are capable of coming up with at least 3 activities from a mere long bench!)
• Admission is free.

But for a non-driver like me, travelling to some of these places with the tots can be a real challenge. Distance is also another major deterrent factor. Hence, I've been cracking my thick skull, searching for a venue which I can bring the tots to for "workout" on a regular basis, without having to lug a "luggage" along. And guess what? I found one!!!

I managed to catch up with my sister over lunch few days back at her workplace and I found the place a fantastic venue for the kids to "workout". My sister teaches at the RP (Republic Polytechnic) which is about 15 minutes bus ride from my place. The campus' 20-hectare area consists of environmental friendly features, greenery, water features & huge air conditioned open spaces (mostly carpeted). It is indeed a "Campus In the Park".

So I brought the munchkins there the following day. As expected, they were thrilled to see stairways, ramps and the water features. By the time we were done exploring the main building, the tots were exhausted. It took them only 5 minutes to drift off to sleep by the time we got home. Well, we'll definitely go back there to explore other areas of the campus real soon! :)