The Polliwogs Indoor Playgrounds: Active Play and Seroius Fun

Published 11 October 2017 at 13:10

Tickikids Blog Singapore >  Reviews >  The Polliwogs Indoor Playgrounds: Active Play and Seroius Fun

The Polliwogs is one of the best known indoor playground chains in Singapore, and it has 4 branches at the moment. All of its outlets are focused on active play, providing safe and comfortable environment for children to socialize and have fun. The Polliwogians mascots – Rocky, Larry, Poco and Bobby are featured in design of every location giving kids the sense of consistency, though every branch has its own theme, which makes the playgrounds much more interesting to explore for the little ones.

The Polliwogs have taken into account the wants and needs of kids of different age groups, which allowed them to create separate areas for active play. For younger tots (aged under 2/below 90 cm in Waka Waka) The Polliwogs playgrounds have separate toddler areas with well-padded flooring for kids’ safety. These areas are equipped with slides, sensory wall games, building blocks and more to keep the tots entertained and active for quite a while!

For children aged 2 and above, in every outlet there is a huge main play area with breathtaking slides, multi-level structures to climb and explore as well as various exciting obstacle stations to challenge the kids.

Unlike some other indoor playgrounds, The Polliwogs allows two adults to join the child in the play area, turning the time spent there into parent-child bonding activity and also making it possible for toddlers to have fun in the main play area. However, it should be noted that following a child through the maze can be pretty challenging for a grown-up, because the passages designed for kids and are simply too short for an adult.

Parents, who feel like their children are independent enough to set off on the adventure of their own, can relax in the café, enjoy coffee, snacks and free Wi-Fi. Sitting area is spread-out throughout the whole playground and there are tables located right next to the obstacle stations, so parents can watch their children play. The café has quite a decent menu with soups and salads, pizzas, finger food, desserts and more.

Every outlet has a spacious function room for kid’s parties and a number of birthday themes to make your kid’s birthday truly unforgettable.

TickiKids Test Patrol families visited 3 of The Polliwogs outlets, at Suntec City, Eastpoint Mall and Waka Waka Annex@Furama, and provided us with their reviews. Each location has its own theme and highlights, making families’ experience there quite unique.

The Polliwogs Eastpoint Mall

This venue is easily accessible from Simei MRT station, which of course is a plus for parents. Eastpoint branch is space-themed, and besides standard set of obstacles and activities, and everyone’s favourite ball blaster gun, its main play area can boast an amazing rocket-shaped tunnel to go up to a huge 3-storey spiral slide which is a real hit with children. Toddler area is cool too, with a little ball pool, hamster wheel, merry-go-round, soft foam construction blocks and sensory activities.

Space-themed toddler area with merry-go-rounds, hamster wheel and sensory boards

Here’s what our Test Patrol mom, Nicole, mother of a 6-year-old, says about the Eastpoint Mall outlet: "Christabelle enjoyed her time there thoroughly. She loved the ball blaster gun at the bigger kids' area, the spiral slide and the 3-children swing. I like the availability of space for children to roam about within the outlet. Their tall spiral slide is a unique feature not to be missed!

Multi-level main play area with tunnels, slides and ball-shooting arena, and Christabelle having fun there

I like the fact that this venue wasn’t too crowded and I was able to occupy a table by myself without having to share with other waiting parents. The restaurant area was clean. As for the menu, there were things that could be cheaper in my opinion (e.g. $1.80 for a bottle of mineral water and $3.90 for tea/coffee) but there were also items that I think are reasonably priced (e.g. $7.90 for kids' meal which comes with a toy). I have been to other Polliwogs and this is my preferred outlet given the above observations."

Waka Waka by The Polliwogs Annex@Furama

Waka Waka by The Polliwogs outlet is safari-themed and very spacious, however getting there by public transport isn’t as convenient as to Suntec City and Eastpoint Mall venues.

The thing that will draw your attention immediately is a bouncy castle with a slide, located right in the junior area. On the one hand it makes the area look a little crammed, as there are so many other stations there, including water bed for younger kids to jump on and explore little sea creatures inside, sensory wall panels, construction blocks and more. On the other hand, older children are not admitted to this bouncy castle, which makes it safer for little tots.

At the same time the main play area has something more serious than a bouncy castle to offer older kids. Being perfect for children all the way up to 14 years old, Waka Waka playground is the most adventurous one of all other venues of the franchise. The highlight of the main play area is Waka Waka volcano with challenging rope climbing lanes and an exciting slide that kids adore! One more not-to-be-missed feature is a big trampoline with an inclined slope, which makes bouncing on it so much more fun for little ones.

Bouncy castle and other stations in junior area, Waka Waka volcano and sitting area, overlooking some lovely safari-themed slides

The unique facility that this venue offers is Adventure Cove. Suitable for children aged 5-14, this area features Obstacle Rope Course (where parents can join their kids, by the way), three differently themed 2-metre-high Climbing Walls and Totem Challenge with Leap of Faith, at which kids will need all their courage, balance and coordination to get to the top. Adventure Cove is a paid zone. The harnesses and helmets are provided for children’ safety.

Our Test Patrol mom Angeline, mother of a 5-year-old, noted that it would be much better if Adventure zone wasn’t a paid one and its design was more themed, as the walls in Adventure zone are plain, which makes the playground look “bland”.

Adventure Cove: Obstacle Rope Course, Climbing Walls and Totem Challenge. And our little adventurer Emma among other kids enjoying the obstacle course.

As for the restaurant area, where most of the parents and caregivers spend their time, according to Angeline, it would be great if there were more crew to take care of the place, since there were uncleaned, misaligned tables and tables booked with personal belongings and no owners present.

Unlike other outlets by The Polliwogs, this one has a washroom within the territory of the playground, which makes it much more convenient for the visitors! There is also a nursery room, but for some reason it is located in the wheel chair toilet with a changing table that blocks the way for a wheel chair. Hopefully, this space design issue can be solved easily.

The Polliwogs at Suntec City

The Polliwogs indoor playground at Suntec City is directly accessible by MRT (Promenade) and it is one of the biggest venues of the chain.

Toddler area is pretty spacious and is equipped with everything younger kids need for active play: slides, building blocks, sensory wall games for development of their motor skills and more. There is also a very nice bouncy castle, but it is located in the main play area.

Toddler area with slides and soft colourful constructions blocks and function room, decorated for a birthday party

In the main playground there are lots of multi-level climbing structures, tunnels, slides and The Polliwogs’ signature ball-shooting arena. Our Test Patrol mom, Hazel, says that her 3-year-old enjoyed himself with all the obstacle stations, and that he particularly liked the ball blaster gun, shooting out colourful foam balls and roller slide.

The highlight of this particular outlet is lazer zone. The task is to complete a mission in a dark room making your way around the lasers. Playing in lazer zone isn’t included in the admission fee, though.

Views of main play area and 3-year-old Izac completely enjoying his ball blaster gun experience

Indoor playgrounds are usually crammed during the weekend, however, the weekend our Test Patrol family went to visit The Polliwogs at Suntec City there were still plenty of tables available in seating areas for parents and there wasn’t any need to share tables. Also there was an ongoing kids party in the café (the venue has two large party rooms for birthday parties), so the staff was quite busy, but probably situation is different on weekdays.

As you can see, although these playgrounds belong to the same franchise, each of them has something different to offer. But what they do have in common is that they really provide some SERIOUS fun for children, encouraging confidence and communication and engaging them in active play in comfortable and safe environment. And don’t forget your socks! ;)

TickiKids team would like to thank Nicole Ng, Angeline Khong and Hazel Lee for providing us with photos and their impressions of the venues. Some of the photos were taken from The Polliwogs website.