7.1 Rationale of Playtime express

7.1 Rationale of Playtime express

Yun Sen I dunno. Playgrounds are an essential part of a childhood...

7.2 Overview of Playtime express

This playground is meant to be used as a form of child-directed play. It primarily focuses on educating the children through physically playing. The playground contains many facilities that promotes social playing: it encourages physical and vocal interaction between children.

7.3 Analysis of famous playgrounds in Singapore

Outdoor

Parallel to West Coast Highway, Singapore

Adventure play area (with pirate ship playground, climbing ropes, flying foxes and giant pyramid (above), spread across eight play zones). The park has a huge oval for running or kite flying and offers endless cycling paths.28 Lorong 6, Toa Payoh, Singapore 310028It is one of the few original HDB playgrounds of the 1970s known as the Dragon Playground. The dragon-shaped sand-based playground is fun for both young and old kids to climb and slide down the inside of the dragons neck.

Cost : Free for All

Indoor

Amazonia

Boasting an adrenaline-inducing four-tiered wave slide, coupled with a dedicated toddlers' area for those below 3 years of age, this Indoor Playground surely has got the right ingredients to get kids of all ages truly pumped up.

And if that isnt enough to tire them out, kids can partake in 2 Glow-in-the-Dark games:

Spaceball where up to 4 players on each team load up their air guns with foam balls and attempt to shoot target boards located above the opposing team

3D Glow Golf where kids can try out the 9-hole putting course under the watchful eyes of Marine animals, Pirates and Dinosaurs.

Cost: 1-3 years old - $22 for 2 hours

3-12 years old - $33 for 2 hours

Babies under 1 year old Free

3D Glow Golf - $8.60

Spaceball - $5.35

Fidgets

Custom designed and manufactured in Australia by world leader Playtec, the structure includes the first automatic and interactive ball washing machine in Singapore reducing over 99% of germs.

Lots of climbing structures, and 3 separate areas for babies, toddlers and older kids.

Cost: 1-2 years old - $8 for unlimited play per entry

2-10 years old - $15 for unlimited play per entry

Babies under 1 year old Free

Hokey Pokey

An Indoor Playground which is catered with the younger toddlers in mind. The staff take safety and hygiene very seriously. There were staff stationed at the various corners of the play areas at all times, and for the 2 hours that we were there, I spotted staff sanitizing the toys no less than 3 times.

Cost: $25 for unlimited play per entry (2 hours for Weekends & Public Holidays); $8 for an additional hour of play

Analysis:

Outdoor playgrounds are generally more limited as they are public goods and there are no incentives to build better quality playgrounds. Indoor playgrounds, on the other hand, have air conditioning and are better equipped with play facilities. Hygiene is maintained carefully too. Thus, we hope to modify some of these facilities from indoor playgrounds and add them to outdoor playgrounds.

7.4 Initial prototype 1 pictorials

[ILLUSTRATIONS AT THE BACK]

7.5 Implementation and Benefits of prototype 1

This playground consists of several components, which are more exhilarating and educational than other normal playgrounds since it consists of more adventurous equipment, which are very interactive for the kid.- Some of these include slides that require kids to solve a simple question before they can slide down. Some facilities have a question gate that require children to answer a simple English/Math/Science question before they can enter and play.- A sandpit will also be built within this playground, since it not commonly found in playgrounds in Singapore. Thus, todays modern children can also get the opportunity to play with sand and improve their imagination and art skills as they learn how to build sandcastles, etc.- A unique kind of seesaw will also be included, whereby children can make use of different weights to balance the seesaw.

- There will be a maze at the middle of the playground with educational equipment that children can find while exploring, for example a small fountain will also be placed in the centre of the maze, which will be enhanced by coloured lights. Thus, the fountain will look extremely colourful, especially at night. Kids can also press mutiple buttons found right beside the fountain to learn about the different colour combinations..

- There is also an angry-birds stimulation, which involves the concept of the angry birds mobile game. This brings computer games into real life and thus children can develop the interest for such outdoor games instead of playing them on their electronic devices. - Other components include a sheltered area (which allows parents to relax and also supervise their children at the same time) and an empty space for the kids to play their own sports (eg kite flying/any other physical or social games).

7.6 Feedback and suggestions

Very Good

7.7 Benefits of prototype 1

Add to 7.5

7.7 Limitations of prototype 1

Singapore is a small country with limited space. Currently a lot of playground have been dismantled to make way for carpark/ elderly corner. It is not feasible to build such a big playground on new land.

Material and labour costs to build and maintain such a playground are also significant.

Parents prefer bringing their child to air-conditioned playgrounds as they find it safer and also more convenient for them since they dont have to sit in the outdoors while looking after their kids.

Parents might still not allocate a lot of time for their children to play which defeats the whole purpose of this project.Add this in 7.8 Counter to these Problems:

The playground can be built over current playgrounds as a form of improvement. This will improve on the current playgrounds and also not take up a lot of extra space.As for a small one-time-pay entrance fee for unlimited access to the playground. Give a card to prove that they had paid for the entrance fee.Give talks to parents to prove that outdoor playgrounds are definitely much better than indoor ones due to several reasons: Children experience a greater sense of freedom in the outdoor settings More friendly, nonviolent, rough and tumble play that are discouraged indoors can be accommodated outdoors. The unique features of the outdoors as compared to indoors includes the potentially greater space and freedom of movement available to children and the availability of equipment and materials that enable children to engage in large muscle activities as well as enhance fine motor development.- Therefore, the number of outdoor playgrounds should increase at the same time so that it is ensured that kids spend more of their time in such playgrounds. 7.9 Improved version of Playtime Express

7.10 Execution of prototype 2

7.11 Feedback and suggestions

Very Good. No Suggestions cause its perfect.

7.12 Benefits of prototype 2

7.13 A better solution than prototype 1

7.14 Final words of Playtime express