lebaran holiday july 2019 - jacob ballas children's garden

we went to singapore near raya holiday, and the whole family decided to get together in singapore to celebrate 3 consecutives birthdays, my mum's, my son's and my brother's. and my dad got the idea to take family picture again since we had more additional member since we took family picture couple years ago (even i only had one child back then!). so my brother in law suggested to go to jacob ballas children's garden. if you never heard jacob ballas, don't worry, i never heard of it until now either. apparently, it's a small part of singapore botanic garden that's dedicated for children.

this is the description from singapore botanic garden website: the jacob ballas children's garden is the first garden in asia dedicated to children. its theme of "life on earth depends on plants" aims to educate and instil a love for nature in children. the garden is a complete nature-learning environment, where children can delve deeper into the ecology of plants and our environment through discovery and experiential learning. the garden offers children a space for exploration, adventure and play, with a farm, an orchard, and a forest with its own stream and ponds. young adventure seekers can explore the suspension bridge and nature play areas, budding naturalists can walk along the stream and climb into the tree-houses, and our urban gardeners can observe how plants grow and pick up some gardening tips!
opening hours: 8 am to 7 pm (last admission at 6.30 pm). the jacob ballas is closed on mondays (except when it falls on designated public holiday). refreshments are available at the entrance of jacob ballas children's garden.
free admission. children aged 12 and below must be accompanied by an adult. adults are permitted entry only if accompanying a child. wheelchair accessible.

as i've stated before, this is a small part of gigantic singapore botanic garden. we went there using grab, and it was quite a long trip to reach the jacob ballas one, so i suggest you take public transportation like taxi or grab so you can arrive exactly at jacob ballas. i'm not suggesting you to use car either since the car park slot in jacob ballas one is quite small. when we were there, my brother in law drove his car twice circling the parking area and he failed to find a free spot. he had to park in the botanic garden parking area. so if you wanted to get parking space, probably arrive earlier.

there's a small lobby area with a receptionist desk and one or two vending machines. a toilet and a baby changing table inside the toilet. there are few benches outside so you can wait there. as stated, the entrance fee is free if you bring kids along. so the receptionist will just glance whether you bring a kid with you or not. at that time, we were a group of 9 adults, 3 kids and 1 baby, and we could go in just like that.

luckily (or probably not), when we were there, it was sunny. once you got inside, there were two road, one to your right, one to your left. but no matter which path you take, you will go back to the original spot. if you chose to your right, you will come to the bridge over the lake. the bridge was quite wide so we could take picture there. furthermore you would come to a big space of green grass. there were no bench, but you could sit on the grass. a bit further again, there was a big field with several flowers bushes around it. there were couple benches but it was open, so it was pretty hot. my son got bleeding nose because it was too hot. so don't forget to bring water bottles and some snacks.

it was quite a lovely small park. if you long for nice outdoor activity with plenty of space for your kids to run around, then it would be a good option. i've seen several nannies brought their kids for a picnic day in the park while i was there. i don't know about eating there, but i could give my kids snack and drink without any problem. just don't forget to throw the trash in the trash bin. again, if you do decided to go there, bring a lot of water bottles and hat to cover your hair especially if it was sunny. oh, you could also take picture here too for free. from what i heard, you'll need permission if you take picture in the botanic garden, but it's still free in jacob ballas garden. i hope it remained that way.