Review: IMM Garden Plaza - Wet & Dry Playground

I apologize for the drought in my posts, the fault of my hectic study schedule. But don't expect me to keep this up...I will only have breathing space for the next couple of months. Which happens to coincide with school holidays, so hopefully I'll have more stuff to write about!

Such as our lovely outing today at IMM. Since the Garden Plaza was revamped, this is our second time bringing the kids to the new playground. Gone is the tall treehouse slide (which, sadly, I never actually got to go on), but which was replaced by some awesome new installments.

Check out the wet playground.

E1 and E2 were blessed with good weather

Before we came earlier in the week, I hadn't known there was an awesome wet playground. E2, who absolutely loves water, was longingly toddling over and chanting "water, water". Of course, he threw a tantrum when I said he couldn't go in because we didn't bring a change of clothes. This time, we came prepared!

Interesting and varied types of fountains and sprays

I don't think you would find another playground as empty as this

I don't really know what's so captivating about this trough but the kids really loved it

While the slide doesn't look very exciting, it's actually quite daunting since the sprays are quite strong. E1 only dared to go on it twice, while E2, as much as he loves water, didn't dare to go on it at all.

The best part of it was how uncrowded it was, and that it's free! And to those who don't know IMM, there's 2 hours unconditional free parking. Of course, I can't say how bad it'll be on the weekends but given that it's currently school holidays, it's still pretty neat that there were less than 10 kids the entire time we were there (I counted 7, including my own). This was a much nicer experience than the one at Gardens By the Bay or the Bird Park and Zoo, which I felt were either too uninteresting or too tough for the toddlers. Here, I was happy to let the kids roam wild while I took cover under the shade. The downside was that there is no changing rooms for adults, so I couldn't join them even though I had brought my stuff (my big kid heart wanted to go on the slide, really). But there's a nice boy and girl shower area for kids under 6.

And while waiting for the wet area to open, the kiddos were happy to run around in the dry playground.

Kor kor don't leave me behind!

The tall slide is decently high enough for the daredevils, while there are two smaller ones for younger kids. There's also other fun stuff like a mini glider that I didn't get to snap, but I assure you that this is way more fun than your average HDB playground. And there's a huge tent to provide shade and shelter from inclement weather.

Verdict: Will definitely come here again, and again, and again
It's free, not as crowded as other playgrounds, and there's free parking: what's not to love? And if you're lucky enough to have babysitters, you can dump the kids there while you shop at the multitude of branded outlets, do groceries at Giant, or spend your savings at Daiso. And then when everyone's tuckered out, choose from a variety of restaurants for lunch/dinner before heading home.

The wet playground opens at 10.30 am on weekdays and 10.00 am on weekends. Closed every first Wednesday of the month for maintenance.