Actually we have many outdoor playgrounds in Singapore, where children can play for free. Take this fire engine-themed playground for instance: However, given the assault of global warming, no child and parent in their right minds would play outside under the sweltering sun for an hour. This explains why indoor playgrounds are in vogue and have become part of the parenting manual.

I am gonna let you see photos of three indoor playgrounds, but I bet you won’t be able to tell one from the other. It’s a cookie-cutter model - provide inflatable ball pits, trampolines, gigantic Lego-like plastic blocks, slides, and mock supermarkets. And wait for parents to flock there with their children.

Do we Singaporeans just have low standards for an indoor playground, or are these merchants too lazy to come up with unique features that will make their product stand out from the crowd? It’s such a pity because so many parents around me are buried in their phones and letting their children run amok. (Obviously, I am one of them.) Could we do things differently?

Could we have pods in which a child can bond with his/her parent over cooperative games? Maybe a simulation game in which I need to stomp on mole rats with my son? Or a Supermarket Sweep-like game, in which I race against the clock to gather several ingredients with my son? We can even incorporate some educational elements, like getting the child to sort out animal toys into the correct categories.

Something, anything that encourages parent-child bonding rather than function as a child deposit centre.

I should work on this idea. Maybe this will make me rich.