The best thing about being a kid today is that there are soooo many cool physically and mentally challenging sport options to try. From swimming and cycling to trampolining, there’s so much fun to be had in Singapore. And if you’re an adventurous kind of family, it might be time to try rock climbing. It’s a great sport for kids as young as four years to hone their motor skills, flexibility and logical thinking. From scaling new heights to charting out paths across bouldering walls, kids will be able to push themselves to the limit on both indoor and outdoor walls – surrounded by plenty of soft foam mats and strapped into safety harnesses to avoid any hard landings! Behold: our roundup of the best fam-friendly rock climbing gyms around Singapore…
Climb Central
Looking for a fun weekend activity? Pop into Kallang Wave Mall for a walk-in climbing sesh or sign up for one of the kids’ programmes for little ones aged five to 12. Climb Central (top image) has dedicated climbing lanes for kids (adults are welcome to try it out too), as well as kid-sized climbing shoes and harnesses. Parents can get in on the action or leave it to the professionals and watch from the comforts of the viewing platform. Climb Central also holds birthday parties and camps for extra-keen climbers.
Climb Central, #B1-01 Kallang Wave Mall, 1 Stadium Place, Singapore 397718; www.climbcentral.sg
Clip ‘n Climb HomeTeamNS
There’s tons of fun and colourful walls at Clip ‘n Climb for kids to try their hand at.
Located at Our Tampines Hub, one of our fave family haunts, Clip ‘n Climb HomeTeamNS is a climbing theme park with 19 different climbing courses suitable for all ages. Kids weighing over 10kg (around four years old and up) are able to scale themed-walls, while strapped safely into the TruBlue Automatic Belay System. The little ones will also have a ball checking out the multi-coloured courses. Choose from simple ones like The Twister, and an abstract staircase, to the more challenging beanstalk-esque course, The Triffid. Check out our review of Clip ‘n’ Climb to see how our own junior reporters fared on the course.
Clip ‘n Climb HomeTeamNS, HomeTeamNS Tampines, 1 Tampines Walk #03-03, Our Tampines Hub, Singapore 528523; www.hometeamns.sg
SAFRA Adventure Sports Centre
Daredevil teens can embark on the daunting 15m or the 25m outdoor climbing walls at SAFRA’s Adventure Sports Centre. There are chimney, crack and slab walls for more experienced climbers, and a canopy challenge walk for kids to tackle with their parents. After something a little simpler for little legs? It also has a two-storey indoor bouldering gym that’ll challenge problem-solving skills.
SAFRA Adventure Sports Centre, 60 Yishun Avenue 4, Singapore 769027; www.safra.sg
The Rock School
The Rock School has indoor and outdoor rock walls so kids can climb rain or shine.
Singapore’s first ever climbing school, The Rock School, is aimed at kids two to 14 years of age. It has classes of all sorts including beginner courses, parent-child bonding sessions and even Rock Tots, where toddlers aged 24 months and up can take a stab at bouldering. There are rock walls suited for kids with child-friendly handholds, bright colours and gentle wall profiles. There are also indoor bouldering and rope walls and outdoor rock climbing walls in both Bedok Community Centre and the newest branch at Our Tampines Hub. Full body harnesses and rubber flooring are also available at Our Tampines Hub.
The Rock School, Bedok Community Centre, 850 New Upper Changi Rd #01-06, Singapore 467352; Our Tampines Hub, 1 Tampines Walk, #02-81, Singapore 528523; www.therockschool.sg
Oyeyo Boulder Home
Kids who want to try their hand at bouldering can head to this cosy bouldering gym for a climb across the horizontal rock courses. Tucked away in Little India, Oyeyo Boulder Home has no shortage of fun routes and obstacles for kids and adults to challenge themselves.
Oyeyo Boulder Home, 148 Mackenzie Road, Singapore 228724; www.facebook.com/pg/oyeyoboulderhome
Ground Up Climbing
Ground Up has opportunities for kids to join competitive classes in rock climbing.
Ground Up provides graded walls for climbers of all levels and offers family classes plus two-hour taster sessions. Whether it’s indoor rock climbing, scaling the snakes-and-ladders bouldering wall or attempting the more challenging inclined walls, kids will be challenged to solve problems and train their motor skills. There are even competitive classes for little sports enthusiasts who want to get serious about climbing.
Ground Up Climbing, Civil Service Club Level 2, 60 Tessensohn Road, Singapore 217664; www.groundupsg.com
Climbers Laboratory
Looking for a challenge? Head to Climbers Laboratory where its team of trained climbers hold climbing clinics and certification courses for teens aged 13 years and up, plus special climbing classes for Spiderkids too! There’s a variety of walls available, from the fun themed walls in Climb Lah!, to the augmented reality walls where kids can climb through the galaxy itself. There’s also a more challenging boulder wall for teens who want to hone their climbing skills.
Climber’s Laboratory, The Arena 48 Woodleigh Park Singapore 357844, PUB Recreation Club; www.climberslaboratory.com.sg
Waka Waka at Annex @ Furama
Waka Waka’s safari-themed playground even has fun themed climbing walls.
Waka Waka in River Valley has some safari-themed climbing fun for kids. Other than the wave slides, bouncy castle and futuristic air mattress, this indoor playground has an obstacle rope course that’s worth shelling out an extra $16 for, plus a Waka Adventure Zone. Strap on those safety harnesses and helmets and scale padded climbing walls and totem poles in complete safety!
Waka Waka, 407 Havelock Road, Annex@Furama #05-01, Singapore 169634; playatwakawaka.com/home/sg
Kinetics Climbing
Kinetics Climbing has bouldering and top rope courses with a variety of colour-coded routes suited for climbers of all levels. Its climbing classes, Rugrats and the Kinetics Junior Climbing Team, are perfect for kids aged four to 13 years old. It aims to equip young ones with proper climbing techniques, so they’re able to scale the walls independently.
Kinetics Climbing, 511 Serangoon Road, Singapore 218153; www.kineticsclimbing.com.sg
Onsight Climbing
Onsight Climbing is one of the biggest indoor climbing gym in Singapore, boasting 2000 sqft. of bouldering surface, 43 lanes, and more than a hundred climbing routes. For $38 per child, kids aged five to 12 years will learn how to master wall climbing under the watchful eye of experienced instructors.
Onsight Climbing, 100 Guillemard Road, Singapore 399718 (Old Singapore Badminton Hall); www.onsight.com.sg
Let ‘em Play
Check out the Augmented Reality rock climbing walls at Let ’em Play.
There’s so much to do for little climbers here. After a warm up climbing sesh on the “Let ’em Play Wall”, little monkeys can face off in a race up the transparent climb wall, or recruit the whole family to compete on an augmented reality (AR) wall. You can also play games like rock climbing pinball, thanks to the projected graphics and proprietary body tracking technology hailing from Finland. There’s also a drop-off discovery session for kids aged five years and up, so parents can have a breather while the kids burn off energy scaling rock walls and conquering obstacle courses.
Let ‘em Play, 18 Boon Lay Way, Trade Hub 21 #01-100, Singapore 609966; www.letemplay.com.sg
Top image: Climb Central
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