Playtime for the Kids in Rizal Park Children's Playground

According to Pediatrics Journal:

Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth. Play also offers an ideal opportunity for parents to engage fully with their children.

In short, play is good for our children, Samuel and Samantha. It is also a good way of bonding between me, My Beloved wife, and the kids. That's why I join playing toys with the kids. I  join their pretend plays and sometimes horseplay with them.



Unfortunately, our hometown in Laguna woefully lacks public park. That city doesn't have any green public park or a decent playground. This is a big contrast to Baguio City and Tagaytay that have wide green public spaces. In fact, our family has to go to Nuvali just to give the kids a wide green space to run around.

So, one day we decided to bring Samuel and Samantha to a big playground. We brought them to Rizal Park Children's Playground.

Rizal Park Children's Playground is big and has slides, swings, seesaw, and other things that the kids will enjoy. The best thing is that there's no entrance fee, which is like the playground in Baguio's Burnham Park. 

Samuel and Samantha ran with excitement the moment they entered the playground. They went up and down on this rainbow slide.

They also had a good time with other slides.

Swings and monkey bars.

What I like about the Rizal Park Children's Playground is the whimsical and playful designs of the park like these bench carried by frogs.

Then there is this statue of a fish being eaten by another fish, which is a playful design for a tunnel.

Statues like these reminds me of monsters and characters from Studio Ghibli movies.

Our favorites in Rizal Park Children's Playground is this life-size and larger-than-life statues, such as these dinosaurs:

Then there is giant hippo, where my son bravely entered and had a good photo in its mouth.

These statues are the reasons why I wanted to bring my children to Rizal Park Children's Playground. I always see them every time I ride the LRT train and I know that my children will marvel at the dinosaurs.

There is also a big statue of the pawikan.

Of course, I imagined my kids being devoured by this giant sea turtle.

The whimsical characters and larger-than-life statues in Rizal Park Children's Playground is very good for enhancing my children's imagination. The people who planned this park really thought about the children who will use this playground.

Rizal Park Children's Playground features things that can be found in fairy tales such as this "shoe house".

Then there is a pumpkin house...

...which reminds of the carriage used by Cinderella.

Rizal Park also has a volcano.

Do not be afraid. That volcano is dormant and will no longer throw up sulfur and ash.

My Little Ones had the great time in Rizal Park Children's Park. I was happy to see them enjoy. Sadly, I observed not-so-good things during our tine there. 

One not-so-good thing is the rudeness of other kids inside the park. These kids throw sand and gravel on the slide and other kids.

Another not-so-good thing graffiti and vandalism of park visitors. I saw plenty of writings in the statue and other park amenities.Other visitors also throw their garbage anywhere.

Graffiti in Rizal Park Children's Playground.

These not-so-good things are not the fault of Rizal Park administrator but by Filipinos themselves! It reflects our nature as Filipinos. And it is saddening. 

Despite the not-so-good Pinoy behavior that I observed, I will still bring my little ones to the Rizal Park Children's Playground because this is one of the very few places where they can experience the joy of play, which is also the joy of childhood.

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Read about my other post about Rizal Park, which is about the Luneta Park Dancing Fountain.

114th Independence Day at Luneta Park

The whole country celebrated the 114th anniversary of the proclamation of the Philippine Independence last Tuesday (June 12). There were celebrations in the various historical sites around the country. The government hosted celebrations at the Aguinaldo Shrine and Barasoain Church. I went to the Independence Day celebration at Luneta Park.

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It is a day of gusty wind with a threat of heavy rain but many people showed up for the Independence Day celebration. Majority of the people who showed up are job seekers who took their chances in the job fair located near Luneta Park's dancing fountain. Other people were attracted by the booths erected by different government agencies. The booth that became the crowd's favorite is the booth from the military because they featured their big guns.

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Tanks and big guns of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

My favorite is this anti-aircraft gun:

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I also like this howitzer:

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I want to own the anti-aircraft gun and howitzer and display them in front of my house. Then I will buy a tank, which I can drive when I go to work. I bet that even the overspeeding bus drivers will have second thoughts before challenging me in my army tank. He he he.

The Philippine flag took the “center stage” since it is Independence Day. Luneta Park had numerous Philippine flags waving proudly in the wind.

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How many Philippine flags are in this photo?

Of course, I didn't forget to take a photo of the most important monument in Luneta Park, which is the monument of Jose Rizal.

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Luneta Park Dancing Fountain

In the previous post, I talked about the Anti-RH Bill Prayer Rally that I attended at the Quirino Grandstand. After the prayer rally, I and my friends walk through Luneta Park or Rizal Park to reach the buses along Taft Avenue. While we walk, I noticed something weird at Luneta Park. No, it is not the people who sleep at Luneta Park. What I noticed is this:

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Well, that is just a simple fountain at Luneta Park, which is boring. However, when the night falls at Luneta Park that fountain transforms into:

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Yeah, those fountains at Luneta Park become sprays of light during the night. And that's not all because the fountain "dances" and follows the beat of music being played all over Luneta Park. I enjoyed watching the fountain of light "dance" to the tune of Pyramid by Charice.

The dancing lighted fountain is an added treat at Luneta Park and I suggest to visitors of Luneta Park to look at the delightful fountain.

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