From a doorstep conversation to a community playspace

By Playeum

It began with a doorstep conversation. In May last year, during an evening house visit at Sin Ming Garden, Elysa Chen, Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, met a stay-home mum who spoke about indoor parent-child centres she had seen in Taiwan, places where families could simply show up and let their children play in a safe, welcoming environment. 

Then came a hopeful question: could something like that exist in Bishan?

The idea lingered. Soon after, Elysa ran a poll on social media to gauge interest. The response was stronger than she expected. “People actually really commented on it,” she later recalled. “It means this must be something that is a good idea to more than one parent. So then we thought, let’s try to get this going.”

That spark grew into Playdate, a pilot family playspace programme co-created by Bishan Community Club and Playeum. Drawing on Playeum’s experience in designing open-ended environments that nurture independence and curiosity, the team transformed a lounge in the community centre into a space that feels like a shared, playful living room.

Every Saturday, families with children aged 12 and under step into a room filled not with fixed toys or instructions, but with loose parts and open-ended materials such as cardboard roll cores, wooden blocks, fabric, tracks, and everyday objects ready to be reimagined. 

Since its launch on 3 November 2025, the once empty room has become a place where children build, pretend, invent, and connect. A PVC pipe becomes a telescope, then a tunnel, then part of a fantastical machine. Children move fluidly between ideas, negotiating roles and storylines, and learning through exploration. 

For many caregivers, the impact has been quietly profound. One grandfather shared, “They give the opportunity for the children to really play freely and you can really observe what they like. Through the short 10-minute observation, I can roughly tell what my grandson likes. He’s very creative.” 

Other parents echoed similar sentiments, noticing new sides of their children including confidence, persistence, and joy. One mother of a four-year-old said, “Because he’s an only child, I wanted him to interact with other kids. I think he had fun. I saw him play with other kids.”

What began as a resident’s question has grown into a community space where play is not just an activity, but a way for families to understand one another better. Meaningful play isn’t just equipment. It's open-ended possibility.

Playdate continues to welcome families with young children in Bishan to join the free weekly Saturday play sessions at Bishan Community Club. Sign up here