Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden is Asia’s first garden dedicated to children. With the theme “Life on Earth Depends on Plants”, it educates and instills a love of nature in children. It now has a small photosynthesis water play area where children can learn about how plants grow and spring to life.
Water Play
The Photosynthesis Water Play Area at Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden consists of a wooden trough at one end and a “tree” installation at the other.
At the trough, there are two water pumps and two tall, clear cylinders. The water in the trough fills up and feeds into wooden channels which carry the flowing water downwards by gravity to a brown, central area.
This section of the water play area is very much similar to what you would find at nature playgardens around Singapore, such as the one at HortPark.
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Once the water flows down to the central area, it disappears into the grates surrounding the tree installation.
Presumably, this is very much like watering the ground to nourish the tree.
Playing at the Photosynthesis Water Play Area, Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden
Kids can pedal and crank on a lever in order to allow the tree installation to spray out mist and grow “fruit”. This represents the process of photosynthesis where trees harness the energy found in sunlight, take in water and carbon dioxide, and produce food that is necessary for survival. This in turn produces oxygen which is essential for living beings like humans and animals to survive as well.
In this case, the energy which kids exert into the installation through the levers take the place of the sun’s energy, but it conveys the concept of photosynthesis to kids through play.
Learning through Play
The photosynthesis water play area at Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden is one of the many sights and play elements around the Singapore Botanic Gardens attraction. Do take note that at the moment, the main water play area is still closed for renovation.
