It’s always a joy to discover a new place to visit in Manila, especially when our family can go there for a learning adventure.
About two weeks ago, we were talking about cities and road signs in connection with the book “Katy and the Big Snow”. Since serendipity is the name of my best friend, I came across a seemingly unrelated article about a supposedly useless MMDA footbridge that I curiously clicked on.
Lo and behold, we suddenly had something exciting to go to that Sunday. We were going to end our week reading Katy with a bang, thanks to the somewhat controversial MMDA Children’s Road Safety Park.
The two-year old park is situated right across Manila Zoo. It was actually the Children’s Playground before the City of Manila entrusted it to the MMDA. It is open for free everyday, except Wednesdays, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
When we got there at exactly 5:00 p.m. (yes, I failed to check the park hours), the lady guard graciously let us in after I begged for my kids who were looking forward to it. We headed straight to the cute mini-footbridge that Little T and Little Sir enjoyed going up and down on.
Road signs are everywhere, and we went up close and personal to each one. On our way home, we checked the roads for signs that we learned about earlier. We never noticed a lot of the road signs before then, such as the H for hospital and the no honking sign that means there’s a church nearby.
The lone intersection with stoplights was a hit with my kids. My husband and I pretended to be buses carrying a passenger each and zoomed around. Ouch!
The many pedestrian lanes are definitely safe for crossing the streets!
There are also small “establishments” in the park, perfect for talking about what you find in the city and the signs that go along with them. There’s a gas station…
a church…
a restaurant…
and a hospital.
There is also a waiting shed…
a cool pedestrian tunnel…
a bike lane…
and a teeny tiny example of a train track.
We’re happy to have discovered the MMDA Children’s Road Safety Park as it provided our family to once again make our learning more fun, interactive, and experiential.
Do visit the park when your kids are learning about cities, street signs, and road safety. Or, if you encounter a traffic sign on a book, go explore the park and make the concepts in the book jump out of the pages. Try to catch the scheduled orientation (guided tour) too when you go.
Make magic!
