Sassy Mama Field Trip: Bowling at Kallang Leisure Park

Kid-friendly bowling at Kallang. This family-friendly bowling alley sports side bumpers, smaller bowling balls and children’s bowling shoes!

A recent spate of visitors and a restless 4 year old left me kind of stumped for fun activities in Singapore that the whole family could enjoy. There’s only so many eateries you can visit, museums you can browse, and shopping you can do before the kids start complaining! So on a gloriously rainy Sunday afternoon I squished my son, my husband and my own mother into a taxi and took a trip East — to Kallang Leisure Park for a friendly game of ten pin bowling.

Located on the second floor of this rather odd looking complex (it’s like The Grandstand of the East Coast) Kallang Bowl is home to 22 bowling lanes, complete with side bumpers for kids, bowling balls that don’t weigh a tonne, and bowling shoes in children’s sizes. If you haven’t booked a lane ahead of time you’ll be required to wait to play (like we were!) so it’s worth getting there earlier in the day if you can manage it. The cavernous space leaves oodles of room for children to run around a bit while they’re waiting for their turn and computerised scoring means little mental calculation for mama (just how we like it!).

So how did we go? Our 4 year old LOVED it! It didn’t take him long to figure out how to sail the ball down the lane — I’ll admit there were quite a few times where he dropped the ball rather than rolling it — and he even managed to beat me in the first game (disgraceful I know!). Given it was a three-to-one adult to child ratio, we particularly loved that the bumpers only came up when it was our son’s turn… although given my woeful performance at the beginning, keeping the gutters padded would have no doubt helped my game.

Overall, we had a really enjoyable afternoon. We signed up for three games and were surprised at how quickly the time flew by (it *may* have been dark by the time we left). The 4-year-old was definitely getting tired by the end but was still happy to play despite his diminished accuracy. If you plan to make a day of it, you can easily grab a taxi from outside and head further up the East Coast to grab a bite or stay within the Leisure Centre itself for something to eat.

Sassy Mama Tips: I’d definitely recommend booking your lanes ahead of time (must be done more than 24 hours in advance) if you want to roll up and get bowling! We arrived around 4:30pm on a Sunday and had to wait 35 minutes to get a lane (not the best idea in hindsight, but at least our 4 year old was happy to watch the other families bowling while he waited). There is also a small kiosk inside the centre where you can get cold drinks while you wait — or between games if it gets a bit too competitive! Oh, and don’t forget the socks!

Prices:

Weekday rates: $28 per lane/hour (Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm), $40 per lane/hour (Monday to Thursday, after 5pm)

Weekend rates: $34 per lane/hour (Friday, 9am to 5pm), $48 per lane/hour (Friday, after 5pm), $42 per lane/hour (weekends before 2pm), $50 per lane/hour (weekends after 2pm)

Kallang Bowl, 5 Stadium Walk, #02-22 Kallang Leisure Park, Singapore 397693, Tel: (+65) 6345 0545
Open: Sun to Thu 9am – 1am, Fri to Sat & PH eve 9am – 3am