Zhubei, Three Tiny Parks

We LOVE this park! My boys decided to call it "Three Tiny Parks" because it's consist of three play structures. There are slides, see-saws, climbing ropes,  a rock climbing wall, and rocking horses. There is something for all ages.

Location: google map location Wenzhong Rd & Xianzheng 2nd Rd behind Women & Youth Center. 婦幼館後面

Parking: Street Parking available

Pro: Unique structures, basketball court, skating rink

Con: no bathrooms on site, but there should be restrooms at the Women & Youth center.

Taipei, Brick Works Cafe @ Taipei Arena

It was no uninteresting that this was the only picture we took.

This review is for Brick Works Cafe located inside of Taipei Arena (小巨蛋). Let me just say - if you have legos at home, you can pass on this place. Unless you're a fan of dirty legos, overpriced food & drinks...trust me, you are better off going to Toysrus's lego section. I was very excited to try out this place since all of my boys are HUGE lego fans. I have quite a list of complaints:

1. Food is terrible - Yes, you can get a lego shaped waffle here. So what? That lasted about 10 seconds before my boys ate it all up. Yes they said, "LOOK! IT'S A LEGO GUY!" but that was about it. NT$180, gone. Lego jello? You will have more fun making it yourself at home. My boys complained more about how difficult it was to eat the jello than anything else.

2. Legos for play - There are plenty of legos by the wall that you can put in your lego bin and bring it back to your table to play for free. Besides the hygiene factor (you can't really expect these things to be germ free), the selection is really limited. If you are a lego mom you'd know what I mean. They have the primary colors plus black, gray, and white. No exciting shapes/colors. My 5 yr old could build with anything and he was bored.

3. Some Legos are not even Legos - This is the real problem for me. We are masters at identifying non-legos, or counterfeit legos since it's everywhere here in Taiwan. At the "make your own lego guy" station here, there were pieces that weren't branded Lego.


Brick Works Taipei
Minimum charge NT$80/person
Location: I can give you the address but you should not go there anyway.
Pros: It's decorated with legos.
Cons: bad food & boring legos.

Taipei, 跳跳蛙健兒中心 Leap Frog

This is an indoor playground located next to the Museum of Drinking Water in Taipei. Our last visit was back in January. This place was just opened November 2015, so it's relatively new. There is a ball pit, rock climbing wall, bounce house, a slide, bubble soccer thing, and basketball hoops. There are about 3-4 employees inside of the play area to supervise/help children if needed. There are tables and chairs outside around the play area for parents to sit and watch, but I recall there is a minimum charge for sitting at the table. Their food & drink menu was pretty scarce, so I would recommend going elsewhere for food. Overall my boys had a good time!!!

Location: 台北市中正區思源街1號 Siyuan Street #1, Taipei City
Hours: (by time slots)M-F: 10:30~13:30, 14:00~17:00. Weekends: 10:30~12:30, 13:00~15:00, 15:30~17:30
Price: NT$350/child + 1 Adult
Socks mandatory

Website: Leap Frog Child Fitness Center

Pros: Good for all ages (toddler-school age), clean
Cons: Food & drinks not recommended.

Zhubei, 繩索公園 Rope Park

This is not your typical playground, but it will definitely wear your little ones out after 30 mins of climbing around in this thing! The only negative thing about this park that it gets pretty warm during the summer for the kiddos since there is nothing covering the rope structure. There are benches around the park that have shade though. There is also a skating rink right by the restrooms.

Location: 光明六路嘉豐五路 Guangming 6th Rd. & Jiafeng 5th Rd.
Parking: street parking

Pros: restrooms onsite, skating rink
Cons: no shade

Zhubei, 爬蟲兩棲公園 Stone Slide Park

The rock slide is what separates this park from the others, and it's always fairly clean! My boys can literally play on the rock slide for hours. The trees surrounding the park also have the sweetest smelling flowers - which makes it quite nice when you're standing in the shade watching the kids play. Of course, this park is really close to all the good food on Guangming 1st Rd., so you can easily have the kids play for awhile and then walk to one of the restaurants nearby for lunch or dinner.

Location: 光明一路文興路口 Guangming 1st. Rd & Wenxin Rd.

Parking: Street parking/parking lot nearby
Panorama View

Pros: unique, spacious
Cons: no onsite restrooms

Zhubei, 豆子埔公園 Douzibu Park

We went there on a weekday afternoon, and we were able to find parking right across from the park. The only downside to this park is that there is only a blinking red light at its intersection, therefore making it a bit more dangerous to cross the street. Other than that, it is a great park with lots of shade  (great for summer). There is a cool structure (pic #3) that my boys decided to name it "forward and backward seesaw" which moves like a swing when you're sitting on it.

Location: 三民路 & 民族街 Sanmin Rd & Minzu St, near Ren Ai Junior High School

Pros: shaded, spacious, swings, restrooms on site

Cons: busy cross streets

Parking: street parking

Zhubei, Coconut Tree Park

Found this hidden gem when we drove by today! It has a parking lot right next to it, and there was plenty of parking. It's tucked away in a quiet neighborhood right off of the freeway. The restrooms were clean, playground structure seemed relatively new as well. Our boys decided to name it "Coconut Tree Park." Lots of free space for kids to roam around!

Location: 康乃薾幼稚園後面, Jiade St. & Keda 2nd St. (not identified on Google map)

Pros: Spacious, restrooms on site, relatively new
Cons: none!
Parking: Parking lot right next to it

Taipei, 榮星花園 Rongxing Park

It is a beautiful park - great for taking a walk or letting the kids run wild. This is what I love about being in Taiwan - the kids are exposed to such a variety of plants and flowers! And with that comes the different bugs and insects. I really believe that the nature is the kids' best playground. The unique stone slides here are definitely a bonus. And my boys don't even go to the play structure when there is a metal climbing box thing around! There is also a traditional market within sight - but the kids probably won't like it much as it is usually super crowded. ;)


Location: 民權東路建國北路口. Minquan E. Rd. & Jianguo N. Rd.

Pros: restrooms on site, three play structures
Cons: not enough shade for summer time by the play structure

Taipei, 臺灣博物館 National Taiwan Museum

We first started off with a short walk in 228 Peace Park (will be another review), then to the main museum, and lastly the exhibition hall. The pictures above are actually from the Land Bank Exhibition Hall which is located right across from the museum. It was A HIT with the boys!! The main museum also had many interesting exhibits for both adults and children. On a hot summer day, if you have no where to go with the kids, this is definitely the place to come for a cool casual stroll.


Location: 台北市襄陽路2號 (二二八公園內) Xiangyang Rd, No. 2 (inside of 228 Peace Park)
Opening hours: Tue - Sun 9:30am to 5:00pm
Price: NT$30/adult, NT$15/kids age 6-12, kids 6 and under FREE
Website: National Taiwan Museum

Pros: inexpensive, educational, AC
Cons: nothing!

Zhubei, 福興公園 Fuxing Park

The park is off of a busy road, but the playground is tucked away on the inside of the park. Although the structures are old and rusty, my boys do not mind at all - it is not easy to find parks with monkey bars around here! Usually there are many senior citizens hanging around the park playing cards or just sitting in their wheelchairs. I'd like to think that my boys are providing free entertainment for them ;). 

Location: 福興路&縣政六路口 (Fuxing Rd. & Xianzheng 6th Rd)

Pros: restrooms on site, monkey bars, grass field, swing set

Cons: structure is old and rusty, hard to find parking close by

Parking: street parking

Taipei, 敦化公園 Dunhua Park

A nice little neighbor hood park with lots of kids. The one confusing thing about if you are trying to find this park is that it is called "Beining Park" on Google map instead of Dunhua! It is also walking distance to 中崙市場 if you want to check out the nearby traditional market.

Location: 八德路三段12巷 Bade Rd, Section 3, Lane 12 & Dunhua S Rd. Section 1.

Pros: skating rink, lots of shade, Hi-life nearby
Cons: No restrooms on site.

Zhubei, Carrefour Park

I could not find the official name for this park, so the kids decided to call this "Carrefour Park." What my boys love about this park is that it's super spacious. The play structure is not unique but they have a lot of space to run around. And they love 7-11.

Location: 縣政九路金石堂旁. Between Xianzheng 8th st & Xianzheng 9th Rd by 7-11. Next to Carrefour Zhubei. (not identified on Google map)

Pros: close to 7-11 for snack/drink/potty/cash/pay your bills, basketball court
Cons: hard to find parking, no restroom on site (but the 7-11 near by has a relatively clean one)
Parking: Street parking

Zhubei, 兒8童玩公園 Er 8 Tong Wan Park

There's nothing special about this little park, except that it's located next to a bakery and two grocery stores (Wellcome and 億客來). If you plan on taking your kids to do some grocery shopping, it is easier when you can promise them playtime at the park and picking out bread afterwards.

Location: 成功二街 & 自強五路口 (Chenggon 2nd st & Ziqiang 5th rd, across from Patio Bakery), not identified on Google map.

Panorama View

Pros: Contained, covered bench seating
Cons: No restrooms
Parking: Usually can be found on nearby streets

The Origin

This place is inspired by a blog called Playground Perspectives (which no longer exists) based in Plano, Texas. 6 years ago, when I was still new to Plano and my oldest son became a toddler, I had no idea where to take him to get his wiggles out. And then I found Playground Perspective - which offered reviews of local parks and kid-friendly places with pictures and detailed description. From then on I basically navigated the city with my three boys using that blog as a guidance.

Now here I am in Zhubei, Taiwan, discovering the city and its surrounding areas on my own. It will be mainly focused on the kid friendly places in Zhubei, Taipei, and Taichung. Hopefully you will find the information here helpful for making long-lasting memories with your loved ones.