Social & Community
Playtime
30 January 2026
Find the perfect activities for your kids.
Summary
Playtime is a platform that helps busy parents quickly discover age-appropriate activities and events for their children in one centralised location.
With just three simple questions, parents can easily find nearby playgrounds, community events, workshops, and activities tailored to their child's age and interests.
By aggregating events from government and private sources and using intelligent filtering, Playtime eliminates the frustration of searching across multiple websites and social media platforms.
ⓘ Try us out at https://playtime.hack2026.gov.sg/
Problem Statement
Many young parents are part of the “sandwich generation” where they have to juggle work, care for aging parents while also maintaining the household. Even what seems like a small task like planning for their children’s activities can be daunting due to the overwhelming information overload when planning activities for their children. Our hope with Playtime is to help make this task easier for parents to alleviate the mental load.
Our survey of 15 parents revealed the following pain points when it came to activity planning:
53% struggle with scattered information across multiple sources (government websites, social media, word-of-mouth)
47% don't know what events are happening nearby in their area
33% struggle with finding free or affordable options within their budget
Current Behaviour Patterns:
Parents juggle 2-3 different sources on average, including Google searches, Instagram, Facebook groups, government websites, and parenting blogs like HoneyKids.
No parents found activity planning to be easy, with 20% of parents finding it to be challenging.
80% of parents would be interested in having an option that would allow them to find nearby events and playgrounds
Objectives and Goals
Primary Objective: Create a single, intelligent platform that consolidates and recommends family-friendly events and activities, reducing planning time to less than 10 mins
Specific Goals:
Aggregate events from 10+ government and private sources into one searchable database
Enable personalised recommendations based on child age, event preferences and location
Allow parents to save and share discoveries with others
Success Metrics:
Reduce average activity research time by 50%
Achieve 4+ CSAT score
75% of users favourite an event as a proxy to usage
Our Solution
Playtime's Three-Layer Approach:
Data Aggregation Layer: Automated scraping and standardisation of events from government sources (NLB, Esplanade, NParks) and private platforms, updated in real-time to ensure current information.
AI Enhancement Layer: Large Language Model processing that parses diverse event descriptions, standardises formats, and enriches data with Google Maps integration (photos, comments, etc).
Smart Filtering Interface: Intuitive user experience allowing parents to filter by child’s age, activity preferences, and location
Key Features:
Age-appropriate filtering
Activity based filtering
Location-based search
Map-based view
Favourites function to store saved locations and events
Simple three step input to generate recommendations.
Events and location recommendations based on user’s inputted information.
Users can view nearby activities and locations in a convenient map view.
Initial User Feedback
Early feedback from our user testing has been positive. Users felt the user experience made the search experience smoother and the recommendations were aligned with the type of activities they were looking for.
Highlights from user testing and usage:
5 users mentioned that Playtime could cut their planning time by 50% or more
CSAT score of 4.0
Images were consistently an important factor for users when evaluating playgrounds and locations
Users think primarily in terms of proximity and convenience though having an option to see trending/upcoming events outside of the initial location would be helpful too
Event recommendations can be improved as it can be a hit or miss at times.
It’s useful to be able to see all the playgrounds nearby.— Mother of 1 in her 30s
I’ll be going to the dinosaur event with my kids!— Mother of 2 in her 30s
This is better than going through blog websites or google search.— Father of 2 in his 30s
What’s Next
Immediate (Next 2 weeks):
Continue to gather additional user feedback from demo day and user testing
Implement user feedback on improvements on price filtering and other trending events
Short-term (1-2 months):
Launch beta version with core filtering and recommendation features
Expand data sources based on user feedback
Build parent review and rating system
Establish partnerships with key event organisers for direct data feeds
Long-term (3-6 months):
Scale to cover all Singapore regions with comprehensive coverage
Explore integration with government digital services ecosystem
Research and Approach
Week 1: Problem Validation & Research
Conducted survey with 15+ parents to validate problem assumptions
Analysed existing solutions and identified gaps in current market offerings
Connected with Wah! Team to learn from their previous hackathon experience with similar event aggregation challenges
Defined core user personas and primary use cases
Week 2: Data Foundation & Technical Setup
Began data scraping from online sources
Developed LLM parsing system to standardise different event description formats
Integrated Google Maps API for location enrichment (photos, reviews, etc)
Created initial data pipeline architecture
Week 3: Prototype Development
Built working prototype with basic filtering functionality
Implemented postal code-based location search
Developed event display interface with summary views
Created initial user flow from user onboarding to event discovery
Week 4: User Testing & Iteration
Conducted 5+ user testing sessions
Identified key improvement areas to include price and other trending events
Updated UI to better display the location, events and maps view
OVT
Opportunity — What problem are you working on, and why it matters
Busy parents, particularly those in the "sandwich generation" juggling work and caregiving responsibilities, face significant frustration when planning activities for their children. Our survey of 15 parents revealed that 53% struggle with scattered information across multiple sources, 47% don't know what events are happening nearby, and 33% struggle with finding affordable options. Parents currently juggle 2-3 different sources on average, including Google searches, Instagram, Facebook groups, government websites, and parenting blogs. No parents found activity planning to be easy, with 20% finding it challenging. This information overload transforms what should be a simple task into a daunting mental burden. The problem matters because 80% of parents expressed interest in a solution that consolidates nearby events and playgrounds, and reducing this planning friction can meaningfully improve family quality time whilst alleviating parental stress in an already demanding life stage.
Velocity — What you actually built or changed in the last month
We built and deployed a working prototype at playtime.hack2026.gov.sg that enables parents to discover age-appropriate activities through a simple three-step process. The platform now aggregates data from 10+ government and private sources including NLB, Esplanade, and others, using LLM processing to standardise diverse event descriptions and enrich them with Google Maps integration for photos. Users can now filter activities by child's age, activity preferences, and location, view results in both list and map formats, and access detailed information about playgrounds and events. The system automatically updates in real-time and eliminates the need to re-enter basic information. Key limitations include the need for more comprehensive data coverage across all Singapore regions, agency buy-in and continued tweaks to the usability.
Traction — How real people are using it, and what is happening as a result
We conducted 5+ deep-dive user testing sessions and 7+ self-tests with parents across different demographics, receiving consistently positive feedback about the user experience. Users reported that the platform made their search experience smoother compared to existing methods as it cuts through having to navigate among different platforms. Early usage patterns suggest the platform could potential reduce research time by >50% and increases discovery of new venues, with a current CSAT score of 4.
Team Members
Shyamsundar Venkataraman - Software Engineer
Lim Jing Rong - Software Engineer
Soh Yu Ming - Software Engineer
Andrew Tan Yi Rong - Product Operations
Tan Min Min - Product Manager
Vedant Gupta - Product Designer
Wong Chi Kit - Product Designer
Gao Fan - Business Analyst
Contact the Team
Email: playtime@hack2026.gov.sg Demo Link: https://playtime.hack2026.gov.sg/
Collaboration Opportunities: We're actively seeking partnerships with government agencies managing family events, private event organisers, and parent communities. Please fill up this form or write to us at playtime@hack2026.gov.sg
User Testing Participation: Parents interested in testing our prototype and providing feedback can reach out directly at playtime@hack2026.gov.sg We're particularly looking for families with children across different age ranges.