This is one humdinger of an amusement park. It is enormous and filled with water slides, surfing pools, flumes and funfair rides. Its previous incarnation was an opencast tin mine, and while kids’ hearts lift with joy at the prospect of a visit, most adults fill with dread at the sheer size and potential for lost children.

You can scramble over decaying fighter jets, sit at the controls of large, decommissioned cargo planes, and generally run free through a large hangar and outdoor field full of planes and helicopters.

These parks are David-and-Goliath-like neighbours on the eastern slopes of the Lake Gardens. While the nine hectare Bird Park is home to the world’s largest free-flight aviary and at least 200 species of birds, the Butterfly Park is a compact little treasure of 120 exotic butterfly species. .

The primary purpose of the sanctuary is to save wild elephants, by using domesticated elephants to lead them away from human habitations and into the thick jungles of the interior. The domesticated elephants are the ones you see at the sanctuary. You can feed them, stroke them, ride them and even swim with them, in a fantastic jungle river setting just 90 minutes from Kuala Lumpur.

Picture an artificial beach on the edge of a flooded tin mine. Doesn’t sound too attractive does it? So, add a few palm trees, a laid-back beach cafe, a waterfall and a swimming pool with extra shallow bits for toddlers. Then understand that the lake is 60 hectares of unfettered flat water. Hey presto, water sports in the city are starting to sound quite appealing after all.

Malaysia’s brand new administrative capital is built round a huge man-made lake and accompanying wetlands. All that water is designed to naturally cool the city. But it also translates into lots of fun activities for kids. There are canoes, boats and dinghies for hire. You can also take an air-conditioned boat tour of the big lake, and take in all eight of Putrajaya’s remarkable new bridges.

Here is the biggest expanse of moulded plastic slides, swings and climbing frames that you are ever likely to entertain your children on. Anywhere. Its much larger than similar playgrounds in New York’s Central Park, or in London’s Hyde Park. Uniformed park keepers with whistles patrol around the colour-coded play areas and walkways.

You can walk under great forest trees, ride on mountain bike tracks, play in the river, camp overnight, and trek up to a canopy walk in the treetops. What is particularly amazing is that just 80 years ago, this area was an industrial wasteland. The people of FRIM literally nurtured the forest back to life, and kids love to see this life cycle in action.

This rolling park is a calm haven from Kuala Lumpur’s hustle and bustle, and a great place for children to let off steam. When the Lake Gardens were built, under British orders back in 1888, they were a mile outside the tiny town of Kuala Lumpur. Now they are in the city centre. The large playground with its enchanted castle is a big hit with kids. You can also go boating at the weekends and visit the deer park.

Fireflies belong to that netherworld between fantasy and reality, to those balmy evenings of childhood when you hoped to catch a specimen in a jam jar, but never quite managed to. One of the most amazing trips you can make from Kuala Lumpur is to visit the fireflies that live on the banks of the Selangor river. The journey takes 90 minutes by car and, unless it is raining or the moon is full, you are pretty much guaranteed a world-class display of twinkling fireflies breaking up the velvet night.