There is good news for people residing in Delhi NCR. KidZania, a global indoor theme park which combines education with entertainment, is coming in a bigger avatar to a place near you. Deebashree Mohanty visited the Mumbai facility to tell you why this role-play theme is working wonders with children across all age groups
Go through a hospital, fire station, dental clinic, bank, restaurants, a university, beauty salon, TV station, airplane simulator, car showroom — and yet we have not covered everything in KidZania, Mumbai! This unique ‘kids only nation’ is an evolved concept wherein a complex learning situation looks like a luring playstation.
So kids here can literally play to learn how to build a career, earn KidZos (currency) for a living and make crucial decisions. From start to finish, they achieve targets sans preaching.
located on the third floor in Ghatkopar mall, KidZania sets the tone from the ticket counter itself. An airplane check-in counter welcomes you. “We address our little guests as ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ because we want to treat them as decision makers. This is a nation for kids, we behave with them accordingly,” the receptionist tells us.
The facility is as child proof as it gets. There are no rough edges, attendants dot the place and DFID bands ensure that the child is tracked easily. You step into this entertainment city and you are greeted by attendants who guide your child through the activity zones while you take a spa if you wish, subsidised vouchers at the entrance!
“let’s get money from Yes Bank to kickstart this exciting journey...,” an attendant tells the child, guiding him to a bank set-up. Here the banker encashes the cheque and gives 50 KidZos to the child. Thus begins the role-play! “There are 36 activity centres in this complex, each sponsored by a brand. There are centres like simulators and the driving arena where you need to spend KidZos to enjoy. If the currency gets spent, don’t worry. Just walk into our courier office or to the dabbawala and get yourself a part-time job. Upon finishing the task you get awarded with more kidzos,” Viraj Jit Singh, CMO of KidZania, explains.
He tells you that in its 21 months of operations, KidZania has attracted more than 7.5 lakh visitors. As it is a concept that drives fun through learning, over 300 schools have sent 2 lakh kids here as part of a programme. “We are excited about taking KidZania outside of Mumbai. One of our biggest projects is coming up at the Entertainment City in Noida which is a 147-acre development run by IRRPl, a joint venture between Unitech and Appu Ghar. KidZania will be a standalone structure across three levels on 97,000 sqft area. The launch is scheduled for 2016. After Delhi, it will be Bengaluru,” Singh says.
Priced modestly, the Delhi edition promises a lot of role play to keep children engaged the entire day. “There will be a role-play archaeological site where kids can dig in and discover things,” Singh says. What sets this nation apart is the strict quality control that governs it. “Every activity has to be okayed by the head office in Mexico. They devote a lot of time in ensuring that the product is exactly how they had envisaged,” Singh adds.
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