WIN! A Family Playdate at Kidzania

Rather than offering thrill rides, like a Disney park, or video-game arcades, like Sparky’s, KidZania gives children ages two through sixteen the chance to enact the roles of grownups in a lavishly realized, scaled-down world that’s kid-sized.

KidZania is uncanny in its realism with its brick-paved streets lined with buildings in the style of different historical periods, like an authentic cityscape that has evolved over centuries, with storefronts bearing the logos of familiar brands like Pizza Hut and ADNOC. Resembling the outside one but orientated to children’s size, abilities, and interests, KidZania is an enclosed and engaging world.

Where Disney’s parks offer fantasy, KidZania offers a window into the real world. Children can work on a car assembly line, move furniture, or put out a fake fire with real water. KidZania has its own currency, KidZos, which can be used in branches around the world, or deposited in the central bank and accessed with a realistic-looking debit card. Kids receive a prescribed amount of kidzos upon arrival and can supplement that with the “salary” they earn for participating in an activity. The most popular of them might training to become a pilot on a simplified flight simulator.

Kids can roam freely, since the only traffic is a slow-moving, if noisy, fire truck or a similarly dawdling ambulance, both of which perpetually travel through the town square, under a roof that has been painted indigo to represent a sky in the twilight hours, as if it were always just past bedtime.

It’s exactly this “let’s pretend” motto that keeps parents coming in droves to KidZania. After all, this is what kids do every day at home, dress up as firemen, or play with dolls. The only difference is that KidZania has taken their favourite game to its maximum potential, making it more fun, safer, and even more educational. Yalla thinks that the concept is great as working to earn money to do things is a very positive message and having fun while you’re at is the cherry on top!

KidZania, Yas Mall, Ground Floor Near Grand Prix Parking, Abudhabi.kidzania.com