After five months, I am finally sharing with you our family's trip to Kidzania! This was taken last March when we had our three-week vacation in the Philippines. As you all know, the traffic jam in Metro Manila is just horrible. I hate going out because I don't want to waste my time commuting, but if it's for my son, then that's a different story.
Kidzania Manila is an educational entertainment theme park, located in Taguig, where kids can role-play different professions, just like in real life. It's perfect for kids ages 4 to 6 years old, especially since this is the stage when they are mostly in-love with pretend play.
I remember when I was in primary school, we went for a field trip to Museo Pambata, a discovery museum that features hands-on exhibits. It was fun and enjoyable, so I thought my son would probably appreciate a similar experience, too.
What I love most about Kidzania, aside from the fun learning experience they provide, is that they also teach the kids how the real adult world goes, somehow. It's basically a mini-city where kids pretend to be adults.
When you check-in, each kid is automatically given 50 kidzos (the official currency of kidzania) that they can use for shopping, pay for services, or pay to participate in an activity. Other establishments let children "work" in order to earn kidzos. Hence, the more they work, the more they earn!
However, do keep in mind that you cannot buy kidzos -- this leaves the kids with equal opportunities unhampered by special treatment or preferences. In short, 'kahit maraming pera parents mo, kailangan mo pa rin magtrabaho.' What a great way of teaching independence and financial literacy to a young mind, don't you think?
Surprisingly, my first-born preferred to work and earn rather than avail a service. He loved working in the urban garden, gasoline station and factories (bottling plant, ice cream / snack factory, etc.). If there was a recycling center, I'm pretty sure my son would have loved to try it, too! He was such a big fan of garbage men, he even wanted to be one! Lol!
Rafa really had a great time, he didn't want to go home anymore! I guess, our visit was indeed a bit 'bitin' since we came here at a little past 12 noon already (the park closes at 4pm on weekdays and 5pm on weekends) and the queue on the establishments that my son wants to participate in were quite long (there were a lot of students having their field trip that day). If you are interested in bringing your kids here, I suggest you go as early as possible (they open at 9am on weekdays and 10am on weekends) so your child can make the most of it.
