Kidszania definitely provides an experience of its own. Kids get to explore and try out different occupations, the very basic of what a job entails. It also allows them up close experience of doing something that earns $. Most importantly, succinctly summarised by my No.2 - "I am at "work" whole day and only earn so much?". Value of hard work!
The number of choices of jobs can be overwhelming. The queues daunting and the different requirements of some jobs - confusing! Though I must say, Kidszania does a good job of emulating a real virtual city for kids - "adulting" for a day does teach them that its not all roses in the land of adults!
Fun comes in many forms here :) Most kids have lots of fun going for their ambition. Be it being policeman, fireman, surgeon, journalist, CSI investigator, basketball player etc, they all have longer than long queues. Pilots, cabin crews etc have double queues which speaks a lot for their popularity! Parents are mostly left at the door, trying their best to get a decent shot of their kids while they "work". However, some jobs do welcome parents! If your kid is going for pilot or cabin crew, you will be welcome to join in as "passengers" and if they are going for their basketball tryouts, you get to be their adoring fans cheering them on!
Next on the list of popularity will be jobs where the kids get to eat! Want a piece of chicken? Go work at KFC. Craving for pizza, there's always Pizza Hut where u learn how to make a small pizza! Want some desserts? Go to the ice-cream making factory for some Paddle Pops! Need a more fulfilling meal? There's Soup Spoon where u get a soup of your choice and a croissant that u make yourself! Want some candy? There is the candy making store for you to try making your own. Be forewarned though, it's yet another double queue system!
My kids did not get to try the popular ones apart for one or two. The queues are really as long as the Great Wall of China and since I do plan to bring them back, I really do not want to waste time on queuing. One of the more popular ones that they did try was being Paramedics. They got to doctor a real "patient" (a child that volunteers to be patient) and ride in an ambulance! This job warranted a 40mins wait and we were entertained by firemen putting out a fire at a burning building nearby with the police maintaining order :) The firemen gets to ride in a fire engine as well! Oh! And they will receive a "Hospital Staff ID Pass" at the end of it. Every time u complete a job at a related industry, you will get a stamp :)
They also tried being a health researcher at the Health Institute on Level 2. This is sponsored by Lifebuoy and after learning how to make the liquid soap, they each get to bring back a sample bottle of it! I thought it was very generous of Lifebuoy!
Another popular one that they tried was the Milk Innovation Lab where they go through the steps of making the milk powder that they drank when they were young. This warranted a 1.5hrs queue where I settled their lunch with a slice of pizza while in the queue. They will also be given a sample pack of milk powder and a $5 discount voucher at the end of the session.
Oh! This reminds me! At the start of the session, they will give each kid a hair cover. Please do not throw these away! When your kids go for other food making jobs and it requires the hair cover, having an existing one earns them an extra dollar! Good way of reminding the kids (and parents) to reduce, reuse and recycle! PS. Owl not included :)
This was also where we experienced the 1st unpleasant encounter :(
When we first reach the queue for the Milk Innovation Lab, I quickly counted and confirmed that my kids will be able to go in for the next session. It was a session with a maximum of 6 participants and there were already 4 kids in queue. My kids happily queued and my poor legs were taking a much needed break when my No.1 signalled for me to go over. She whispered that a boy suddenly appeared and joined in the queue with his sisters who were originally in the queue. This effectively means that my kids will not get to go in together unless they wait for another session. It had been stated very clearly that all kids need to be present for all the queues and the parents who were nearby just completely ignored that. There wasn't much that we can do as no colored bracelets were given and there was no proof. I voiced my concern to the person in charge when they came out to ready the kids for the next session and thankfully colored bracelets were given for the next round. Seeing how annoyed my kids were, I decided to let them have a quick lunch while in queue.
After that first experience, I was more aware of how some parents simply flouted the rules with no concern for what they are teaching their own kids! My most common mantra to my kids is not to do unto others what you do not want yourself. Its common manners and simple logic yet, its much easier said than done. Many a times, its a case of monkey see, monkey do. Like it or not, our kids learn from us. There had been countless times that I heard my own commonly used phrases used by my kids when playing or interacting with others!
Then again, at Soup Spoon, we had the unfortunate "luck" to experience yet again this way of "queuing". This was a job that allows 10 pax per session. Seeing that the queue was only 3 in front, my kids were overjoyed as it was something that they had wanted to try. While waiting, a group of 5 kids suddenly appeared and join in to the 3 kids in front. It turned out they were from the same group. It was pure luck that my kids could still join in as it was just at 10 pax!
Nearing the end of the day, there wasn't much time left as most jobs started on their last session for the day. One of the wanted job by my kids were to be a driver. However, there were many steps to it as they will need to first get an eye-check, attend driving school before they can "drive" a car! Seeing that most last sessions had commenced, I decided to let them go be an optician and also to get their eyes checked at the same time. Being an optician was interesting as they get to use an actual eye-checking machine and they could see what an optician see! At the end of the session they receive a card certifying that their eyes were checked. This eye-check will be valid for one year :)
One will see that most "upmarket" jobs like pilots, surgeons etc are extremely popular. A mom commented, while our kids queued outside the 7-11 store, that such jobs are popular as these are jobs parents want their kids to aspire to be. No one wants their kids to be store assistant at 7-11 or be a petrol kiosk assistant hence the much shorter queue. While I have to agree that this view is probably not incorrect, I have to defer on my personal stand.
At the start of the day, I told my kids that they should try out for jobs that were interesting and jobs that they do not get to experience easily. These are jobs like being credit officers where they distribute "cash" to other establishments by walking around pushing a vault. Another job which I wanted them to try was the one as a petrol kiosk attendant. They had always seen them hard at work when Daddy stops to top up gas. I wanted them to know that its not as easy to be one and to be aware of how each and every job contribute to society as a whole, no matter how "upmarket" or how "common" society views them. Just like the garbage collectors. If we do not have them, can you imagine how smelly and dirty our living areas will be?
All in all, Kidszania was an interesting experience. It was rather amusing to see how kids react when they get "paid", how important the "economy" of each job is when they realised they may have to part with their "hard earned" money! It is completely exhausting as well, practically walking around the whole day with little opportunity to sit and rest. There were seats around but with just as many , if not more parents, grandparents or helpers who will sit on that seat throughout the day, helping to take care of belongings while the kids run around, I spent 90% of my day on my feet! So the next time u need a workout, Kidszania can be a good choice as long as you walk around with your kids and not put up your legs at the Parents Lounge on Level 2 :)
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