How to get the most out of Kidzania London

During the Easter holidays we were invited by Nintendo to check out Kidzania London and Nintendo's workshops. It was fab to get to finally check out the place. Kidzania is such a unique experience - it is labelled as "an indoor city run by kids". Essentially it is a city for children where the kids do various tasks, earn money (and spend it too on some tasks) and at the end of the day, they can use their wages to buy themselves a treat. There are Kidzanias in several big cities in the world, and we went to review Kidzania London. In this post I wanted to give a few tips on how to get the most out of Kidzania on your next visit!

For our visit we got to enjoy a special seasonal Easter Egg hunt Nintendo-style - we played Yoshi on Nintendo Switch and afterwards went off to find Yoshi's eggs all around Kidzania - and earned good few Kidzania dollars for it. This activity was a special one for Easter only, but all year around Nintendo also has a Labo Workshop where kids get to create a Labo toy, and take it and their Kidzania dollars home - a sweet deal for little gamers!

As tips for the experience, there is quite a lot to say about how to make the most out of Kidzania!

What ages get the most out of Kidzania?

Get the most out of it by bringing kids under twelve! We took our five year old and our baby with us and all had a fabulous time at Kidzania. All in all I think the city is best for kids from four years onwards, up to maybe twelve years. 

There are some workshops that are good for younger guests too and they get face painting for free, so if you've got kids with young siblings they can enjoy the fun too. We didn't test these workshops as our baby was still too young but she enjoyed the Kindergarten - a quiet space where babies and young ones can stretch their legs and play with suitable baby toys. For kids older than twelve - tthey might enjoy workshops like the Labo workshop by Nintendo or media and music related workshops.

What were the "best" activities?

Get the most out of it by choosing the right activities for right ages! For the younger side, the firemen activity was a very popular one - and I can see why. The kids got to do a fire safety training, ride in a firetruck and then spray water on a "burning" building. Unsurprisingly, the queue for this activity was very long. Paramedic activity was also popular, and involved riding in an ambulance to the same burning building and helping the firefighters. My daughter loved both and would have been quite happy to do them again and again...

There were a lot of medically related workshops, great for younger kids. In addition to the paramedic activity, my daughter also tried the surgeon activity, dentist activity, and a vet activity. She also eyed the nursing activity, where the kids are paediatric nurses and take care of Luvabella dolls, but the queue was long and we suggested trying some other areas too. In all these activities kids really got in there and played with the sets and were absolutely fascinated by the activities.

My daughter also tried the British Airways pilot activity, which she loved, and an air-duct technician activity, which involved kids climbing through tunnels (CCTV monitored of course) which was a good physical activity and got her excited.

Older kids would probably enjoy workshops such as being a news anchor, or making burgers or nut bars, and there were dancing and music related workshops as well that would suit older kids well.

How to get the most out of the activities?

Realistically, eight is pretty much the maximum amount you can do in the four hour session. Depending on the time of the day there may be quite long queues for some activities, so it is worth either trying to jump in when the queue is short, or try look for quieter workshops to maximise fun. Firefighting and British Airways pilot activities had very long queues all day long, so for those ones you will just have to wait.

Get the most out of it by having a look before coming and checking the activities the kids definitely want to do. Try get through these at the beginning to make sure they won't be disappointed when the time runs out. Do allow some time for just exploring and going to workshops that look fun.

How to get the most out of lunch time?

You are not supposed to bring your own lunch, but realistically, you could if you wanted to. There were plenty of places to sit down and grab a quick sandwich. There was a Costa Coffee and The Fire House, so you could have a coffee and a treat, or a quick fast food munch (burger, pizza, hot dog, fries, pasta etc.). The prices were as expected, not in any way inflated. 

Get the most out of it by maximising playtime by food activities! There was three workshops where kids could make food and eat! A wrap factory, a burger kitchen and a fruit and nut bar lab - although small additional surcharges may apply to these. 

Otherwise, we just waited it out until we got out and went to a restaurant at the shopping centre to eat. Plenty of choice and you won't waste time sitting around when you could be playing. 

How to get the most out of it as a parent?

As a parent, you are pretty much just waiting around. Get the most out of it by bringing a book and charging your phone! You could go and chill in the adult only area too if you need a bit more quiet.  

Older kids (over eight years old) can be let loose and you could just go shopping at Westfield, but younger ones need supervising. If you do let your older kids go freely, you can check their last location using these handy location boards inside Kidzania. Kids scan their wristbands at all the workshops and you can locate them easily that way. No kids are allowed to leave without a parent, so that's one worry off your shoulders. 

How to get most out of it if you need good accessibility?

We brought a pram and it was seriously irritating. There are two lifts - of which one was broken - and the other locked. It was often difficult to find staff to help us, and this is something Kidzania should think about more. Perhaps Kidzania should give families with prams or accessibility issues a key fob to open the lifts themselves. Get the most out of it by asking staff for help with lifts - there are good workshops upstairs and they are slightly less busy than downstairs. 

How to get the most out of the Kidzania dollars?

Get the most out of it by encouraging your kids to spend what they earn inside Kidzania with going for the fun activities! Unfortunately Kidzania dollars will get you very little in the gift shop so better use them for fun inside the venue. 

If kids do have some Kidzania dollars and are lacking just a little when in the shop, worth asking at the till if they can round it up... After all, it is fake money and the prizes are cheap.

Top tips on how to get the most out of Kidzania:

• Maximise kids playtime by getting hungry kids try one of the food related activities where they can also eat! (small surcharges may apply) - or bring small snacks. 
• Bring a book and charge your phone as an adult you will be waiting around a lot - great for small life admin tasks or getting ahead on reading for fun.
• Choose a few must-attend workshops ahead of time and visit them at first to avoid missing out.  
• If you do miss out on one activity, you can buy additional playtime - not sure how much this costs though as we didn't use it. 
• Lockers and pram storage costs a few quid, so if you can, leave bulky items home. Less time spent faffing, more time spent playing. 
• Accessibility is a bit of an issue, but lifts are available if you ask staff. Go upstairs as there are good workshops there too. 
• Encourage kids to spend their Kidzos on activities rather than to save them for the gift shop. Gifts are very cheap and not too exciting, and you won't get much for Kidzos. They are more valuable for the play activities. 

 Have you been to Kidzania and what would you say as your top tip?

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Doing good with your first haircut - The Little Princess Trust

A first proper haircut is a big deal isn't it? When my daughter decided that she wanted to go for a bob I was a little bit apprehensive... Five years of beautiful locks, gone. But, in the name of bodily autonomy and all that I figured I better book a hairdresser. As there was so much beautiful hair to be lopped off, I figured the least I could do was to donate it to The Little Princess Trust, a charity that provides real wigs to children and young people with hair loss. 

The big decision to cut all her hair off was just because of one cinema trip... When The Incredibles 2 came out, my then five year old decided Elastigirl was her big hero now and decided to go for the chop. She wanted to look like Elastigirl. 

So off we went to the local hairdresser, armed with her Elastigirl toy to demonstrate exactly the type of haircut she was after. She was adamant that her hair needs to have the same flick while I tried to persuade her that a plastic dolly and real hair won't look exactly the same ha ha - we got there in the end and she accepted a version of a similar bob I found a photograph of online. 

And then, the measurement, and the decision, and the snip. Snip, snip, snip. And there she was, my little mini-Elastigirl. 

She was so pleased that she was able to donate her hair for the benefit of other kids through Little Princess Trust.  They are a UK-based charity, that provides wigs to children and young people with hair loss, whether this is through cancer treatment or other conditions such as alopecia. Little Princess Trust also raise funds for research into childhood cancer. 

Educating your kids about charity is so important, and you can do that with the smallest things like this. We had a great discussion around how some children can be sick and lose their hair, and how you can help others in all kinds of ways. Later, after I had posted her hair I also received a certificate from the trust via email which I was able to print out to give her as a reminder. 

Overall the donating process was so easy. All you need is for the hair to be clean and dry, good condition (no split ends) and minimum 17cm length, although the longer the better. It doesn't have to be virgin hair either, it can be dyed in natural colours, permed, waved, or straight, as long as it looks natural. You can even have a little bit of greys, if you are getting to that age like I am where you start to get a few stray streaks here and there... 

And I'm going to reveal you something. I'm feeling rather inspired by my little Elastigirl - so I've decided that I'll go for the chop too! It's now or never as those greys keep popping up at increasing frequency, so I'm going to grow my hair until 2020 and then it is time for a little (or rather, large) snip...

P.S. For my international readers - Wigs for Kids does the same in US and many countries have their own versions of a similar charity initiative so it's worth asking around!

Have you donated or want to donate your hair?

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