KidzMondo bringing $30m ‘mini city’ to Melbourne amid craze of ‘edutainment’ theme parks
MELBOURNE children will be able to roam a $30 million city, where they will role-play dozens of careers including pilots, firefighters and police officers. And the 7000 sqm ‘mini city’ will be off-limits to parents.
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A $30 MILLION ‘mini city’ for kids is coming to Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
The adult-free KidzMondo world is a miniature mock-up of a city, complete with paved streets, a bank, airport, supermarket, factory and police station.
Students will roam the ‘city’, role-playing dozens of careers that include a firefighter, police officer, postie, pilot and chef.
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The 7000 sqm centre is set to open at Box Hill Institute’s Lilydale campus in 2020.
It is part of an increasingly popular craze of “edutainment” — educational entertainment — theme parks opening around the world.
KidzMondo has centres in Beirut, Istanbul and Doha, with plans to open three more in Australia and others across Asia and Europe. Rival KidZania has dozens of centres and 12 under development.
KidzMondo Australia chief Norman Gray said the education system was failing to prepare children for life after school.
He said the centre would offer a snapshot of different career options, with more than 250,000 students expected through the doors in the first year.
“We need to provide our children with an environment where they can experiment,” Mr Gray said.
“The activities inside KidzMondo are exclusively created to stimulate cognitive and personal growth.
“The KidzMondo Educational Curriculum also improves the development of interpersonal skills and positive attitudes, while motivating creative thinking.”
The centre will target schools for group excursions and also offer general admission tickets for about $39.
The cost of building the Melbourne centre is estimated at $25 million-$30 million.
Designers are considering how the centre can feature local landmarks, such as Flinders St Station, and lessons on how to catch a tram.
It could also include simulators to earn a driver’s licence and a bumper-car circuit modelled on Albert Park’s Grand Prix track.
Parents are kept out of the centres overseas. Children buy a “boarding pass” at the mock airport counter and enter through “immigration”.
They use an ATM card and earn “kidlar” — kid dollars — by completing jobs around the park.
While the government is not funding the centre, Education Minister James Merlino said it would give students “hands-on experience” and the chance to “test drive” a potential career path.
“We all remember being asked what we wanted to be when we grow up,” he said.
“This new centre will give kids the chance to test drive their answer to that question.
Construction is expected to start next year with the centre slated to open in 2020.
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