Kidzania Malaysia

Kidzania Malaysia is not your typical theme park with amusement rides or arcade games. It is a one-of-a-kind concept where kids get to role-play different professions through interactive learning.

The first order of business upon arrival was to “check-in” and get our tags. These tags would prevent anyone other than the parents to “check-out” the child. It was also used to record photos taken by the Kidzania photographers for subsequent retrieval and purchase.

My kiddos were happy to receive a cheque for 50 Kidzo dollars, and were even happier after they cashed them in at the bank for Kidzo money.

One of the popular professions to try out was that of a pilot. The queue was extremely long even when Kidzania just opened for the day. All three of my kids got to fly and land an aircraft in a flight simulator.

The trio were thrilled to earn their first kidzo “salary” after completing their pilot training. The gals spent their “hard-earned money” to learn how to make sushi. What was great was that mummy got to savour the fruits of their labour.

While the gals were busy making sushi, my boy wanted to get his Kidzania driving licence. He had to complete an eye checkup and apply for insurance first before taking the driving test. He “passed” his driving test and got a nice driving licence card with his photo and name.

After enjoying their sushi, my gals got tired of the long queues and decided to try out something with a short one at a Travel agent. Their assignments as travel agents were to create a promotional travel brochure. Of course, it was easy enough even for my four-year-old to complete.

One hot favourite especially amongst little boys was role-playing as firemen. Little firemen got to sit in a fire truck, move around with the sirens glaring and put out a fire with real water! How cool is that?

Apart from sushi-making, kids could also learn how to make burgers, ice cream, oreo cookies, and many more.

There were also serious professions like doctors, lawyers, dentists, TV hosts, engineers, investigators and journalists.

Other jobs to try out include supermarket cashier, petrol kiosk attendant, window cleaner, and beautician.

Kids who did not want to “work” could spend their Kidzo money on recreational activities like art and “rock” climbing.

I personally found Kidzania to be quite an interesting concept with lots of activities for kids to learn and have fun at the same time. My kids did learn about earning and spending money. At least now when I withdraw money from the ATM, they have some appreciation of how and where that money came from.

Tips for visiting Kidzania

Buy tickets in advance at www.kidzania.com.my. I know of friends and family who went to Kidzania a few times and could not get tickets on the spot.
Avoid Saturdays. Not only was it crowded on the Saturday that we were there, but our time there was limited. This was because Kidzania split Saturdays into two sessions – one from 10am to 3pm, and the other from 4pm to 9pm.
Unless your kids are old enough or bold enough to fend for themselves against parents/kids who cut queue, it is advisable to stay with your kids while they queue up. Keeping them company is also good because kids tend to get bored or tired easily if they had to join one long queue after another.
Don’t bother sneaking in food to Kidzania. The officials will check your bags and confiscate them.
Come early. Even though the place opened at 10am, there was already a long queue half hour before that. As the Kidzania staff ushered people in a few at a time, the early birds enjoyed shorter waiting time because they managed to be at the front of the long queues.
Look out for time-limited discounts for photos taken by the Kidzania photographers. When my family was there, the discounts ended one hour before closing time.