Children perform grown-up tasks

Dubai: The world's youngest "nation" has been born in Dubai.

KidZania Dubai opened its doors to the public on Wednesday in the Dubai Mall, bringing to the Middle East a theme park that features a fusion of entertainment and education for children.

KidZania Dubai has a child "edutainment" concept where children can play and learn about the world surrounding them. Targeting children ages 4 to 16, KidZania is a child-sized replica of a real city, with streets, buildings, retail shops and vehicles moving around the city all scaled to children's size. It involves role playing and children are encouraged to take on a variety of roles from a police detective, doctor, firefighter to banker or journalist. Children wear uniforms and perform the role they are playing, thus learning the complexity of the adult world.

The facility provides a safe, unique and very realistic educational environment that allows kids to do what comes naturally to them: role-playing by mimicking traditionally "adult activities".

As in the real world, children perform jobs and are either paid for their work or pay to shop or be entertained. Although built to scale for children, the indoor theme park accurately reflects the workings of a typical city through paved streets, vehicles, a functioning economy, and recognisable destinations in the form of establishments.

KidZania was established in Mexico City in 1999 and was known as "The City of Children" as it grew internationally.

KidZania is now found in Tokyo, Jakarta, Koshien, Lisbon and soon in Cairo. KidZania is also the first Mexican franchise in the UAE.

Sprawling more than 80,000 square feet on two levels, KidZania is conveniently located in the entertainment cluster of the mall near Reel Cinemas, the 22-screen megaplex, and SEGA Republic, the largest of its kind indoor theme park in the Middle East.

KidZania is a city with establishments covering the entire fabric of a working economy from banks to hospitals, universities to salons, television stations to music lounges, and hospitals to hotels. The first of its kind edutainment concept in the region, KidZania offers children an opportunity to understand and appreciate various professions through a hands-on approach.

Dedicated place

"KidZania is a dedicated place where children can realise their dreams as they are provided the opportunity to choose from over 70 real-life professions in a city ambience that is scaled down to their size.

"This will significantly benefit them both physically and mentally, in honing their skills, identifying their true talents, and contributing to overall physical, mental and intellectual faculties," said William Edwards, Governor of KidZania, during the opening.

"Through different and realistic activities, KidZania teaches children the principles of life in a modern society, which will help them in future growth.

"The children learn how to earn and value money and when they go out of KidZania they can even open their own bank accounts and manage their finances properly," said Edwards.

"We chose Dubai as another home of the expanding KidZania since this is a regional hub and we believe that this place is one of the perfect places to try this kind of business.

"During the soft opening, we initially received 8,000 children and we've got positive feedback," Edwards said.

Driving school for kids builds early skills

The first of its kind driving school for children has been opened by Emirates Driving Institute (EDI) at KidZania in the Dubai Mall. At the training facility, children are taught basic driving rules before obtaining their first driving licence as part of the process in KidZania. After obtaining the licence, they can rent a car to drive on the KidZania road network and even on the race track. "This simulator was developed specifically for the purpose of offering a unique learning experience to children," said Peter Richardson, General Manger of Technical and Operations at EDI. He said that it would help children understand that there is a process involved in being allowed to drive on the roads. "It requires time and effort to obtain knowledge and skills before enjoying the freedom of owning a car and driving it," he added.