The City That Dreams Are Made Of!

Over the holiday period, I had the opportunity to be invited to The City for a preview. The City is an interactive playground and in short, a pretend play area for children. Knowing that it evolves around 'pretend play' I roped in some friends to head there for a group playdate as I thought that would be more enjoyable.

With a group of 7 other mummies, we spent almost a whole day there. Dumpling had so much fun taking on so many different 'roles' and 'occupations' that she did not want to stop!

Started by 2 partners, The City basically is segregated into various rooms and corners for vaious dramatization experiences - from Supermarket to clinic, to salon, post office, a classroom and to a kitchen area, there was definitely no lack of activities.

Smadar Ron is one of the partners and the brain behind the design of The City. A designer who hails from Israel, one of Smadar's first few projects was the designing of playgrounds. With the intention to create something simple yet fun where children do not need electronic gadgets to be kept "entertained", The City was conceived. :)

Our Playdate:

The Supermarket was clearly a favourite amongst most kids! With shelves of shelves of everyday items such as shampoos to washing detergents to snacks such as biscuits and chocolates to 'fruits', it was every kid's dream! At one end of the room, there were 2 L-shaped counters completed with cash registers to mimick the checking out process. Hur hur hur

I like that the place uses recycled boxes and containers and when I asked Smadar about it, she shared that is one of the key focus of the supermarket - to subtly communicate the message of reusing and recycling.

The kids were not the only one who totally enjoyed the outing. At one point, Mama Sue could not resist and readily jumped in as a cashier too! Here's a comic strip which one of my mummy friends did. LOL

(Disclaimer: I assure you that no kid was traumatized or harmed in the process of me, fulfilling my Minimart Auntie dream. :p )

Here's a look at some of the other rooms.

:: The Classroom

:: The Post Office

What was really cute was that The City actually prints its own "stamps" where girls are given a girlish design and the boys another. The kids have a "stamp" to stick onto the envelopes before 'dropping' it into the mail box. :)

:: Police corner and a costume corner 

And if you think that it's just for girls, think again!

A very adorable Buzz Lightyear (junior?!?)

Brotherhood: fire chiefs in the house! 

And of course, what's a pretend play area if there's no super heroes!

So what about the girls? 

We had Tinkerbell (looking very much like a tau kay neo ~ hokkien for Lady Boss)...

The princesses...

And even Snow White (and Dopey? :p )

Another popular area which the kids hung out a lot at was the kitchenette / cafe area. We had many budding chefs that morning...

There was a good array of food items (bread, pizzas with toppings, fruits, meat, drinks, crockery), oven, fridge and even a nice fancy spancy coffee machine...

Even Tinkerbell needs a caffeine boost once a while! :D

Police officers taking a much needed tea break...

Dumpling literally jumped from one occupation to another

And yes, even I could not resist hamming it up! :p 

When I first arrived I did not think that we'd spend almost an entire day at the place. With less than 10 rooms, I thought that we would be done within the morning. How wrong I was. From the kids' perspectives, there were just so many possibilities and so many roles that they can take on - from being a chef to being a customer, from being a shopper to hopping over the other end to be the cashier. It was certainly nice to see that "simplicity" seems to have a place in the children's hearts and minds amidst this IT dependent day and age. 

It was a great playdate for the kiddos and a really great day for the mums to catch up. More than that, what I also like about the experience was that the children learn life skills along the way - sharing, taking turns, negotiation and even conflict management through play. :)

Smadar also shared that they are planning to include activities such as a "teacher" conducting classes in the mock classroom, a manicurist to do pedicure / manicure services for the kiddos, etc. I will certainly be back again when such services are added to the mix. 

Here's a parting shot from Mama Sue and Lulu. :)

JUST FOR BEANIE N US READERS - PLAYDATE PROMOTION!

Here's an exclusive promotion to you readers. :)

Plan a weekday playdate at The City! 

Simply quote BEANIE N US and enjoy a 15% discount for group of more than 5 kids, 20% for group of more than 10 kids on weekdays (excluded public holidays)

The promotion is valid from now till April 8th 2013.

Where:
The City, #03-04A Liang Court, 177 River Valley road, Singapore 179030

Phone number:
62506507

Admission fees:
Unlimited per entry!
Adults, Free
Babies under 1 year, Free
Under 2 years, $18
From 2 years,  $22
All guests require to wear socks while playing at The City

Disclaimer: I received an invitation for the preview of The City while my mummy friends received a special discount. All sharing is entirely of my own opinion.