There are not many playgrounds that I am willing to play on with Z. I admit it. I am not one of those parents that fancies playing with my preschooler. I love cooking with her, making crafts together, and chatting with her. But playing on a playground? No thanks. I would much rather let Z run around with other kids or her Dad at a playground or park while I get some blogging or very important Facebooking done (yeah right… I should say get my Facebook fix, I won’t deny it).
So here is the point that I have to tell you that I have found one place on this Earth that I actually want to run around and play with Z… Imaginia Playland in Bangkok.
I have been raving on and on to all my friends here in Thailand about this playland/learning center for all ages. Okay, not just my friends, I may have been telling people I meet on the street, or in the grocery store, or anywhere I see a smiling face that may listen. Okay, so that is a massive slight exaggeration, but I really have been singing Imaginia’s accolades, let me tell you why…
Imaginia is located in The Emporium in Bangkok, which is a high-end, designer clothing and goods mall. It is way in the back and somewhat difficult to find, but once you are there you won’t want to leave.
The price of entrance for Imaginia is 200 baht per guardian and between 100-480 baht per child depending on their height. Z is 103 cm and is already in the highest ticket category.
Side Note: Make sure to bring socks to wear, if you forget them they sell them at the front counter for a small sum.
When you enter, you are all given a bracelet with an RFID sensor and a key to a large locker for your belongings and shoes. I was not sure what the RFID bracelet was for, but I assumed it was to be used to keep track of the money you could spend at Nana’s Cafe inside the establishment.
That was only partially true though I will say it is the first thing I did when we started playing. I need a good coffee and the latte that I got at Nana’s Cafe was delicious. While I drank my caffeine, Z played in a huge crocheted net type thing that hangs from the ceiling next to the cafe. I am not sure how else to describe it. Here are pictures of it:
After I had some liquid energy, Z and I started running around, checking out all the areas of this amazing playland. We started by checking out the library. It was a cozy little room with beanbags and books for all ages, though they were all in Thai. Connected to the library was a room full of DJ booths for the kids. This is where I learned what else the RFID bracelets were for. The Imaginia employee (they were everywhere and ultra-helpful) showed Z how to hold her bracelet up to an RFID reader in one of the DJ booths after showing her how to use the turntables. Z started making her electronic music and a camera started recording her musical debut. After Z finished her song, the screen asked for my email address. I entered it and promptly received a video of her at the table.
Just to jump ahead a little, I was expecting a charge at the end of our afternoon but all the RFID videos and photos were sent to me free of charge… thank goodness because I had about 20 emails.
There was also a huge slide that was my favorite activity, Z and I went down it together numerous times and then she went down it many more times, trying to get the perfect picture. It was awesome and adorable.
Then we went into the art room, where there were coloring pages and a craft project that changes monthly. This month was superhero and Disney Princess headbands. Z chose to make the Elsa one (from the movie Frozen, just in case you have never seen it a hundred times like I have… is anyone that lucky?!). It was a great way to take a little break and relax in between the running and sliding.
Then Z decided to check out a car that was right in the middle of the playground. Around the car were little stones with computer screens in them. I didn’t even have to tell her what to do, she scanned her RFID bracelet and started decorated and designing her dream car. As she drew on the screen, it projected onto the car. It was really cool!
Then we ran (seriously, I actually ran with her!) and checked out everything else Imaginia had to offer before we had to leave because it was closing time. I have made a slideshow of what else we did. Honestly, this would be an extremely long post if I wrote about all the cool activities we did that day.
Location:
*Disclaimer: Imaginia did not ask me to write about them and all of the opinions expressed in this post are purely my own. *
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