A new $4-million “edutainment” theme park in Edmonton is gearing up to educate and entertain children in a kid-sized metropolis.
KidTropolis, located at West Edmonton Mall, is about to give new meaning to the expression that it’s a small world after all.
A simulated life experience allows the children – the new citizens of KidTropolis – to choose from a number of career opportunities and role-play as they play. They can learn what it’s like to become a doctor, a firefighter, a journalist or select from a host of other career choices.
Each jobsite, meanwhile, is actually a separate pavilion. Like a movie set with costumes and props, the pavilions are home to supervised activities that help kids aged five through 13 to learn about the real world while they’re having fun.
The goal, according to Calgary-based KidTropolis Inc., is to become a leader in educational entertainment through real-life simulations created just for kids.
“We want to help them make the right choices in life,” says company president and CEO Rick Bowie.
The idea for KidTropolis emerged from a similar concept in Mexico City known as the City of Children. “We’ve just taken it and expanded it to make it seem as real as possible to an actual fully functioning city,” says Bowie. “We’re using a movie design company to design each of our buildings so the children have a feeling of being in a real city of their own.”
The project, the first in Canada, will occupy 50,000 square feet in the heart of Alberta’s top tourist attraction, and include approximately 35 pavilions with a staff of 200 full- and part-time workers.
Admission costs have yet to be announced, though there will be single-gate and season passes.
KidTropolis Inc. is also working on a slightly larger edition in a new Montreal-area mall, and also plans to expand the KidTropolis idea to Toronto.
“Our vision is to provide a unique entertaining and educational environment for children that allows them to experience and understand the world they live in, as well as the world they’re going to grow up in,” says Bowie.
In return for their role-playing at KidTropolis, children are paid with Kidmoohla, the city’s official currency. They can spend their earnings on a multitude of entertainment activities there.
But KidTropolis is not just for kids. Bowie notes that it’s a place where companies will want their brand to be showcased through sponsorship opportunities.
“When corporations are seen to be actively involved in the improvement of the community, education, and are supportive of young families, they earn long-term brand loyalty of the parents and their children,” says Bowie.
KidTropolis has already lined up Johnson and Johnson, Hasbro and Nestle to sponsor pavilions at its West Edmonton Mall operation.
Hasbro will have two pavilions, one an Easy Bake cooking school where children will learn about health and nutrition in an active environment, while the second will teach children how toys are designed and manufactured, and how they’re safety-tested and distributed. Nestle’s version will be an ice-cream factory.
Not all of KidTropolis, however, is focused on commercial aspects. The theme park’s banking component, which hasn’t been finalized, will likely be tied into the Alberta school curriculum. A police station will also provide realistic investigation and evidence activities.
KidTropolis will also include its own school with 32 desks and state-of-the-art computers. Packages are being worked on that will be tailored to different grades, allowing them to move their classroom to the city for anywhere from a one-day to a one-week visit.
“It’s proven that children learn and retain more in an entertaining educational environment and that’s why one of our slogans is ‘where entertainment meets education,’ ” Bowie says.
