The question of “what do you want to be when you grow up?” is something a majority of children begin hearing at a young age when they have limited knowledge of what career paths are available to them and before they have been able to engage with a multitude of industries of potential interest to them.
KidZania provides children up to the age of 14 with the opportunity to experience life as an adult in their authentically scaled indoor city and ultra-realistic role play, driven by children’s “natural desire to create, explore and collaborate..”
“We build and design cities inside closed, safe environments. We want children to role play so that they can come here and try different professions that they can aspire to when they grow up.”
Experiential learning is the new education standard
KidZania provides the facilities for children to learn and prepare for macro adult world concepts as well as the opportunity to manage their own finances, care for their own physical well being and learn about employment across a multitude of sectors, with over 100 career paths available.
Through engagement with the activities and establishments, children learn information about specific professions and trades, with a multitude of educational courses available to better their understanding and discover their potential passion.
KidZania embraces the different skill sets prevalent in each child through six categories: communication, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, motor skills and self-knowledge. This encourages all forms of learning and provides children the means to explore what they are passionate about in a way that suits them, making them aware of the choices and opportunities they could have.
“I earned a degree, I completed my résumé, got my passport, went to the DHL. I've been having a lot of fun today, working in many roles I could have never imagined.”
Economical education and practise
Financial responsibility and awareness are a prevalent part of life that has gone unrecognized on school curriculums for many years. KidZania offers their own form of currency in the way of kidZos, designed to educate children on the economic and banking cycle.
Money can be earned in the city through employment at one of the facilities, where each profession will have varying salaries depending on supply and demand. Children are then able to purchase goods and services with their wages. A portion of their wages is also discounted to cover their taxes, which are payable at the tax office of KidZania, this is an important part of financial literacy that many children do not learn before adulthood.
Additionally, children can opt to deposit their money into their KidZania bank accounts, or they can invest their wages to earn interest, as well as donate their money to contribute to the KidZania community.
The KidZania experience ultimately encourages complete immersion into societal life that will equip children with lasting knowledge and aid them in their journey into adulthood and in making informed decisions about their future, but in a collaborative and fun environment.
