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I heard about this new museum for kids that JUST opened up in Irvine called Pretend City. One look at the website and I KNEW we HAD TO GO!
SO what is Pretend City? It's JUST what it's called. It's a pretend mini "city" that feels so real to little ones! Pretend City's Mission Statement: "Pretend City is a community which builds better brains through fun, whole body learning experiences and empowers children and their grown-ups to meaningfully connect with and expand their world."
ADMISSION: $10 pp under 12 months is $2
OUR EXPERIENCE: SO what is Pretend City? It's JUST what it's called. It's a pretend mini "city" that feels so real to little ones! Pretend City's Mission Statement: "Pretend City is a community which builds better brains through fun, whole body learning experiences and empowers children and their grown-ups to meaningfully connect with and expand their world."
ADMISSION: $10 pp under 12 months is $2
I found out on the web that admission is half off the last hour so I figured I would give it a try then because one thing I CAN'T STAND is places that charge admission for adults when they are doing little to nothing other than supervising. UGH! Luckily here, there's more of an opportunity to get involved and join you child.
Imagination knows no bounds in this place! The people that put it together had some strokes of brilliance with even the smallest touches! Time sheets and ATMs that disperse "cash," even a car that has a pretend GPS with an arrival location of Pretend City. One thing I LOVED was the mini fountain like at the Orange Circle/Plaza in Old Orange(see photos). There are tons of stations as well like farming, building, a grocery store, restaurant, sound/performance stage, and so much more! -Just WOW!
Zorro was absolutely blown away when we walked in. just kind of gawking and walking circles until he found something that made him excited...A CAR! Check out my pic below. Those cars they had were way cool.
Our time there was only for an hour but we lots of fun! We will definitely be back. Make sure to check out the website for more details!
The only drawbacks were the price. I really feel that it's overpriced. Yes, it's cool and it's shiny and new but $20 for a 2 year old myself? I wanted to bring my husband but I am so not paying $30 for one visit. The annual memberships are similarly overpriced. The cheapest is $90 for 2 people. Basically if the slashed prices in half I would be a regular.
Last note. I was so inspired by this totally cool place I really want to try to create some "pretend city" stations for us! Do you have something like that? I would LOVE to hear about it!
THEME/SCHOOL BOX- Our planned curriculum for the week
CRAFTivities -Crafts and activities
FIELD TRIP- Theme related outings in Orange County, CA
10 JUICY LOVE NOTES:
Sounds AWESOME! I always think it's weird that adults have to pay admission to childrens museums and the like.
that is coooool! or as my three year old would say, "awe-sum."
I might be too old to say this, but that looks like a blast. Happy Friday to you!
This is a really cool place! We have a couple of areas like this in our Children's Museum, but nothing overall that compares. This looks like lots of fun!
That looks so fun! When I was student teaching we went on a field trip to a place called Safety City, it was there so kids could practice the different parts of being either a pedestrian, bike rider, or a car driver and the various safety rules. Very cool.
But, this looks even cooler.
We only have a play kitchen at our house. We do have a playscape in the backyard that becomes all sorts of things. There's a website I found that created a mini town playscape to play with. I'll see if I can dig it up.
This looks really cool, but I am with you on price. On the other hand, our Children Museum is even more costly - I think it's $15 per anyone over 2. When we went there often, we got a family membership, and it definitely paid off. But, of course, if cash is tight it might not be an option.
We don't have any pretend stations at home except Anna's play kitchen. But now, when I think about it, I am not even sure they are really needed. After all, if everything is already picture-perfect how can our children pretend that their chair is a car or a horse or an airplane. Maybe they are better off creating their own worlds rather than visiting a mini-city precreated for them.
that museum looks incredible! it beats our local childrens museum (but with $40 yearly membership for one child and two adults i am not complaining)
you could do some really cute stations- an old box with a slot could be your mail box/post office, a tote w/ dr gear and stuffed animals could be the vet, a shopping cart and play food could be the store, and your kitchen table and their lunch could be a restaurant! i am anxious to see what other people's ideas are- this is a great way to promote imaginative play!
oh- one more idea- what if we enlisted everyone's help in making up a station- we could create a list of all who want to participate and then assign them to a different "pretend city station" to work on- creating printables, easy to make stuff out of what we already have at home, etc- and then we could have a whole amazing pretend city online to share with the world!
how fun!! i wish we had more awesome places like that up here....zorro looks ADORABLE!! i just wanna hug him!
i wish they had those when i was a kid, it looks like so much fun!
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