Kidzania London – a review

We are all big fans of Kidzania, the fun play area where kids can try out lots of different jobs and earn KidZos as they go. We jumped at the opportunity for an afternoon of fun at Kidzania London in the middle of the summer holidays. Check out our guide to London with kids for lots more inspiration and also our 50 things to do in London with kids more they grow up.

*AD / This post is in association with Kidzania London for the purposes of this review. To read more please see my Disclosure Policy.

Who would have thought that trying out very grown-up jobs – there’s a dental surgery, hotel and even Kidzania’s own airline – would be so much fun.

Well my kids at ages seven, 10 and 12 thought it was the best way to spend four hours (and trust me the four hours goes seriously fast).

Nintendo Labo – Kidzania London

The seven year old spotted the Nintendo Labo Workshop and his eyes turned wide.

It didn’t matter that the fifty minute long experience would eat up a quarter of his time, he was heading there first and off he went.

Any concerns I had about an hour of simple game playing faded as he coloured in his own robot and then used the Nintendo Switches to maneuver it around the room.

In the second part he tried out various cardboard creations including a steering wheel and fishing rod to merge online and real life. It was really innovative and he came out buzzing with everything he had experienced.

My 10 year old set about taking in various jobs with a stint at ‘The Vault’ of the Bank of England to begin with. Here she collected money from other businesses in the town, followed by a shift at the post office and heading off to deliver boxes to other companies.

About Kidzania London

The Kidzania town is set around a main square with roads in all the directions.

It feels a bit surreal inside with a permanent dusk which left me feeling slightly drowsy but the children didn’t seem to notice and rushed from job to job, throwing themselves into each activity.

Businesses at Kidzania come in two categories. Those where you “work” to earn Kidzos (which can be used later in the shop) and those experiences that cost Kidzos, or even real money.

Big hits of the day were training to be a pilot where you got to sit in a real flight simulator, taking part in a theatre show which other visitors would come and watch and being a firefighter and putting out the fire at one of Kidzania’s hotels, as well as, of course, the Nintendo Labo.

The only dud of the day was the Fruit and Nut Bar Makery Eat Natural shop where the children got inside to be told, “you can’t eat the bars and you won’t earn any money here”, were given a bowl of pre-mixed ingredients to press in to a mould which was then taken away and the experience was over.

They came out of that one with two thumbs down.

That aside they enjoyed everything they took part in and even with four hours to enjoy it wished they had longer to try more experiences.

Older children

The 12 year old could have done with a little more for his age group. He enjoyed the Roland Music Academy which involved playing the drums (something he loves doing) and the Mission Deli Wrap Factory where they created their own bread and he got to bring on a pack of their wraps.

Extending the range for teenagers would be a great benefit to Kidzania (even having some of the jobs have two levels for different age groups, for example).

I liked how some of the jobs, for example at Gourmet Burger Kitchen, involved a small cost (£3) but they got to make their own burgers they could then have for lunch.

What we thought

All in all Kidzania was a big success.

All three pocketed their hard-earned cash into a Kidzania bank account, a great way to get them thinking about saving, and vowed to return to top up their funds.

This will be particularly handy since they all pretty much spent the lot in the stalls outside where Kidzos can be turned in to small take home items like bouncy balls and bracelets.

We are big Kidzania fans, it really down make for a great trip out and on a rainy day can’t be beaten.

Find out more about kidzania here. Check out more ideas for fun in London with our 50 places to take your kids in London before they grow up.

Our Previous reviews

Step back in time…read our review of Kidzania from a trip in October 2015 here –

An afternoon of work and fun at Kidzania London

“I can’t stop, I’ve decided I’m going to be a firefighter”.

It’s not every day you hear that from your six year old, but at Kidzania you can expect this every twenty minutes or so.

With that, my daughter raced across the street to queue up to begin her training – watching a short video and learning about how fires start and the dangers that are out there.

When training was complete she jumped in the fire engine to join the seven other newly trained firefighters, all decked out in uniform, and raced to the Flamingo Hotel over the other side of Kidzania Town to put out the fire that, with worrying regularity, had started there.

Kidzania is like a small town full of jobs and activities that I worried might seem a little mundane to my children. The chance to work in a hairdressers, a bank or as a delivery person – but which actually they loved.

Kidzania London is based at the Westfield Centre in Shepherd’s Bush and is the latest in the long line of Kidzania centres across the world. Everywhere from Kuala Lumpur to Kuwait. Each tweaked to the countries they are based in.

It’s definitely one of the best things to do in London when it rains.

Earning money

When you arrive at Kidzania each child is given a handful of money each and for every job they do they earn more.

My eight year old son realised you could get a degree at the university and then get paid more for every job so this was his first stop…the only student in the class.

My daughter was more interested in just earning some cash and raced from job to job.

Some jobs were definitely bigger hits than others – training to be a DJ with Capital Radio looked fantastic and my daughter loved it.

And having a go at being a paramedic also went down well as she disappeared off in an ambulance after her training.

Slightly worryingly my son’s great start at the university then saw him avoid any of the ‘jobs’ out there.

I caught him spending time at the theatre, watching a show…taking a bus tour around Kidzania and then spending money making granola bars.

Younger children

Unfortunately their three year old brother was too young to take part in any of the jobs at Kidzania.

There is an activity centre for under fours which he spent some time in but his brother and sister weren’t allowed in so it meant there was nowhere we could all spend time together.

That being said, he loved what he saw at Kidzania and can’t wait to take part himself.

The older two were fine rushing about on their own. They are given security bracelets and can’t leave without you.

There was plenty more they didn’t have time for either like the mechanics, delivery company or training to be a pilot.

I think the ‘jobs’ were really imaginative. My daughter loved working in the ice cream factory, learning how it is made and then getting to sample some.

The shop – Kidzania London

After earning all your KidZos (the Kidzania currency) you can either open up a bank account or head over to the little shop.

The selection of items to buy is a little uninspiring and it would have been nice to see the same level of imagination given to the things you can buy, as has clearly been shown in the rest of Kidzania.

We had four and a half hours in Kidzania which initially seemed like a long time, but absolutely whizzed by.

I had to drag the children away at the end so all in it was a big hit with them and they are already asking when they can return.