A Morning at the Children’s Museum Imaginosity

If you’re like me, then you are probably trying to look up entertainment around the country this Summer holiday to keep the kids busy. It’s a bit more difficult for us, as right now we are still working and so we only get to do stuff as a family at weekends. However in August we are off for two weeks and I am really looking forward to it and just throw the routine out the window.

For over a year now the children’s museum Imaginosity in Sandyford, Co. Dublin has been on our list. On Sunday I finally managed to book a slot at 10am in the morning. It’s something different to do on a Sunday morning and it’s a good excuse to get out early and not laze around at home. We just get way too lazy sometimes. The drive from Naas to the museum is just thirty minutes. You get to park in the Dunnes car park two hours free of charge (we did get caught and stayed a few minutes over it which resulted in reversing back and paying €2 at the ticket machine)

Both adult and child ticket (children above the age of three) are €8 and a toddler ticket is available for €6. So for all of us it’s €32 which I find pretty reasonable. The average spending time in the museum is two hours as the next slot will start at 12pm. We managed to stay until 11.40am.

When we entered the premises, we were greeted by the lovely staff behind the reception desk and I checked us in. We were given a map to direct us to all the areas of the museum. There are three levels. We start off with the first level. which is on the first floor. First aim was the super market where the kids grabbed a trolley each and bought their pretend grocery shopping. When they were finished with the shopping, they got to put it onto the conveyor belt, scan it and pay for the items they have purchased.

Next up we stopped off at the Dublin Diner. It’s suppose to be an American Diner like Eddie Rockets for example. Here they can be their own chef. They have a seating area where parents can sit down while their kids serve them food. The food Chloe was serving included four donuts for daddy. While Matthew was making hot chocolate and fried an egg. As well as that they can make pretend smoothies and do the washing up. Aprons are available to wear to make everything more realistic for them.

Beside the Dublin Diner was a massive town table with three holes in the middle of it so the kids could crawl underneath to reach the other side and be able to drive around the whole track. While Matthew was busy doing that, Chloe and daddy sat down in the library and looked at a few books. Chloe’s loves book, both do but Chloe definitely a bit more.
Next up we had the hospital where they had a few babies laid out. Chloe picked one up and got her ready for bed. This included getting her dressed, giving her milk before bedtime and creaming her… very important. Her imagination is brilliant. She does it the exact same way as when she would get ready for bed at home (minus the milk)

It was time to head upstairs to level two. In between all the levels they had a climbing frame like you would have in a place centre so the kids can reach the next level in a more fun way rather than using the steps. Matthew took advantage of it and tried it out, he loved it. Again level two has plenty to offer. There was no way they would get bored. Most places we go to, if they have seen it once, they just  continue onto the next thing and don’t stick around for long. Though, here on level two, we stuck around the construction site the longest. Chloe particularly loved building walls, knocking them down and starting all over again. Matthew was busy collecting balls for his wheelbarrow and wheeling them to the construction site.

Level two also includes huge doll houses which Chloe wasn’t too interested in (She wants to do everything her big brother does),  as well as a news corner, a children’s theatre and a play area for toddlers. An hour in, one of the staff member sat down in the theatre to read a book with all the kids in a circle. It didn’t last too long before everyone got up and did their own thing but that’s how kids are, right? There was just so much more to explore, why sit down for a story.

It was time to head back down to level one. Matthew and Chloe entered the garage zone. This is where you can design your own car on a dedicated PC. They also have a real car the kids can sit into with a simulator on screen to drive the car. The passenger seat has a smaller screen which has controls of the buttons whether you want to reverse the car, turn the fog lights on etc. By the way, the car was a Bumblebee, same as in Transformers, Matthew was very excited about that. Overall the kids had an amazing time and I would recommend it to anyone if you have never been.

I compiled a little video for you taken in Imaginosity so that you can see the museum in action, too.