About KidZania

KidZania, a children's country that began its story in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, was founded with the aim of creating a world where all children can learn through experience. First opened in the Santa Fe region in 1999, KidZania now operates in 22 countries and 27 cities.

KidZania Istanbul was founded in 2014 as the 16th KidZania in the world. It serves all children between the ages of 2-14 in an area of 10,000 m2 in Akasya Shopping Mall. The best brands in Turkey add realism to this city run by children. Children can experience the professions they choose from more than 120 roles in KidZania Istanbul, which is a real city with 67 different activity areas with its bank, hospital, supermarket, laboratory, theatre, university, fire department, earthquake simulation center, hotel, energy production center, stadium, streets, factories, and square. In KidZania, where all activities are certified by the Behavioral Sciences Institute, the activity contents are prepared depending on the ages, interests, and skills of the children, with the guidance of pedagogues, game experts, and trainers.

As an UN Global Compact Supporter, KidZania Istanbul adheres to its principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption. It supports the Ten Principles and the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

KidZania Istanbul, the Country of Children, was awarded the 2020 Travellers' Choice award, the biggest award of TripAdvisor, with the comments and ratings of our guests. KidZania Istanbul is among the top 10 percent of the entertainment venues in the world. The award was given to the best institutions in the world based on positive comments and high scores in 2019. With the Academy Environment KidZania Recycling Center project located in the city, it won first place in the Social Impact-Environment-Oriented SME category at the 10th Sustainable Business Awards. KidZania Istanbul was also among the winners of the Sales Network Best Team to Join voting, which determines the most desired companies to work for. 

 

KidZania Economy

Have Fun, Learn, and Discover!

KidZania economy is designed to help children learn by experiencing how the economic cycle works. A system was established to enable children to learn about work values and to understand the kidZos shopping process for products and services. KidZania's official currency, kidZos, forms the basis for the development of children's financial literacy competencies at KidZania. Depending on the country's supply and demand balance, children earn or spend kidZos on all-day activities at KidZania. Children are given a check worth 50 kidZos upon entering KidZania. With their kidZos, children can purchase any product and service they wish within KidZania; they can also earn kidZos by working in the workplaces within KidZania. As KidZania citizens, they can save their kidZos in a bank account if they wish. They can even spend their kidZos freely at any KidZania location worldwide.

When entering KidZania, 20 kidZos are also defined for adults accompanying children. Adults can spend time in the resting areas if they wish, or participate with their children in one of our 16 activities (Archaeology Museum, Local Cuisine, Earthquake Simulation Center, Disco, Donut Academy, Photo Studio, Recycling and Sorting Center, Construction Site, Jeweler, Car Service, Perfume, Chefs Academy, SocialBen, Stadium, University, Creative Parent Workshop).

KidZania Language

In KidZania, which has its own language, children learn the KidZania language in the activities they participate in and can speak the same language with the children in all KidZanias.

Kai: Hello
Kool: Cool
PleeZ: Please
KongratZ: Congratulations
Zanks/ Zank U: Thanks / thank you
kidZo/ kidZos: KidZania currency
kidZitter: Play brother/sister service for children over 5 years old.
B-KidZanian: KidZania loyalty program
CitiZen: Anyone who owns the KidZania paZZport, a KidZania citizen
CongreZZ: Congress that only KidZania citizens can attend.
PaZZport: Passport

Apart from these, there are also a few expressions included in KidZania's system:

Edutainment: Learning with fun (Education + Entertainment)
Zummit: A summit attended by experts in their fields held at KidZania.
RFID Wristband: A wristband that is worn by both the child visitor and the accompanying adult for security reasons and is specifically defined in the system for each user.

Security at KidZania Istanbul

Security is always prioritized at KidZania. There is only one entrance and exit for the safety of all visitors. These entrance and exit areas are guarded by KidZania security officials.

A parent or guardian must accompany each child during the admission process to KidZania Istanbul. During registration, an RFID (a identification system consisting of the initials of Radio Frequency Identification) wristband is fitted to both the child and the parent/guardian. Each RFID wristband is defined in the system specifically for its user. Even if the parent does not accompany the child inside the city, they do not remove their wristband. These wristbands cannot be transferred to other visitors and cannot be removed from the wrist for security reasons. When leaving at the end of the day, the child is handed over only to the parent matching their wristband.

All precautions are taken at KidZania for the comfort and safety of individuals with disabilities. All KidZanias around the world operate according to the principle of accessibility, with disabled-friendly paths and elevators so that our citizens with disabilities can fully benefit from all activities. At KidZania Istanbul, wheelchairs are available to be given to guests for use within the city when needed. Throughout the year, hundreds of students with disabilities from permitted schools can enter KidZania free of charge as part of social responsibility projects.

 

Partnerships 

KidZania Istanbul collaborates with many leading brands in Turkey and around the world to offer its visitors more diversity and enrich their experiences.