HONDA Kid’s play is serious stuff for
When
Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. ( HCPI) recently extended invites to KidZania, I scratched my head. I wondered what motoring scribes where supposed to do at (and with) a Saturday morning jaunt to the much ballyhooed indoor play city in the Bonifacio Global City. But I thought of my favorite niece and nephew (Hi, Gabby and Ali!). Maybe, just maybe, they would like to come along.
Turned out I was wrong. They didn’t just like the idea; they went nuts as soon upon learning we could take them along.
To those unfamiliar with KidZania, it’s a place where children ages four to 14 can role-play in “developmentally appropriate” adult situations. The unique concept has found resonance in various markets, and the Mexico-headquartered chain now boasts 20 international locations.
Tots and teeners get to try out for themselves the “real world” – a world with banks, hospitals, art school, fast food outlets, grocery stores, fire stations, restaurants, and other grown- up establishments. Outside of a sandbox, playground, or school, this is another place where adults merely watch as their kids soak up life lessons and experiences. Truth to tell, KidZania affords a mere skimming of the surface or, at best, a dip of one’s toes into the swimming pool of the big, bad world, but the younger version of myself would have benefited from and salivated over the notion of this establishment. It demystifies much of the “adult stuff” we often wondered about as kids when our parents went about their business.
Cognizant about the fact that kids today will be tomorrow’s movers, shakers, and clients, many corporations have bought into KidZania’s value propositions via branding partnerships. And Honda has been quick to spot the opportunity of introducing itself to future car owners and motorists.
So we checked out the Japanese carmaker’s “dealership” where kids can experience designing and making pitches for cars, as well as glean information about vehicles’ features. At the nearby “pit,” participants learn the value of teamwork while fostering the spirit of competition. Teams vie for the fastest time changing tires on a Formula racecar replica.
The parallelism with Honda’s company tagline, “The Power of Dreams” is also apparent. Indeed, childhood is that time in one’s life when dreams resonate the strongest and most clearly – unencumbered by the reality check that is often nothing but limitations other people impose on us.
That’s why we should let the kids dream on and dream big. HCPI surely thinks so.