It was my son’s third birthday last week and as a couple of my relatives were not available on
the day of his birthday so we decided to postpone the celebrations until next
weekend. But I wanted to make this day special for him and take him somewhere
nice.
After some research and asking around I zeroed upon “The
Stellar Children's Museum”. I know the
first thought after looking at this name. Why will anyone take a 3 year old to
a museum on his birthday and that too with intention of having fun? Museums are never fun but boring exhibitions
and historical information spread across everywhere in somewhat supposedly interesting
forms.
The Stellar Children’s Museum is not a conventional museum
at all. It can be termed as a kids play area where they can learn and explore
along with having fun. There is no one to stop them from messing around in
clay, colors and water. There are huge and variety of blocks for them to
explore along with some nooks and corners to hide, jump, climb and roll.
The museum occupies a decent space on second floor of
ambience mall and is also a good option for school day trips and birthday party
celebrations. It is divided into various logical and physical sections.
SPALSH IT
As soon as you enter, there is a miniature of a dam created
with lots of water. There are some rubber and plastic toys like boats, ducks,
balls etc in the water and there is a dummy motor structure which depicts how
electricity is generated through water. This miniature damn consist of movable
hurdles which can be arranged by kids or their wards to reduce or increase the
flow of water in a particular area. This area is termed as “Splash It”. My son
is very fond of water so we spent most of our time here.BUILD IT
Next we moved to the “Build It gallery” where there are life
size block along with some magnetic colorful small blocks in different shapes
and colors. Kids can try and make different shapes and objects using this.
There are also big cardboard puzzle pieces and a dummy skeleton of a racing
car. There is a screen console in front of this skeleton which gives a feel to
the kid sitting in driving seat as if he is actually playing a VR game
(obviously to younger kids).INVENT IT
The next place we explored was “The Invent It” area where they had some smaller blocks and a small racing
track. My son enjoyed making vehicles with wheels from blocks and had a F1 race
with his dad. Another interesting part was the roller coaster. There were many
different parts which could be joined in variety of ways to create desired
shape of roller coaster and then kids can take their balls for a roller coaster
ride. There were also some pipes and tubes to represent the idea of gravity, an
air blower which will keep a ball in air and many more such things.CREATE IT
The create it area truly lives up to its name with options
like clay modeling, crayon painting, pencil colors, pin art and a glass room
where kids can mess around with water color and can live their ultimate fantasy
of painting the walls. And you do not have to worry about those cloths; the
museum provides aprons for kids. Your kids can enjoy all those things which are
usually restricted at home.
LIVE IT
We did not spend much time in this area as this did not
interest my kid much. There is a miniature super market with dummy fruits and
vegetables along with the weighing machine and shopping baskets. Kids can buy
vegetables and cook them in a small kitchen LOL. There is also a doctor’s
office, a school and a club house in this area and it gives a complete feel of living in
a society to the kids.
DISCOVER IT
This area comprises of small rooms representing different continents
connected via tunnels. Inside each room there are panels displaying flora and fauna
of that continent along with population. There are push buttons against each
animal and kids can enjoy listening to the sounds of different animals here.
Somewhere between these areas there is a wall containing
some random utensils and ladles where kids can play music by banging the utensils. An interesting
concept was a place where kids were playing music using a shoe sole.
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
There are
tunnels and cages of different shapes and sizes in this play area. Kids can
enter from one side of the tunnel and come out from the other end by passing
through obstacles. I never imagined my son will be so fast jumping and crawling
everywhere. It was a joyful sight to see him enjoy all of this.
There is an in house café but we did not try it.
The entry fee for kids is as follows:
- 1 hour – Rs 400
- 1.5 hours – Rs 600
- 2 hours – Rs 800
- More than 2 hours – Rs 900
- Birthday party – Rs 750 per entry where they provide 80% of their café for cake and snack time for about 1 hour or so.
- Adults – Free
The place is good for kids from 2-10 years of age and is
very kid friendly. They do not allow strollers inside but there is an option to
park them just outside the entry.
I highly recommend this place to all the parents as I am
sure that you and your children will enjoy this experience.
Please share your views if you visit this place.
