Opened in early August 2018, bit.playground is an interactive indoor play space for kids that’s located on the 2nd floor of the Helix building in EmQuartier. It’s essentially a large open room comprised of 10 stations for children ages 3+ to explore through creative play; each station is fitted with interactive technology such as motion sensors and image scans.
The zones include:
- Dinoroar! – Color a “dino egg” that comes to life on the big screen. Watch your egg hatch and your little dinosaur grow.
- Magical Kite – Design a kite, scan it onto the screen, give it a big gust of wind (blow into a sensor) and watch your kite soar.
- Shadow Forest – Create shadows with your hands and see them take the form of moving animals.
- Graphic Ball Pool – Doodle on a screen and watch your drawings fall from the sky into an illuminated ball pool.
- Little Records – Create music with a combination of blocks representing sounds and beats.
- 3D Grand Prix – Make little “cars” out of modeling clay, take a 3D scan and watch them race on the screen.
- Pizza Whizza – Create your own pizza, from kneading the dough to adding sauce and toppings.
- Land & Sea – Design a land and seascape with kinetic sand; create mountains and rivers and add some wildlife.
- Live Puppet – Design a character that becomes a puppet which moves according to your own actions on the large screen.
- Sansiri Town – Scan a QR code to visit a virtual town, and get your avatar to run around collecting coins.
The admission fee is 490 per person, regardless of age, and you can stay inside for one hour (which really isn’t much time if you want to cover every station). Visitors are admitted in batches every hour, starting at 10.30am, with a limit of around 110 people per session (it was pretty empty on a weekday morning when we visited). Socks are required for the ball pool; bring your own or purchase a pair for 60 baht at the ticketing counter. Operating hours are 10am to 10pm daily.
Visitors can keep their creations to take home. You can also scan your designs at the counter on the way out to transfer them onto t-shirts or pillows (for an additional cost).
On the whole, bit-playground is well executed. The stations offer kids a chance to create, play and learn using technology. There are plenty of friendly, English-speaking staff around to keep the children engaged and ensure their safety. The only downside for us was the time limit; an hour and a half would seem more logical given the number of activities available. But, as it is only temporary until 31 January 2019, bit-playground is worth a visit.
Please visit their website or Facebook page, or call 088-008-0816 for more information.
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