A Pit Stop a Day (Day 21): Pretend City (review and giveaway)

Toby in the Pretend City fire station!

Day 21 dawned foggy in Laguna Beach, so we spent the morning hours a few miles inland at Pretend City, a great hands-on play space for kids in nearby Irvine.

Pretend City is a 15,000 square foot play space based on the premise that children learn by doing. The layout is designed exactly as it sounds: as a ‘pretend city’ consisting of a doctor’s office, post office, grocery store, emergency services, beach, gas station, farm, and the like. Children can explore the various buildings via interconnecting doors and streets (complete with cars to pedal or push and stoplights). Everything is (of course) hands-on, at child-level, and interactive.

We were impressed by the detail put into Pretend City. At the grocery store, for instance, all food items were priced, there were realistic check-out stands and cash registers, and carts. At the back of the store was a bay that led to the ‘farm’, where trucks could bring in produce. Outside the store was an ATM (working).

'Street scene' in Pretend City.

Nate and Calvin hard at work in the restaurant!

Before reviewing this location, I was unsure whether it would be appropriate for older kids. It turns out that there’s much for them to do! While toddlers and preschoolers enjoy the space on an exploratory level, older kids can experience it on a different scale: Pretend City employees are on-hand to give out ‘time cards’ which can be stamped when kids ‘work’ in the various buildings, salary is dispensed in the form of Pretend City cash, and kids can interact with various locations in real-life situations. For instance: Nate worked for a while at the Persian Restaurant while Calvin worked in the store. When Nate ran out of milk, he could ‘call’ the store on an actual phone and order more. Then he could go pick it up from Calvin, paying for the supplies in cash he’d earned in the restaurant. They loved this type of play!

Want to try out Pretend City? Pit Stops for Kids is giving away three admission tickets to a lucky reader!

To enter, simply leave a comment below! Extra entries granted for readers who 1. subscribe to our feed, 2. like us on Facebook, and/or 3. join us on Twitter (leave another comment letting us know you did so)!

Giveaway ends in one week: Saturday July 24! Update: Giveaway  now closed. Congratulations to Rita, winner by random number generator!

Date last visited: July 2010.

Distance off the interstate: Just one minute off I-5/405.

Hours: Tues-Sun: 10 am-5 pm, Mon: 10 am-1 pm

Admission: $10/person (adults and children) Infants (under 12 months): $2

Note: My only criticism of Pretend City is the admission cost. I do not agree with charging adults the same price as kids to enter a kids’ play space or museum. I wish they offered a lower admission price for adults who are accompanying kids. Memberships are available (and looks like the affordable option if you plan to visit more than a couple times a year).

Bathrooms: Spacious and clean, with toddler-sized toilets and sinks as well as adult-sized.

Food Services: There’s a small ‘Real Cafe’ inside the building with a snack counter and vending machines. All the foods offered are healthy options. (There are also extra tables and chairs in the cafe, and they allow outside food and drink.)

Website: http://www.pretendcity.org/

Directions: From I-5 or the 405, go west on the Bake Parkway, then turn right onto Research Drive, then left on Hubble. Museum is directly in front of you!

Up Next: We conclude our road trip by saying goodbye to Laguna Beach and driving up I-5 to Sacramento, CA, where we explore Old Town and stay at Embassy Suites Sacramento!