Is your toddler bored with the same old routines at home? Are you looking for a fun activity to burn a few hours with your energetic or inquisitive toddler? Well… Have I got a recommendation for you! Pretend City Children’s Museum in Irvine is the perfect place to go! This indoor temperature-controlled play center is great for staying comfortable. I love taking my toddler here and I have 5 top reasons why your toddler will love it too!
5 Reasons Toddlers Love Pretend City Children’s Museum in Irvine
It Provides Hours of Fun
The first time I took my son to Pretend City, we spent hours there and only explored a small fraction. You can read all of the reviews about it online. However, most moms would agree that there are hours upon hours of fun to be had. It is a small town filled with toys made for kids. The only limit here is their imagination!
You Will Find a Variety of Textures and Sensory Toys
From sand to water to tan bark, this place is a great place for your child to explore textures of different kinds without you having to clean it all up from your kitchen floor at the end.
My son especially loves the water play area where there are different shaped tubs filled with water and unique fountain types! Undoubtedly, he will stick his hands in them and then his whole head in them whenever possible. That’s how much he loves the fountains!
There is a mini play beach with different sand sifters, that your ocean-loving child will love.
Lastly, there is a garden corner, where your child can play with artificial tan bark, fruits, and veggies. Let them explore the concept of gardening without actually getting their hands dirty. That’s a win-win for me!
Works Well For All Toddler Types
Is your child into physical activities or more quiet and reserved? Worry not, Pretend City caters to children of all types!
You can often see the energetic kids scooting loudly around in tiny plastic cars! Likewise, for the natural performers, you hear them putting on a show on the stage made for the tiny Taylor Swifts out there. On the other hand, for the more quiet children, perhaps they would prefer having an introspective moment inside the yoga meditation room. Or they could slide under a large toy car and work on auto repairs. Whatever speaks to their interests!
It Encourages Kids to Use Their Imagination
In a generation filled with digital toys that are automatic and ready-made, what I love most about Pretend City in Irvine is that it brings back that simplicity of playing pretend. It’s like a whole city of what Melissa & Doug toys are all about. It’s like what we used to do when we would play Legos and cars and Barbie. You have the items and where you take it from there is all up to your imagination! My son loves going to the mini Trader Joes and picking out cereal and fruits to put into his basket.
Pretend City Children’s Museum Provides a Sense of Greater Community
After what felt like a long 1-2 years of the whole world taking a pause to adhere to more stringent COVID-19 guidelines, it has been so nice for our son to be able to play among other children. Granted, he is still pretty shy when it comes to approaching any strangers, what I love about this city is that all the kids gather around in communal fun. Especially when it comes time for the city to close (for the afternoon or the end of the day), a big song and dance line forms and all the kids sit together with musical toys to wave goodbye to all the staff. I loved that sense of community and my son did too.
Big props to Pretend City for figuring out a way to have the kids leave their fun city with a smile on their faces instead of a big tantrum. Despite how how hard it is to remove kids from a location when they’re in the middle of having fun, Pretend City somehow managed to make it fun.
Pretend City Children’s Museum
In summary, these are some of the top reasons why I think you should make Pretend City Children’s Museum in Irvine your next destination for fun if you live around Orange County. There are so many more attractions and reasons that I did not mention, such as an entire Dinosaur corner filled with huge 10 foot moving dinosaurs! So if you haven’t already, take your toddler there, you will thank me (and your toddler will too)!
Fond of making memories with your kids? Interested in capturing those fleeting moments with your children before they’re too old for it? Schedule a fun outdoor session here!
Looking for more Irvine resources? Check out the links below!
