City Playground Pass, Tokyo Underground, & Gundam

It seems whenever I am running out of steam and getting tired of the same routine every morning, I am blessed with a "school holiday".  I try not to plan too much in the first week, because it is so nice not to have to be anywhere.  We enjoy wearing our jammies (all day if we want), and playing video games, legos, jumping on the trampoline... etc., etc.  After just a couple of days of this however, we need something more!

We have made a habit of going into the Perth CBD (Central Business District) at least once during every school holiday.  They have so many terrific activities for kids!  I recommend picking up The City Playground Pass.  The pass can be collected from the i-City kiosk, and the City Playground Pass marquee, both located in Murray Street Mall (near the entrance to Forrest Place).  The passes come on a lariat that the kids wear around their necks.  My 2 year old son especially loves this, my 11 year old daughter not so much. 

Listed on the City Playground Pass is all sorts of kid friendly activities, tours, attractions, restaurants, discounts, and even some freebies. Last school holidays for example, we got two for one gelato scoops at one place, and buy one sausage roll/get one free from another.  Who can beat that?  The kids love when I say "yes" and spoil them with treats in the "city".

This week we discovered a place listed on the City Playground Pass that we hadn't heard about before.  It's a shop called Tokyo Underground that is filled with everything all my kids love.  Most of it, except for the Mario merchandise, was very foreign to me, but the kids seemed to be in the know.  It was fun looking at all the "stuff", but what really brought us in there was a FREE workshop on making a Gundam robot.  I had no idea what that was, but hey, it was free and they said I could bring my 2 year old to participate too!

For those, like me, who have no idea what a Gundam model is, here is a picture of our final product:

 Gundam Robot...He was so much fun to make!

I was lucky my 2 year old basically needed me to assemble the model for him, because it was so much fun to do!  My 9 year old son put the model together all on his own.  Not only was this activity fun, but research confirms that model kit making is good for the brain by "promoting blood circulation to the brain, thus enhancing brain activities."  BONUS! 

On the way out of the workshop, the very kind, helpful, patient volunteer pointed out the Gundam kits available for purchase in the shop.  I was pleasantly surprised to find several kits for sale for under $12.  We bought a couple of kits to assemble at home.  I have to say, Tokyo Underground was very generous in providing this free workshop.  I had two very happy little boys!