Imaginosity

Bonkers and fun and varied, works for kids from about 2 — 7
If you are 5 then it is perfect. there is a kids supermarket, a real car to play in, a post office, a construction site, a theater, a newsroom (with camera), a dress up area, a very cool climbing area (where parents can’t get you!), a chill out zone, a submarine yada yada yada…
…and blessedly, thankfully, mercifully even… a café, that sells real coffee, much much needed real coffee

I brought my niece and nephew (five year old twins!) here a few weeks ago. I was not too sure what to expect but I had heard good things about the place and it seemed like a good idea for occupying two energetic children for two hours on a rainy day!
The building looks amazing from the outside, very impressive architecture and its distinctiveness is reflected inside the building once you enter. It cost us € 34 for two five year olds and two adults which I thought was a bit much, I didn’t expect the adult and child price to be the same. Adults are encouraged to go in and play with their children which is great but there are attendants walking around keeping an eye on the children also (for when you want a rest!).
The «museum» is laid out in different areas, there is a kitchen, a construction area, a TV studio, an art room and lots more… running through the centre of the building is a climbing frame which was the biggest attraction for my niece and nephew, it certainly provided exercise for the parents that were running up and down the stairs trying to keep track of their climbing kids! The boy and girl I brought also loved dressing up in the TV studio area, they even got their faces painted after a bit of a wait. Although there were lots of children in the building I never felt that any one area was too crowded which was good, although there were queues for things such as the face painting.
There is an area that is provided for babies but in my opinion the section is very sparse and did not have anything that would entertain a very young child for very long. I only saw one baby there during my visit and he didn’t look too happy! I don’t think that Imaginosity would hold the interest of older children either, I think a child over the age of eight or so would get bored fairly quickly because these days children I know above the age of eight are not as interested in «playing house» or «make believe» and that is what Imaginosity is all about.
There is a restaurant where you can get some refreshments but I found it to be very expensive, if I were to go again I would definitely bring my own drinks and snacks for the children.
All in all it is an entertaining place for children (it even disguises a bit of education in fun), it is unique and I do not know of any other place like it in Dublin. In my opinion it is suitable for children between the ages of three and eight but outside of these ages you are wasting your money. Also I would maximise the value for my money by only having one adult for a group of children rather than an adult per child like we did. Oh, and don’t wear heels!