This is a best kept secret – it is a bit far to reach (in Tai Wo) and most of the information about this playroom is in Cantonese. But it is so worth to visit! The playroom is run by the Playright organisation, and all they have in mind, is to make children play!
As a side note: The same organisation also runs the Toy Library in the Central Library, so if you do not want to make the journey to Tai Wo, you could try out the Toy Library first. While that is fun too, you only get 45 mins of free play in the Central Library. But at Playscope you can play much more.
Why? Because they have seven different rooms to choose from. Seven fun areas, which include:
- The messy room – which changes regularly. We’ve been there when it was a ‘paint the wall’ room, a ‘make your own soy bean milk’ room and a ‘dragon boat water festival’ room – and every time this was so much fun for everyone! Luckily there are aprons and a change of shoes, so you don’t get too wet/dirty but it is best to bring a change of clothes
- A whole room filled with trains and train tracks
- The workbench / workshop room that’s got everything for little carpenters to explore and create
- A safe infant and toddler zone for the under 2 year olds to play with lots of wooden toys
- Four big open rooms with some fixed structures (towers to climb, nets to explore, houses to build) and with lots of elements that keep changing according to the theme of the month
That is the best part. There is always a theme, for instance ‘space’ or ‘police’ or ‘dragon boat’ etc. and then there is lots of handmade material (made out of recycling material, so you could have done this at home too – but it takes time and effort, and the people at Playright do this so much better than me!) . So for space, there were space helmets, suits, spaceships, lots of aliens, a rocket launch pad and a control station. All made out of cardboard boxes and materials that you would also have at home. For the theme police, there were cars, a jail, uniforms, locks and keys – and even a jewellery shop where the robbery can take place!
In addition to these rooms, there are lots of little corners and nooks – where you can find different toys, like a doll house, wooden toys and books to read. It really is a big fun filled paradise for the young and old.
You visit for a session, and these can be 3 hours (weekdays) or 4 hours (weekends). So there is plenty of time for lots of fun:
Monday: closed
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday: 10am-1pm and 3pm-6pm
Friday: 3pm-6pm only
Saturdays and Sundays: 1.30pm-5.30pm
It is best to book in advance via https://member.playright.org.hk/event/p/5909 – scroll to the bottom, hit the red button and then it takes you to the calendar with the available sessions.
The prices are 100HKD (1 adult & 1 child) during the week and 140HKD (1 adult & 1 child) during weekends and public holidays. Each additional adult costs 40HKD. But the best deal is to purchase a play pass.
This is a pack of coupons (10 coupons are 400HKD, 20 coupons are 700HKD and 30 coupons are 900HKD). For each weekday session you need 1 coupon (during school holidays this is 2 coupons) and for each weekend session you need 3 coupons per 1 adult & 1 child. So this can work out a lot cheaper and you can end up paying 30HKD for 3 hours play during the week or 90HKD for four hours play during the weekend.
For a further 400HKD for a year, you can join the toy library at Playscope. This means you can take up to 3 toys home with you (these are separate toys, not the ones that you can play with at Playscope). There is a big shelf with lots of wooden toys, board games but also big items like walkers, toy cars, plenty of cooking sets/items etc. This is what my kids really enjoy, we always take home some puzzles, cars and games.
The Playscope playroom is great for babies, toddlers and pre-school kids – and during the week it usually is quiet, but for the weekends you will need to pre-book your slot.
Playscope Playroom
117-125 室, Tai Wo Estate Block
12 Hang Wo House, Kai Wo Rd, Tai Wo Estate
bluebalu 