A short time ago, we kicked off our March Break with a super fun visit to the digiPlaySpace at the TIFF Bell Lightbox where my girls had a blast!

The digiPlaySpace is designed to stimulate imaginations and inspire a lifelong passion for creativity and invention – and they certainly hit the mark with my daughters! During our visit, both my ten-year-old and seven-year-old were drawn to many of the installations (there are 25 of them, from nine different countries), where they could play and explore different video games and digital effects in an extremely hands-on environment.

Tickets are timed, which is great because you don’t want to be in the space with too many other kids. I found my girls rarely had to wait more than a minute or two to try an activity, and you could easily keep an eye on them without crowds in the way.

There are so many sensory experiences here, as well as chances to explore the arts (you can turn your doodles into a digital pinball game!) and be active…it’s not about sitting still in front of a screen. They definitely put the “Play” in “PlaySpace”.

Some of our favourites:

Oh, did my girls love the green screen experience!
As a teacher, I really loved seeing this:

My mom came along with us, and while she was camera-shy, she did have opinions to share, one being that she was very impressed by the number and expertise of the volunteers working in the space, who kept everything running smoothly and helped explain different activities to the children.

The digiPlaySpace is open until April 24th, and if you have kids and live anywhere in the GTA, I strongly recommend you check it out! While our visit was complimentary, tickets are $10.00, which is a very reasonable price for an hour or more of educational fun (sorry, there’s the teacher in me coming out again!) For more information go to http://tiff.net/kids-family/digiplayspace16.

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P.S. Speaking of TIFF Kids:

Are your kids budding film buffs? Did you know that the TIFF Kids Festival takes place from April 8 – 24 and features 139 films from 35 countries? They’re holding a kickoff party on Friday April 8th at 5 p.m. with a screening of Oddball, with food and fun activities beforehand.

Visit http://tiff.net/festivals/tiffkids16 for more details!

Disclosure: This post was generously sponsored by TIFF Kids. Opinions are, as always, my own.

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