Activate Edmonton
Imagine getting to play inside a video game. You can do it at Activate Edmonton!
The girls have been asking to try Activate since we first heard about it. We held off for a bit out of concern the games might be tough for kids under the age of 10. Activate is designed as a facility for adults, but kids are welcome – and we had a blast! In many cases, we stuck to lower levels of the games which made for more fun and less frustration!
How it works
Here’s how it works: We booked our playtime online at activate.ca. I also found that signing the waivers online when I booked saved some time when we arrived. Time slots are 75 minutes long, can accommodate up to 10 players and begin every 15 minutes.
When we arrived we each received an Activate bracelet as well as a bracelet for a free locker. When our time slot began, we entered the gaming area and were free to move from room to room. Each room offers a variety of games, and there is a video info board at each door that helped us choose a game and level to play.
We didn’t even come close to trying all the Activate rooms in our 75-minute session. The girls quickly found favourites and wanted to play those games again and again. Our favourites are the Mega Grid games (they involved running to colourful blocks, finding the right Tetris-like puzzle pieces, and memorizing hopscotch steps), the Hoops games (basketball) and Climb (think Whack-a-mole, except instead of hitting little rodents, you are grabbing climbing holds when they light up!) We loved our experience and we were good and sweaty by the end of all that play!
Top Tips:
- Bring clean, dry running shoes
- Each game can be adapted to accommodate groups of 3-5.
- Kids 10 and under must have a participating adult in the room with them.
- Bookings can be made with a $5 deposit. The remaining fee can be paid when you arrive.
- Free lockers are available for use.
Activate Edmonton
- WHERE: South Edmonton Common, 1949 98 Street, Edmonton
- WHEN: Sunday to Thursday, 9:30am-10pm; Friday and Saturday, 9:30am-11:30pm
- COST: $28 per person per 75 minute timeslot
- MORE INFO: at activate.ca
- PAIR IT WITH A PLAYGROUND! Adventure-fanatics will love the Cavanagh Parkour Park, just a short drive from Activate!