A Theme Park for wannabee stars (and firefighters)

French’s Forest Kids’ hotspot Wannabees calls itself a “Family Play Town”, and that’s exactly what it is.

Spread over 1,100 square meters – with a Cafe offering free WiFi for parents – Wannabees is an indoor theme park featuring a little town where kids can wait tables at a 32 seat restaurant, work construction and even play check-out chick (or bloke) at a supermarket.

Designed to teach children social interaction, the notion of a career and the value of a dollar, the centre features 16 rooms where children role-play at being firemen, chefs and more, and a bank where they can deposit the Wannabees bank notes they earn when they clock out (the “money” goes on a Wannabees bank card, just like yours and ours).

What are the most sought-after careers?

Centre manager Samantha O’Connor says it’s a toss-up between working at the fire station and the supermarket for second place, but everyone wants to be a TV star.

At the Wannabees “TV studio”, kids stand in front of a green screen and play out 12 different scenes.

They watch the scenes change on a large flat screen and perform accordingly, swimming away from sharks, running through traffic and (less perilously) jumping on a bed.

The best bit? It’s all recorded on a DVD, so that for just $15.00 – or nothing if you use the MasterCard Priceless Sydney deal – your kids have something to show for their hard work.