I had seen some videos about the opening of Planet Playskool on instagram and immediately added it to my list of new adventures to try. It was a good drive away from us, but I wasn’t concerned since my little guy and I road trip really well together. We decided to meet some cousins there on a midweek morning, got our tickets online (this is recommended since you have to choose your entrance time in advance), and off we went! For us, it was mostly parkway driving so it was a pretty easy run up for a 10am entrance time at the park.
Planet Playskool is a unique interactive playground on the first floor in the huge Westfield Garden State Plaza Mall located in Paramus. It’s themed after classic toys like play-doh, transformers, tinker toys and more. We spent a good 3 hours checking out each play area and re-visiting the favorite sections.
I would say this playground is great for ages 3-9 but I think the older side of age 2 could enjoy some of the activities with parental assistance. Our absolute trip highlight was the play-doh area. Kids can use their entrance code to watch a machine full of elves (aka- a vending machine with a screen!) create and distribute 2 small tubs of play-doh in the color of your choice. Then you head over to the tables to use cookie cutters to make your own play-doh character. Once your character is built, you walk over to the computer and scanning station to scan in your character, name it and put it on the big screen in the movie theatre area. The whole process is surprisingly easy and super fun. Our little group ended up spending the most time in this area! It was really exciting to see the characters they created hop and skip their way across the big screen.
Other activities at Planet Playskool include: a colorful foam pit, Transformers virtual biking game (definitely better for the older kids), a tinker toy car building section and racing track, spirograph area using laser lights, a huge lite-brite, a PJ masks hero game area with three fun themed attractions (I liked the video game where your movements made you part of the game) and a really cool playground themed after the classic Mouse Trap board game. There’s also a small cafe area themed after Easy Bake Ovens but it didn’t seem open while we were playing. Our group included my three year old and his 6 and 9 year old cousins and everyone really enjoyed the different activities. This is an excellent experience if you are looking for an indoor play area that can satisfy that span of ages.
The whole interactive playground concept felt very similar to the Legoland Discovery Center in the American Dream Mall. If you are looking to make a full day of your trip, after your time in the park, grab some lunch at the food court, and then hit up the upstairs indoor playground, Go Playland, for another few hours of play. Before you leave, if everyone’s been good you can stop at the LEGO store for a little treat before you make your way home!
We had a great time and can’t wait to go back! For more info about Planet Playskool and tickets, visit planetplayskool.com.