Equal Enjoyment Opportunity for Kids and Adults

Do you know what song is sung to the same tune as the ABCs? Or what makes a yo-yo go up and down and round and round?

Well, if you don’t know that “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” is the song and that centripetal force is what makes the yo-yo work, then a trip to the Children’s Time Machine Edutainment Center might be in order.

The Time Machine is a 4-month-old retail and game center in Sherman Oaks that’s trying to make learning fun by combining education and entertainment through games and activities. The 12,400-square-foot facility is geared to kids ages 4 through 10 and is designed so families can play and learn together.

The center was developed by former Redken Laboratories beauty products founder Paula Kent Meehan and Kristin Firrell, who wanted to create a fun place for families. As their plan progressed, they discovered that most adults hate the standard family arcades because they really are geared strictly to kids. The Time Machine was their answer to that problem.

“We wanted to create a place where there was equal enjoyment opportunity,” says Firrell. “We didn’t want the place to be mindless; we wanted to blend entertainment and education in a meaningful way by creating an environment where children could learn through play and go deep into the heart of their imagination.”

The Time Machine does this by dividing its spacious facility into four areas that are dubbed landscapes of imagination--entered by passing through a make-believe time machine.

The Submerged room is dedicated to the wonders of the ocean and features an oversized fish tank, a dolphin-like hobby horse and occasional visits from sea life experts. Castle Faire is a medieval fantasy room in which kids and parents can dress up in costumes or learn how gears work by playing with a puzzle-like game. A walk to the Wildside takes visitors into a tropical jungle where there are hand-eye coordination games, such as a wall designed to simulate rock climbing. And when kids pass through a tunnel, they enter Spaced Out, an area that includes a simulated trip in a spaceship and an adjoining room that looks like the night sky and features lessons about the planets.

In addition, the Time Machine shows six-minute 3-D movies every other hour and has a high-tech “virtual playground” in which visitors’ images are projected onto a television screen so it appears they are playing soccer or volleyball or swimming with dolphins.

For those who don’t like the games, there is still plenty to do. An arts and crafts center provides kids with coloring books and materials to create pictures and greeting cards. And a “presentation station” features karaoke, drumming lessons and sing-alongs throughout the day.

So where does the fun for adults begin? Aside from the games, which have been designed for parents and kids to work together, there’s a whole slew of “care stations” for parents. In the Sports Time Lounge, they can watch a sports event on a large-screen television while monitoring their kids on the other side of a one-way mirror. The Time Out room is a serene space decorated like a log cabin and filled with massage chairs; a roving masseuse gives free mini-massages from 1 to 4 p.m. on weekends. And the Time Traveller Cafe provides a soundproof retreat with a healthy menu intended to appeal to parents and kids.

For safety, all entrants wear bar-coded wristbands so that kids cannot leave without their parents and vice versa. And security cameras are located throughout the center so that parents can take a break and use TV monitors to keep an eye on the young ones.

“Most places are so busy that it’s overwhelming for someone little like her,” said Laura Coker of Studio City, referring to her 4-year-old daughter Miranda. “It’s a great place because she can play and I can sit down without her being too far off.”

As Steven Himber of Encino played a game with his daughter, he said it was a great place for the two to spend the afternoon together. “It’s like a much nicer Chuck E. Cheese’s,” he said.

His daughter couldn’t agree more.

“I love it, and I love the entrance ‘cause it’s pretty and it’s dark,” said 4-year-old Emily Himber. “It’s fun and it looks like a castle.”

BE THERE

Children’s Time Machine Edutainment Center, 14652 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. (877) 846-3622 (877-TIMEMAC). $8 for children; adults free. Valet and street parking. Open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends; closed Mondays.