All work means all play for LBC at KidZania

MANILA, Philippines - Like any great adventure, it all starts with a journey and this journey begins at the KidZania airport.

There, the kids are given a boarding pass and a map to a city that’s built entirely for them — an urban center where the buildings, vehicles, and other features typically found in any metropolis are scaled down to accommodate children.

At KidZania, children are given 50 Kidzos, the city’s main currency, which they can readily spend around the city. But once that runs out, the kids literally have to work to earn more — and that’s when they take on real-life jobs designed to teach them essential life skills.

To make the experience realistic, KidZania partners with brands that share values inherent to them — ones that highlight the importance of learning and education, highlighting the importance of empowering youth for a better future. These values are shared by the biggest express courier in the Philippines, LBC.  

“We choose brands that exist in the real world to be part of this city. But because it’s a ‘better world’ inside KidZania we choose brands that match with the values of our company,” explains Denise Peralta, KidZania’s industry partner. “It has to be entertaining but more importantly, it has to be educational.”

Among KidZania’s most popular jobs is becoming a member of the LBC team. Kids line up and take turns to slip into the familiar red smock the country’s biggest courier company is recognized for.

“The partnership between us and KidZania is intended to teach kids abstract concepts, lessons, and values present in the real world, which are simulated for kids, aged four to 14, so they can get a better grasp of these,” says Dino Araneta, chief strategy officer of LBC.

The LBC KidZania branch teaches kids the value of efficiency, the benchmark of a trusted leader in the industry, in the simplest way possible, as well as the intangible but no less important concepts of respect for others’ properties, valuing hard work, friendliness, and customer service.

“It’s a very straightforward way of showing children what actually happens to a package daily and what it takes for a parcel to get from here to there. It shows them the people involved, the care that goes into it, and the responsibility that comes with it,” explains Araneta.

“Here, the kids are taught the ins and outs of what it takes to be a reliable courier. Simple things such as recognizing the value in a package, which requires them to handle it with care, and the idea that they are really responsible for making sure that that package arrives safely to its recipients,” adds Christine Wuthrich, LBC Foundation’s executive director.

At the end of their shift, they earn their salaries, which they can spend at the KidZania tiangge or deposit at the bank, where they can, yet again, learn another abstract lesson — the value of saving.

For more information on LBC, visit http://www.lbcexpress.com; or call the following hotlines: 8585-999 (Metro Manila), 1-800-10-8585-999 (provincial).