We really wanted to see the miniature world offered by the Centre for Education and Leisure Mikroskala located in Konin. It is a place that is definitely worth visiting with family. We first got information about this place from the blog of Kinga and Michal (Leo Lea Blog) – traveling family from Wroclaw. Encouraged by their positive impressions, we decided to check it on our own.
“Mikroskala” (Micro scale) is located on the outskirts of Konin at the road that is joining city with A2 highway (junction Konin East). Micro scale is located in the Entertainment Centre together with the 3D cinema, in-building playground, a time capsule and shop. The greater part of the building was occupied by the micro-scale exhibition. Families have special group tickets, which makes the attraction not so expensive. Discounts are always welcome 😉
When we entered exhibition we saw many theme scenes made in micro scale. Some of them are protected by glass and other are partially open. In the open ones, everything is within reach. The kids were initially overwhelmed, because they wanted to see everything at once and began running from display to display. There were so many amazing things to see. After a while, when they calmed down, we began to quietly watch everything step by step.
We liked very much an interactive mock-up of the two trains, where one train was going through the tunnel. One careless hand movement and the train derailed. Putting it back on the tracks wasn’t an easy task, because the motor started racing as soon as it made contact with the tracks. The trains rode past the platform where Rex, Bolek and Lolek were waiting, Baltazar the Sponge, Smurfs, Kajko and Kokosz, Titus and other well-known fairy-tale characters.
Some displays were connected to each other in such a way that the train could go along several stages through the tunnels in walls. The children were running around with delight, following the train. The world shown in the models reflects real-world places that you can find in reality. For example, you could see the railway station in Konin or amusement park.
Next we walked near the scenes referring to the historical events that left a sign in history. Such scenes included, for example, the Titanic (with a part on the water and the wreckage on the ocean floor). We could also see the world destroyed by disasters such as tsunami or tornado. In addition to the natural scenes there were also shown scenes that were caused by humans, such as the atomic bomb explosion or the Berlin wall. There were also those which depicted historical events and World War II.
We also found a model depicting Noah’s Ark and the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. Above us there was even a UFO with the music from the TV series X-Files
Each model contained a world in miniature. All items were reflected with great precision. You can see that the designers put a lot of heart into building each scene.
Part of the exhibition had buttons that were used to trigger special effects. And such effects could, for example, start a train, turn on the lights, or play sounds. As we heard from Mikroskala’s service: “buttons are there to push them.” Just say that to the children …
There were also mocks related to films. Star Wars fans will find here a real treat. Kris, when he saw it, he started to name each famous character. See it yourself in the video:
Under construction was another scene presenting the world known from the Avatar movie.
Suddenly we were invited to look at workshop. It is rare to show people something that is hidden behind main hall. A very nice surprise. We went to the workshop area. A new platform under construction will use glass balls to make action. These balls will fall to activate various mechanisms. So far, however, we saw raw wooden structure and we had the opportunity to trace the movement of the falling balls. It was very loud. As we were told, louder attractions work better, because kids like them much more.
Apart from the mock-up there is also a creative corner for kids. There are various blocks and spatial puzzles. Arranging the 3×3 cube elements can be a bit tricky. However, we did it.
We are very pleased and surprised that in the weekend there were no crowds. We were able to carefully examine each mock-up and safely diverge around the whole building without the fear of getting lost in the crowd.
In summary – a great attraction, which is worth a visit. Thanks to the diversity of individual thematic mockups everyone will find something interesting here.