Menlyn Park festivities kick off with a special AR ’Easter Funny’

Lethabo Makanatleng (5) and Manaa Maibelo (7) show their Easter Bunny racing cars at the Choc Cafe. Menlyn Park Shopping Centre is hosting an amazing Easter experience for children and parents with an interactive AR maze and Choc Cafe. Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency (ANA)

Lethabo Makanatleng (5) and Manaa Maibelo (7) show their Easter Bunny racing cars at the Choc Cafe. Menlyn Park Shopping Centre is hosting an amazing Easter experience for children and parents with an interactive AR maze and Choc Cafe. Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Apr 11, 2022

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Pretoria - In true Easter spirit, Menlyn Park Shopping Centre has set up enjoyable, interactive Easter activities for children and adults.

Among these activities is a maze with an interactive Augmented Reality (AR) experience where children are able to download an app and hunt for the Easter Funny’s AR friends.

First they must scan a barcode to access the maze where a bunny appears. With that furry animal they will be able to go inside the maze and start hunting for other bunnies.

The Easter fun was set up on March 30, to run until April 18, and on the weekend excited children were happily, running inside the maze in defiance of the cold, wet weather outside.

Besides the maze activity there is a Choc Café, where the children are able, with guidance, to decorate treats.

As they participated in this on Saturday, children said making a cute, edible bunny car using biscuits, bunny chocolate and gourmet fudge made them realise the Easter fun was still alive.

They sat down at a table where each got to make their own edible bunny car, with the help of a chef and her assistant, who gave them instructions on how to assemble the car, and also how to control it.

Elizabeth Madiba had brought her children and said the activities were a good initiative, as, growing up, she never celebrated Easter and had always wanted her children to be part of popular culture as a result.

“Coming here with the children helps a lot because they have the opportunity to celebrate the holidays while socialising with other children.

“Being in this kind of environment really helps children to gain interactive skills, which allows them to communicate with other kids.”

The shopping centre said it would also be doing good through the celebrations by collecting funds for charity and visitors are encouraged to donate cash towards this. When they donate, they get to open an egg, where they can win a prize.

Said mall management: “If they snap a selfie at the shopping centre's selfie stations and upload it to the comments section of their Easter Funny selfie competition post on our Facebook page and use #MenlynEasterFunny they can win a R1 000 mall voucher.

“Not only can you come and meet the Easter Funny and crack yourself up with some of his one-liners, but you can also win amazing prizes on the spot. Simply follow the floor decals in-centre to our Aviary Court where you can find a world of fun – including a maze, selfie opportunities and egg-citing Easter activities at our Choc Café. There are lots of prizes up for grabs too.”

The Choc Café is open from 10am until 4pm, from March 30th to April 3rd, April 8th to 10th and April 13th to 18th.

Pretoria News