It is minutes until the primary colour-fest that is Summer in Abu Dhabi opens for its 2010 season. Children are plucking impatiently at the red entrance rope. An awed hush descends, though, when the Incredible Hulk emerges from the gloom. "Raaaaaa," he grunts, Neanderthal-like. The children take a step back before erupting into ecstatic screams. Some of the smaller ones whimper nervously.
The rope comes down and the children barge past him and his Marvel comic friends (SpiderMan, Iron Man and The Green Goblin) into the hall. Where to start, with gaudy activities beckoning in every direction? Now in its third year, Summer in Abu Dhabi aims to provide indoor "edu-tainment" for children over the next couple of sweltering months. With outdoors out of bounds, the vast confines of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec) provide them with acres of space to run around, shoot each other with lasers, don sumo suits and acquire some circus skills, among other activities.
To review the action, I have a herd of children, ranging from age 12 down to four. The first stop is Dance-Tricity, a dance floor where music and flashing lights are powered by the children's actions. As soon as they start dancing, to Black-Eyed Peas' I've got a Feeling, the disco begins. The mothers look delighted that their offspring are already expending so much energy. Next, we're off the Circus School, where clowns are on hand to impart their juggling and plate-spinning skills. While keeping the little ones' attention for long enough to show them anything seems to be a struggle, the older children are soon competitively hoola-hooping.
Bee Amazed occupies the middle of the room. It looks unprepossessing from the outside, but inside its squishy yellow walls is a honeycomb-shaped maze. Then there is Playmotion, a digital play area that allows the children to interact with shapes on a big screen; and Building Blocks of Learning, a spacious DIY station where they can get stuck in with plastic hammers and wrenches. The young Bob the Builder devotees make a rush for the hard hats. The older children are nowhere to be seen.
Two interactive shows are an interesting addition: one, Hello Music Land, which features dancing furry instruments and an entertainer leaping about in a top hat, is clearly more geared towards the younger children,who are parked, wide-eyed, on bean bags. Another, featuring our green muscly friend and his colleagues has an educational message. "Welcome everybody from your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man," chirps his Lycra-clad real-life incarnation from the Marvel theatre, "we are here to teach you how to keep the world clean."
It's time to hunt down those elusive pre-teens, who have crept out in search of more age-appropriate entertainment. I need look no further than Laser Strike, where a group of them are weaponed-up and charging around the darkened space. The remainder have been transformed, thanks to some fat suits, into sumo wrestlers, and are launching themselves at each other in the wrestling ring. In stark contrast to their noisy hysteria, next door some of the younger children are peacefully negotiating the highways of Junior Driving School in a couple of miniature Ferraris.
So what did they think? "I liked Laser Strike the best," says Harry Seward, 12. "I love shooting games. The plays are all right for smaller children - for ages four to seven. There's not so much for older children, though." "I liked the bee maze," says Ruby Relton, 12. "It's really fun when they squirt you with water inside." Maddy Rooke, 12, plans on going back to Circus School. "I didn't get enough time there," she says. "And I liked Dance-Tricity. It's different to a lot of other activities. The bee maze was really fun because it was confusing. And I liked being squirted with water." Cameron Taylor, 12, agrees with Harry. "There's more here for smaller children, but I would definitely come back for Laser Strike and the sumo wrestling."
The little ones are unanimously in support of Junior Driving School. "You get your own Ferrari," says Thomas Goodwin, five. "I love Ferraris." Megan Bond, six, is still bombing around in hers. "I've had to drag her away from each activity," says her mother, Rachel. For the parents, having somewhere to take children over the summer is much appreciated. "It gives you that mix," says Sam Goodwin, Thomas's mother, "another way to fill the week."
For those with early bedtimes, there is one glitch: it doesn't open until 4pm. "The only disappointment is the timing," says Sam Turner, the president of Abu Dhabi Mums. "The event opens at 4pm, and most of the shows don't start until after 7pm. That's pretty late for families with babies or young children. Our forum has had a number of commments about the lack of activities to entertain the kids during the long, hot afternoons."
Though the event is smaller than last year, occupying only one hall, this is because activities are also taking place in malls in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. The Black-Eyed Peas have started up again. The dance floor is filling up with big furry instruments, children and mums. Sophia Jeffery, five, is more interested in chasing bubbles, though. "It's typical," says her mother, Katie. "She wants to do the one thing we could do at home. For free."
Summer in Abu Dhabi runs until August 4. Entry is Dh15. For a list of shows and activities, see www.summerinabudhabi.com
