Moku Playland Pop-Up Opens June 1 with Interactive, Screen-Free Fun for Families
Families and visitors to downtown Hot Springs will have the opportunity to experience a unique style of hands-on play this summer as Moku Playland opens June 1 for a special month-long pop-up at 831 Central Avenue.
Open Thursday-Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Moku Playland is an interactive wooden play experience featuring handcrafted play structures, imaginative activity areas, climbing features, train displays, and collaborative spaces designed to encourage creativity, movement, and open-ended play.
Designed as a screen-free environment for children and families, the experience encourages visitors to touch, build, create, and explore through hands-on interaction and imaginative play.
“The goal is to create a space where children and families can slow down, play together, and experience creativity in a completely different way,” said Mary Zunick. “This is not a traditional exhibit where children simply look at something. The entire experience is meant to be touched, explored, and enjoyed together.”
The playland features a variety of handcrafted wooden toys and large-scale interactive elements inspired by Japanese approaches to creativity, craftsmanship, and learning through play.
Presented by the Hot Springs National Park Sister City Foundation, Moku Playland was developed in collaboration with the Hanamaki Toy Museum and is connected to the more than 30-year sister city relationship between Hot Springs and Hanamaki, Japan. Organizers hope the downtown pop-up will introduce more families and visitors to this unique style of play while exploring opportunities for future expansion.
Tickets and additional information, including volunteer opportunities, are available at hotspringssistercity.org.
About the Hot Springs National Park Sister City Foundation
The Hot Springs National Park Sister City Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering cultural understanding, educational exchange, and international friendship through the sister city relationship between Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Hanamaki, Japan.
