Improved Archipelago | A park that will delight children

(Saint-Jérôme) “Three elves have a brother in common. When this brother dies, the three elves then no longer have a brother. Why ? So begins our quest at the Amélio Archipelago, an adventure and puzzle park established in Saint-Jérôme a few months ago. Will we manage to gather enough magic tears to calm the volcano that threatens the lives of the island’s dragons?

Valerie Simard
The Press

“The volcano is raging” is one of the eight quests offered by Amélio in the park that the company, a designer of educational board games, has laid out behind its offices, on a vast plot of land combining a clearing and a forest, around Route 117. In this quest, designed for ages 5 and up, you learn to work together and coordinate your movements to form a team.

The 1 km course leads our foursome through the island of dragons, of course, but also in the island of explorers, that of pirates, then that of food. The land has nine of these thematic islands, each of which includes fifteen activities — puzzles, charades, scientific challenges, hebertism modules and art stations — all enlivened by works created by artists of the Laurentians.

To collect tears, we had to solve the riddle mentioned above (two of the elves are girls!), put in order the stages of the life cycle of the frog, do sit-ups and cross a course of hebertism. Among others.

Committed to learning

“Learning through play is at the heart of what we offer,” says Éric Chagnon, president and co-founder of Amélio. Getting children moving, stimulating their senses, their emotions, makes them more engaged in learning. It is believed that play is a great way to learn, if not the best. »

L’archipel is a continuation of the activities of Amélio which, supported by a team of education specialists, creates board games for 2-12 year olds and offers training to teachers and educators on learning through play. There are no age limits for accessing the park. From the age of 4, children can participate in most activities. Several have different levels, which allows teenagers and children to find their account.

Éric Chagnon specifies that at the base of all the games developed by the company, there is the Improvement wheel which revolves around four fields of development.

“There are games that are more action-oriented, others that call for collaboration, for example to make a ball go up along a course, others that are more intellectual, puzzles and charades, and others more on the sensory level where you have to touch, feel,” adds Mr. Chagnon.

That’s a lot, a lot of games. One hundred and thirty stations in total! Not all are suitable for all age groups, but still, it’s a lot to try. It is necessary to plan at least three hours for a first visit, or why not the whole day (provided you bring your picnic since there is no catering service).

According to desires

The park can be explored freely, without too much structure, according to the wishes of the children. Or by pursuing one of the quests, developed according to age groups (from 2 years old to 12 years old and over). Or a bit of both. Because, since the courses and games of the different quests are intertwined, and there is not always a clearly laid out path, it is difficult to stay the course. This is the reason for our failure. Despite the determination and drive of our two 5-year-olds, we were unable to complete our quest and extinguish the volcano before the site was closed.

Our crew lost their way once, straying to the Enchanted Forest Island (yes, there are worse). And even on the right path, there are many temptations. How to resist the maze of tight-rope style The Matrixthe classic seesaw, the giant dreamcatcher and the tunnel of barrels to cross?

Result: the volcano is still burning. We will have to go back there.

The archipelago is open on Saturdays and Sundays until October 30, as well as to school groups during the week.