Kids have designed a real life cinema. They have to use a slide to get to their seats of course.

Australia’s first children’s “concept cinema” is set to open in Melbourne next week.

“It is a gold class cinema for children. If kids were told to design a gold class cinema, this would be it,” says Village Cinema Sales Manager, Mohit Bhargava.

Village Cinema teamed up with Mattel’s Hot Wheels to combine movies and play, and they had a helping hand from some young cinema goers.

Various groups of children, aged 3-9, were invited into mock cinemas to have their reactions measured in "real-time".

The finished offering includes an interactive lounge play area where kids can build block walls, play light projection games, create artwork, or use various activity tables.

There is an in-cinema slide for before and after the film - and when the kids finally sit down they can choose from a range of options including bean bags and lounges.

During pre-testing the team found out "very quickly" what wasn't going to work.

“All the trials were very evident that the play element at a group level was what attracted the kids the most," said Mr Bhargava.

"Anything that was individual play, or reactive to a screen didn’t seem to catch their attention.”

Multi-player gaming was scrapped and the cinema focused on allowing children to be creative.

“We wanted to find that appropriate balance of screen time versus active play so it becomes a more wholesome experience for the entire family,” said Mr Bhargava.

Families can arrive an hour before the show to use the interactive play area, and the artworks created in the lounge will be shown on the big screen during the pre-show.

“We have tried our level hardest to make it about the kids and they’ve really helped us along the way,” Mr Bhargava added.

Vjunior sits alongside six other concept cinemas at Village Cinemas Southland.

"We understand that the experience of going to the movies extends beyond the film itself, " said Adrian Witcombe, Head of Innovation and Strategy at Village Cinemas Australia.

"We have a range of offerings that allow our guests the freedom to decide how they want their cinema experience to feel," he added.

Doors open December 1st.