As much as there is an old school charm coupled with a lot of nostalgia involved in seeing kids playing around in children’s parks, public play grounds or on the beach, times are changing and whole new concepts are emerging, redefining the urban settings for kids’ entertainment.
Of late, a lot of businesses in city have been thriving on children, cashing in on hectic lifestyle of ambitious parents and the widening gap in family bond and spending time together.
Aru Nayar, one of the founders of the Activity Room, which is into organising kids’ activities pop-ups, tells DC, “It’s not a ready area. We can create a space for kids’ activities anywhere - be it indoor or outdoor. We ourselves have kids who are around 2 ½ years old. It’s boring to take them to a regular play area all the time. Exactly that’s why we have come up with this pop-up idea.”
Precisely, when the idea is to get children to bond and learn while they engage in activities, the three partners work towards making things more exciting by constantly changing the venues of every pop-up- the very idea of a “pop-up.”
“The activity rooms provide different ways of entertainment to a lot of kids under the same roof at the same time and they get to interact with each other. We have plans to create a movie day, organise a football/ basketball match on the beach. Our first was a carnival which involved cupcake making, soap-making activities, skating etc. We’ll create more pop-ups depending on needs and season on a bimonthly basis for now.”
Kids aged 1 1/2 to 12 years can take part in activities relevant to particular age. Such places are good alternatives that provide learning and bonding experiences to kids, especially when you do not want to put your kid in a regular creche as you’re away at work.
Toddle Town has created a whole world that aims at gently giving a child a glimpse into the real world through its replica of real life settings such as a police station, a mechanic shop, a fire station and even a grand castle. Referring to the array of interactive settings that allows a child to explore the real world as he/she immerses in her little figments of imagination and ‘pretend play’, Keerthi Gabriel, the founder of the creative playhouses for kids, says, “It’s a mini town in itself. The idea is to have this live set-up which will help a child to be more socially responsible and achieve an emotional balance. It widens the horizon of their imagination.” Imaginative play helps a child look for solutions too as they enact a real-life situation.
Recently a kids’ gym has opened in city.
