CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Finding a playground specifically for children 6 years old and younger can be difficult. Finding one that helps nurture the physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development of a child is even harder.
Cameron and Kristi Swen wanted to create a place that fulfills all of those needs, and they think they’ve done so with Kids Wonder in Centennial.
The couple developed the concept during Cameron’s time pursuing an MBA at Colorado State University. The original idea was for a homework assignment.
“It wasn't just sitting down for a night and doing it,” said Cameron Swen. “It was going over it and reevaluating it for six months until we thought we had an idea that really made sense.”
“We actually felt kind of compelled because we thought it was such a great, unique idea,” said Kristi Swen. “There's nothing like it, and we felt like we could make it happen.”
Six years later, Kids Wonder is a sprawling indoor playground built around the idea of imaginative play.
“You can actually feel them learning, and what's exciting is that it's unstructured,” said Kristi. “Kids can be dressed like a firefighter, grocery shopping, or delivering packages. It doesn't have to make sense in the adult world. It's their imagination, and they're practicing what they see.”
Much of the play area is hand-built by Cameron, and the whole space is designed to help children interact with each other so they can grow socially.
“Kids in general work in different age levels with kids that are complete strangers to them,” said Kristi. “They're buying pizza from each other, they're building a tower, and they're learning skills that just exceed the playground.”
Each child at Kids Wonder needs a guardian to supervise. They can simply be in the line of sight, or they can actively play with their child.
“I think the fact that a parent can be there and just not be worried about their tablet, not be worried about what's in the news,” said Kristi. “They can just be present with their kids. I think that’s really priceless.”
If you would like to learn more about Kids Wonder, you can check out their website here.
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