Vibe: Elementary classroom energy
Drive time: About 25 minutes from downtown Denver, in Centennial
Tip: Parents, don’t forget your own sneakers or laptop. There’s an elliptical, treadmill, and stationary bike for you to squeeze in a workout, and space to get a few tasks done while the littles get the entertainment they’ve been craving.
Offering colorful surroundings and adult life shrunk to kid size, Kids Wonder transforms a child’s day into an enlightening experience. Co-owners Cameron and Kristi Swen, parents of four kids, designed the space with a child’s physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development in mind.
Playful Learning
Kids enjoy becoming restaurateurs, firefighters, vets, and actors in Lil’ Town, while toddlers clamber over soft structures and play in small houses. In the whole body play area, large inflatables and “Whole Brain Blocks” encourage physical and imaginative participation. Parents and caregivers watch, play alongside, or engage in adult education with CPR trainers, sleep specialists, and the director of You Are Not Alone, a support group for parents.
Enriching Programs
Kristi, who has two decades of teaching and administrative experience, also expanded the center’s educational components with parent-child programs, such as Lil’Learners, an early-learning practice time, including 60 lessons covering alphabet, numbers, shapes, and social/emotional skills. Big & Lil’Players, coming in the new year, will use standards from Head Start adapted for Kids Wonder, to help little ones meet mobility milestones as wigglers, crawlers, and walkers.
COVID Cleaning Standards
Kids Wonder performs more than 70 safety and cleaning tasks three times per day. The Tri-County Health Business Reopening Taskforce commended them for their COVID Policy and Procedures.
Families flock to the Kids Wonder space seeking a birthday party spot, some sure-fire fun on a school day off, or for a family night out on Fridays. Entry is currently by reservation only with limited capacity.
