Bengaluru’s child-friendly spaces offer Nature walks, outdoor play dates, and more 

Coro

The latest addition to Bengaluru’s kid-centric community is Coro, a members-only family club. Founded by Tena Pick and Tanushree Seth — who met through a Whatsapp support group for mothers during the pandemic — Coro offers parents a space to work, and children to play and connect. “We were aware of the lack of adequate infrastructure for children and families in Bengaluru, and mothers were constantly having to choose between their professional lives and parenting,” says Tena, also the founder of Project Kal, a gender leadership academy in the city. 

Coro currently offers in-house activities through the week, as well as events and workshops by a curated lineup of facilitators
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Special Arrangement

Coro currently offers in-house activities through the week, as well as events and workshops by a curated lineup of facilitators and organisations such as the LooRoo Club and Moving Minds. “Our aim is to create a space where children can play, explore, and foster a sense of independence. Our playshapers use a variety of approaches that all fall under methodology of play,” says Tena, “Every week has a different theme, such as ‘the world around us’ or ‘little explorers’, and every day that theme is explored through different modalities, such as music, theatre, arts, and storytelling.”

Storyteller Heidi Faye Pereira at Coro Space. Shot on OnePlus #FramesofIndia
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SUDHAKARA JAIN

For the summer, a range of movement, dance, music, arts, crafts, sensory play and children’s theatre activities are being planned. “We also have food pop-ups, events for the adults on the work floor, and networking opportunities for our families. In the months of April and May, we will host our own summer camp for children,” she adds. 

Membership plans start at ₹15,000 a month. For non-members, upwards of ₹500 for an activity.

The LooRoo Club organises playdates themed on books, festivals; workshops for educators; and eco-friendly birthday celebrations
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LooRooClub 

With play-based learning at the core of  The LooRoo Club, founders Lakshmi Kaushik and Sangeetha Arjun say it represents “everything we cherish — childhood wonder, deep roots in nature, and a love for our city”.

“Sangeetha, a nutritionist and play-based educator, and I have been friends since third grade, growing up in the 90s with unstructured outdoor play. As parents, we wanted our children to experience the same joy of exploring nature and learning through play – making concoctions with mud, leaves and flowers, and making mud cakes,” says Lakshmi. What began as small playdates for their children quickly grew into a larger community.

Sangeetha Arjun and Lakshmi Kaushik
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The name LooRoo, she says, is inspired by their children, Luca (Loo) and Rudra (Roo). “It’s also a perfect short form of our beloved city, Bengaluru!” says the architect and paper-cut artist.

Known for their immersive, nature-inspired play experiences, the duo organise playdates themed on books, festivals; workshops for educators; and eco-friendly birthday celebrations. “We use real materials like leaves, flowers, and mud, and bring books and traditions to life through interactive activities,” she adds. 

A play date by The LooRoo Club
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At a farm-themed playdate themed on What The Ladybird Heard, for example,  children harvested real potatoes, made pretend food for farm animals using oats, leaves, and grains, and painted farmer boots and ladybugs. “They built tiny worm farms, printed with fruits and veggies, and splashed around in a muddy slush tray, giving farm animals a bath. The day ended with a play-dough garden, filled with colourful flowers,” says Lakshmi.

Playdates start at ₹1,500 . Details on @theloorooclub on Instagram

Children at  Imagine That! Creative Studio
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Imagine That

When Gitanjali Budhrani’s daughter was younger, she found herself driving all over the city for her child’s classes.” I was battling traffic with a cranky child and spending half the day on the road! That’s when I realised there wasn’t a designated space in Central Bengaluru for children’s classes or events,” says the former restaurateur. 

Cut to November 2023, and Gitanjali founded Imagine That! Creative Studio to fill that gap. “While the idea stemmed from my own experience as a parent, I also knew several teachers who had well-crafted curriculums but no space to conduct their sessions. On the other hand, I met parents who were eager for classes but didn’t want to commute long distances every week,” says Gitanjali, who opened her second studio at Koramangala recently.

Imagine That! offers parents-toddler sessions, after school and kindergarten classes, athletics, and art groups
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What started as a casual search for a suitable space, she says, quickly turned into something bigger. Today, Imagine That! offers parents-toddler sessions, after school and kindergarten classes, athletics, and art groups. “Every Saturday, we host workshops that cover STEM, STEAM, nature play, crafts, baking and storytelling. These are especially popular among working parents who may struggle to fit weekday classes into their schedules,” adds Gitanjali who also offers Nature-based learning. “We’ve hosted workshops where children and parents team up to make crayons using mud and clay, create art with flowers and leaves, dye shirts using natural mud pigments, to name a few.”

Every Saturday, Imagine That! hosts workshops that cover STEM, STEAM, nature play, crafts, baking and storytelling
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For the coming months, Gitanjali is collaborating with various teachers to host summer camps. “These camps will run for the first half of the day, offering kids a structured yet fun way to spend their mornings. We’re also keeping our regular weekly classes going for those who wish to stick to their usual schedules,” she says.

Upwards of ₹900. For details, call 9916512586

Kavya Chandra (far left) at a Nature walk
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A Green Venture

For the last decade, Kavya Chandra has been educating school children, and families through curated Nature camps and day trips in the city that are aimed at “helping them disconnect from their digital lives”. “These experiences are held at public parks and private farms, and today A Green Venture offers experiences which range from education-based content to recreation-based content (Nature quizzes, treasure hunts, outdoor art, etc) for families. We also have overnight camps for kids and Nature walks for private and corporate groups,” says Kavya, who was recently certified as a Nature guide by the government-recognised Skill India. 

A practicing urban grower of over 100 species of plants, she says her methodology is curated based on the audience/ group visiting. “We incorporate storytelling, facts and knowledge, insect and bird spotting, sensory activities, Nature facts and a fun quiz/ game with takeaways at the end.” 

A walk and activity in progress
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Special Arrangement

Kavya also offers “celebration walks”, and has conducted them for anniversaries, birthdays for children, and senior citizens. “We have special customised walks for certain flowering trees in Bengaluru, and all our celebration walks come with several sensory activities where we get children to observe and learn from picking up fallen treasures, and being mindful of small creatures that they encounter. Our walks are conducted in a way where we talk and teach to both children and adults,” she explains, adding that such activities are important given the “Nature-deficit” lives most people lead today.”

Children at a Nature camp
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“There was a time where going outside and playing was a normal thing to do; as children we were outside constantly looking under stones, peeping into hollow trees, trying to spot nests and birds etc, observing insects. Today, children are stressed all the time, whether it’s studying or being at home in front of the screen, says Kavya, who is now planning for their annual Nature Camp for children in the summer which will be scheduled in April/ May.

Nature walks upwards of ₹800 and the Nature Camp is priced starting at ₹8,500 per person. For details, call 9886400312.