THE CLUB YOUR CHILD WILL LOVE TO JOIN

A CLUB YOUR CHILD WILL LOVE – INDOOR ACTIVITIES GENEVA

Kids Time Club – Fun Indoor Activities for Kids in Geneva

by Alana Dunsmore

My son isn’t the type of child who rushes over to join in when he sees other kids playing. He prefers to sit back and assess the situation first. He watches, carefully, before deciding whether the activity is worth doing. For this reason, it’s not always easy to find the right indoor activities in Geneva for him.

Luckily, we’ve finally managed to find the perfect fit! A new indoor activity center called Kids Time Club in Eaux-Vives ticks all the boxes for him – and for us. Their claim to fame is creating a fun, safe environment – particularly focused on helping children deal with their emotions.

SUMMER CAMP

Kids Time Club was scheduled to open in March 2020, but due to COVID they opened in June. I had heard about them during lockdown, but it wasn’t until we started looking for summer camps that I looked at their course schedule.

My son liked the sound of zumba, yoga and crafts. As always, he was a bit hesitant the first day of camp, but he went with no tears. At the end of the day he was smiling and didn’t want to leave. By the third day, I knew Kids Time Club was a perfect match for my son. Until the last day he walked to the camp happily, skipping and hopping, asking what they were going to do that day. At the end of the day he wanted to know the schedule for the next day. The final seal of approval was when he asked if he could go back for another camp at the end of the week. Success!

WHAT’S ON THE CALENDAR: 2020 Activities Schedule

Kids Time Club offer a variety of kid’s activities (ages 10 months – 8 years old):

Move your body
Yoga
Art history
Wobbel board yoga
Gym circuit
Music and senses
Arts and Crafts
Zumba
Discover your emotions

All the activities have the hidden objective of allowing the kids to learn how to better manage their emotions through play. The club aims to provide a space where children can learn self-awareness, self-love and self-care. Their intent isn’t to provide therapy, but to help children learn the skills of recognition, frustration tolerance, impulse control and most importantly self-motivation. They hope that by the time a child has completed a class, he or she will have learned the skills to deal with the type of conflict and frustrations typically encountered on the playground.

They also offer three different birthday party packages, exercises courses for adults, family workshops, monthly story time, and play and a coffee bar for adults (for members).

THE BRAINS BEHIND THE CLUB

The club is new to Geneva, but not a new concept. The Geneva club is a franchise which was started in Mexico City by one of three Geneva Kids Time Club owners; Renata Caballero,

Mariana Hoyos and Ana Paola Reyes. After Renata moved to Geneva and following on from the success of her Mexican club, she approached the other two women about opening a similar club in Geneva.

The Geneva club is built along the same principles as its Mexican counterpart – focusing on providing a safe space for children to explore their emotions. When Renata started the club in Mexico, she felt kids did not have a safe space for this type of mental and emotional development, so she created one with the help of a psychologist.

VENUE

The Geneva Kid’s Time Club is near the Natural History museum. It is a beautiful, large space that encompasses two floors. The entrance is a large area with a few tables. My first thought is how bright, open and clean the whole area felt. From the entrance area, you can either access the gym or atelier. The whole area feels very welcoming.

In the basement you’ll find a play area for kids and – most importantly – a coffee area for parents. The play area is every child’s dream. There’s a play structure with a slide and netting for the kids to climb between the “firehouse” and “police house.” There’s also a spot for kids to play in a pretend grocery store. There are a lot of opportunities for pretend play, including a space for impromptu theatre performances. There is also a quiet corner where children enjoy story time. It’s set up so that you can sit back and enjoy a break and a coffee, while the kids let their imagination run wild! I love that it’s all in one open large space, so I can have a break, but still observe my son during his adventures!

An added bonus of the club’s location on a quiet street, is the courtyard where they often spend part of the morning.

COST

1 workshop – 35 chf
8 workshop – 250 chf (1-month term)
20 workshop – 499 chf (4-month term)
45 workshop – 900 chf (10-month term)
Gold Pass – 2300 chf (1-year term)

NOTE: Play time in the play area is included with all above options. In addition, a one-time membership fee of 70chf is required except for the 10 month (-50% membership fee) and 1-year membership (free membership).

OUR VERDICT

We absolutely love the club. It’s a dream space for my son, which also meets my expectations of a clean, safe, fun environment and knowing he is safe and having fun! The summer camp he participated in was very well organised with lots of exciting different activities, delicious freshly made snacks and most importantly for me – it was very affordable by Geneva standards! Our family enjoyed our experience at Kids Time Club and can’t wait to return soon!