Cynthia and Sandy seek to contribute to the community while providing a space for young children to enjoy the values
Ideare is the dream project of a couple who wanted to create a space where children could be free, play, have fun, but most importantly, nurture values.
Cynthia Lopez and Sandy Biddo have dedicated the past four years to creating and developing the idea of creating a space that covers the need for children in the Independencia region to have a place where they can fully enjoy their childhood.
“Ideare is a children’s playground, ‘playground’ or play area. A project we created more than 4 years ago, given the need in this field for a space where children can recreate and play, ”explains Cynthia, who has worked with children for more than 20 years.
Cynthia is the creative mind, who gives colors to things, who sets the scene for games and activities. Sandy, an engineer by profession, works in the design and maintenance department.
Ideare has managed to give parents the confidence to take their young children, thanks to the fact that the place gives off a home feel, since its main collaborators are a family consisting of the couple and their daughter, Juliet.
“I think the fact that we are a family is key, because our daughter Juliet is three years old and also works here. She is the one responsible for testing the attractions and encouraging the kids to play with her; as well as teaching them how to play and taking care of the toys and she is also the one who picks them up when we are done for the day. I think Parents see that we as a family work and that we provide them with very personal assistance, which is essential,” explains Cynthia.
Another interest of the couple is to contribute to the real problems of society and to provide a space for the children to have fun in an inclusive and values-based way.
We want to teach values in this society where adults are now waiting for something else. Parents are waiting to find money or just enjoy their lives. Something also is that teens are having kids and those kids are being raised by grandparents that they can’t handle, so there’s dysfunction at the family level and that’s what you have to focus on,” explains Cynthia.
In space, they also have a ‘0 screens’ base, so children enjoy early stimulation development, with sensory and educational toys, cubes and numbers. “Not a single kid came here to sit with the cell phone. It didn’t happen because we wouldn’t get carried away with it either; we don’t want to play electronic games because they already have it at home and spending so much screen time now is a problem.”
What makes kids feel like fish in water is that there are no limits to what they can and can’t play with. It is a safe place with precautions taken, which is why it has become a favorite of those who visited it.
“Here they have no problem playing on their own, even the little ones. Parents sit down and are free to play themselves, climb into the ball pool and do what children like best when they are at that age: put their hands on it.”
In the same way, they carried out days of activities for festive dates such as Carnival and Valentine’s Day, in which children also created crafts.
