Albert Einstein once said “Play is the highest form of research”, explains Mohammed Ibrahim, CEO of industry design and consultancy practice, The Wellness. “My aim is to revive this philosophy and help our future generations develop and have fun, away from the stressful life we put them through.

“We want kids to be kids, learning without stress and enjoying life but how can we do this today? The high-tech life they live nowadays takes them away from the active, movement-filled life children used to live and creates a lot of problems with their social, visual and motor skills.

“It’s so important we give our children the right tools to adjust and stay healthy and socially intact. We must ensure we let them shine,” he says.

“When we talk about wellness for kids, we’re not talking about kids’ spas, we’re much more interested in how to help guide our new generation to develop and cope with life challenges,” he explains.

Children’s clubhouses
“The availability of children’s facilities – I’d call them children’s clubhouses – are a key consideration for consumers when choosing their next destination,” says Ibrahim, “so they should be a revenue generator, as well as offering what each parent seeks for their child and what each child needs.”

Ibrahim’s vision is to enable kids to re-learn the skills they’re losing due to modern life: “Our aim is to meet the needs of families and operators through a creative design approach that aims to make sure kids stay kids, but also learn while being active,” he says.

“Offering this kind of full experience that caters for children, while also giving parents the opportunity to ‘dream big’ in terms of their own wellbeing, is very important for spa and wellness operators.

The complete experience
“Parents must also be relieved of worry about their kids’ wellbeing and to know they’ll be playing, learning, experimenting and developing,” he says.

“My vision is for the creation of a kids club which is a complete experience – a place where children can grow, develop life skills and have fun, while creating a socially integrated community for all the family,” says Ibrahim.

“When developing children’s clubs, we take into account each location, the society and culture. This ensures we create every facility using a concept that’s unique and special in every way – every time,” says Ibrahim.

“Life challenges have a vital role to play in kids’ everyday lives, it shapes them into healthy, happy adults.”

The process
“When creating great children’s clubs, the assessment process is very important. This is conducted using observatory play research, where experts establish the development needs of the target audience,” explains Ibrahim.

“The most important aspects when designing any children’s facility are this research and understanding the daily operational challenges. This enables us to create custom-designed solutions and enhancement programmes designed to respect each child’s differences and visions.”