Mind Zone : A space that encourages active parenting and learning
Gender identity and inclusivity have been issues that have gained traction these past few years. Despite this, there are still quite a few hurdles women, and especially mothers must face. One such issue is balancing work and parenting. Enter the Mind Zone Development Center which aims to address such issues. Located in Nugegoda, Mind Zone is already quite well known for its psychology and training programmes.
Pix courtesy Uliana Nikolaeva
Having begun in October 2019, as a child-friendly training center (where parents can attend training and coaching programs and come with kids), Russian born founder and director Uliana Nikolaeva said it was a necessity as there was no place where mothers could come to study or just learn something new and interesting with their children.
From then, Mind Zone developed into a variety of programmes for adults and kids on personality and skills development, with indoor and outdoor facilities for both kids and parents.
Three months down the line, Uliana received requests from mothers about working from Mind Zone. For Uliana, a family-friendly co-working concept was her dream and she happily opened the space for mothers and even fathers.
To suit these unique needs, Mind Zone is packed with traditional co-working facilities such as WIFI, work stations, printers etc, as well as indoor and outdoor play areas for kids. The main idea is to not separate and exclude kids for the period of work but include them and for the environment to be engaging and productive. For this purpose, Mind Zone offers playrooms, pets, a giant chessboard, a garden, and a large array of toys.
The team behind Mind Zone also believe in eco-friendliness with emphasis on the outdoors aiming to have something like a small patch of a park in the middle of the city. The garden at Mind Zone itself has various fruit trees, and vegetable patches.
Uliana and her team believe that kids shouldn’t hold you back from, or be separate to, your working life. They also believe that kids should learn to interact with other kids, nature and the environment at a young age without parents constantly being with them.
Currently, the Mind Zone team comprises Uliana, co-founder and director Arqam Azhar along with a staff force of caretakers, trainers, babysitters, assistants and volunteers. They aim to use Mind Zone to create something new and be useful.
Follow them at www.facebookcom/MindZone.lk/
Uliana