Modern Learning Grounded in Play...
When it comes to play, we don't play!
Play - The Business of Childhood...
At Intaspordia, we strongly embrace the fact that the business of childhood is PLAY. We also appreciate that the modern child is play deprived primarily because of two reasons:
1. Most schools in Nairobi and its environs are build on "plots". They do not have play facilities or a play policy and therefore do not prioritize play and have removed it from the conversation about schooling.
2. The Urban jungle: We live in a build environment that has not provision for play.
Are your children play deprived?
Many parents have never confronted this question.
They see their children jump around and instinctively imagine they have sufficient play. Unfortunately this is not the case. There are telltale signs to know if your children are play deprived. If…
Your children are always bouncing off furniture indoors.
If your child is constantly jumping on the bed or couch, climbing over furniture, or spinning in circles, they are play-deprived. It isn’t just random energy—it’s often a cry for movement. Children who lack access to open, physical space tend to recreate movement opportunities wherever they can, even if it’s unsafe or disruptive. Play isn’t optional for growing bodies—it’s a biological need, and limited space quietly starves that need, and they will try to recreate it wherever they can.
Your children repeat the same play patterns every day.
Play thrives on novelty and diversity. When your children only have access to repetitive kind of play, they are play deprived and missing out on the full developmental benefits that come from exploring different materials, roles, and challenges. Play-deprived children often lack exposure to messy play, risky play, imaginative scenarios, and social games. The result is a narrowed imagination and fewer problem-solving skills. Variety in play isn’t just fun—it’s critical for flexible thinking and emotional regulation.
Your child rarely sweats during play.
Real play is physical. It raises heart rates, tests limits, and often leaves children a little breathless and a lot dirty. If your child’s version of “play” is usually tidy, quiet, and they never sweat, they are play-deprived. They are missing the kind of intense, full-body play that helps build coordination, resilience, and strength. Play-deprived children often lack stamina and struggle with attention. Without vigorous physical play, the body and brain aren’t given the full workout they need to grow in sync.
Your children spend more time on screens than outdoors.
Screen time is often mistaken for a form of play, but it’s mostly consumption, not creation. If your children’s primary form of engagement is through a device, they are play deprived. Their real-world play muscles are underdeveloped. These children may struggle with frustration tolerance, collaboration, or self-regulation. The bright, fast-paced world of screens doesn’t train them to deal with the slower, richer world of human interaction, trial-and-error, and imagination. The less time spent on the outdoors with blocks, balls, mud, or pretend stories, the more likely your child is being deprived of the most essential developmental fuel: real play.
Your children live in quiet, neat or cabro paved school or home environment.
All cabro paved surfaces are a loud DO NOT PLAY HERE signposts for children. If your children are in a school or estate or homestead with clean (small or big) compounds with hard cabro or concrete surfaces, or tightly packed apartments, they are play deprived. Such environments often fail to offer the kinds of spaces that stimulate diverse types of play. When play areas are small, with hard surfaces and lack natural elements and loose movable parts, children can’t engage in the kind of imaginative, physical, or exploratory play that fuels their development. A culture that values compliance, quietness, and sitting still often discourages the natural noise, messiness, and movement of real play.
Is your Child Living in Child-Unfriendly Play-Depriving Environments?
Play needs space—room to move, freedom from constant correction, and environments that invite exploration rather than limit it. When settings are too build, too structured, too watched, too crowded or too tightly controlled, children lose the freedom to imagine, make noise, get messy, or take healthy risks. In short, if the environment says “don’t touch,” “don’t run,” or “don’t explore,” it’s saying “DON’T PLAY!”
Practically, what are the child-unfriendly play depriving environments the modern child finds themselves in? Thanks for asking…
Apartment Complexes
Apartment building are play depriving environments. They lack the essential conditions children need for healthy, spontaneous play. Tight corridors, noise restrictions, and shared spaces designed for adults—not children—create an environment where movement, noise, and creative mess are discouraged. There are usually no open, safe areas to run, climb, or explore freely, and children are often confined to small indoor spaces that limit their physical expression and imaginative range. Constant adult oversight and the need to “behave” in communal areas further suppress a child’s natural play instincts. In most apartments the only space left is reserved for packing! Children in apartments become more passive, screen-dependent, and less physically and socially engaged. Simply put, apartment life often tells children—silently but powerfully—that play is a problem, not a priority.
Cabro paved single house compounds
Paved single-home compounds in “gated communities” are play depriving environments. They often stifle play despite offering safety. Their neat, hard surfaces lack natural, variable elements that inspire imagination and movement. With just a patch of grass to look posh and no mud, or trees, children miss out on essential physical and creative experiences. Cleanliness, boundaries, and quiet discourage spontaneous interaction, leaving kids isolated and under-stimulated.
Tarmacked/paved roads in residential areas.
Paved residential roads built for traffic, not people, deprive children of safe, playful spaces. These areas signal danger and limit freedom, replacing exploration with caution. Even with little traffic, the design—curbs, driveways, and car-focused layouts—discourages spontaneity and imagination. Children are often confined to sidewalks or indoors, making outdoor play feel risky instead of natural.
Neat and paved school compounds.
Neat, paved, or tarmacked school compounds may seem “posh”, efficient and easy to maintain, but they are fundamentally play-depriving spaces for children. These environments are built for order, not imagination. Hard, flat surfaces restrict the kind of exploratory, physical, and creative play that children naturally seek. Without textured terrain, natural elements, or irregular features to climb, hide behind, or dig into, play becomes shallow and often repetitive. Children are less likely to invent games, engage in rich pretend scenarios, or develop the full range of motor and social skills that unstructured, variable play environments support. In such settings, the spontaneity and freedom essential to childhood are lost, replaced by adult-driven routines that value order over growth.
Pay-to-Play vs Right to play
Are you paying for your child to play?
Because of these living realities in Nairobi today, many parents find themselves paying for their children to play. Children’s access to play has become increasingly commodified. The decline in play spaces has birthed a booming industry of paid-for-play zones: . On the surface, these environments seem to fill the gap. But underneath the tidy play structures lies a worrying shift—not just in where play happens, but in what play is and who it’s for. Paid-for-play warps the very concept of play and you as a parent should be very wary of it for the following reasons:
Short, time-limited sessions – Most commercial play is sold in 30–60 minute blocks. Just as kids start to immerse themselves, time is up. Deep play needs time to unfold—this model cuts it short.
Interrupts play continuity – Paid sessions lack consistency. Each visit is a reset, making it harder for kids to build complex, evolving games or storylines over time.
Overstimulating environments – Loud music, bright colors, and fixed routines can overwhelm young brains and crowd out quiet, imaginative play.
Minimal social negotiation – Staff manage conflicts quickly to keep peace for paying parents. But learning to resolve peer conflict is part of what free play teaches.
Play becomes ‘performance’ – With adult oversight and cameras everywhere, children may feel they need to “perform” play, not just be absorbed in it.
Less risk = less resilience – Paid play is ultra-safe. While important for physical safety, this often removes healthy risk-taking, experimentation, and failure—all key to learning.
Dependency on external structure – Children used only to guided, programmed play may struggle with boredom, unstructured time, or generating their own fun.
Redefines play as consumption – When every play experience has a fee, schedule, and setting, kids begin to see play as something you buy—not something you create.
Devalues everyday environments – Dirt, sticks, cardboard boxes, shadows, and stairs lose their magic when fun is associated only with padded floors and plastic slides.
Creates passive players – Kids start expecting to be entertained, rather than being the inventors of their own games and worlds.
At Intaspordia, we are deliberate on how we define and support childhood play—before it becomes just another product.
More importantly, we recognize and honor your child’s right to play. In this, we have designed a school environment where play is not treated as a break from learning, but as a vital part of childhood. We have created time, space, and freedom for children to explore, imagine, create, and take risks through spontaneous, structured, and guided play. Practically, this includes play-based classrooms, expansive and flexible outdoor areas kitted for spontaneous and structured play, teacher-facilitated explorations, and daily opportunities for child-initiated activity. By doing so, Intaspordia affirms that play is essential not only for joy and well-being, but for deep thinking, problem-solving, and whole-child development.
DON’T PAY-TO-PLAY. BRING YOUR CHILD TO INTASPORDIA!
See our play policy below.
To ensure that we return play into childhood
...we have almost 1 million square feet of UNPAVED space in our Mang'u Campus which we have extensively kitted for play, sports and games!
Play and games site map key
2. Mud-pond 2 (For over 8 years).
3. Mud-pit 1 and Sand-pit
4. Main Basket ball pitch.
5. Swing 1 (For under 5 years)
6. Slacklines 1 (For under 8 years)
8. 5 Lane, 150 feet Archery range.
9. Zipline 1 (For below 5 years)
10. Water collection point for water games
11. Swing 2 (For between 5-8 years)
12. Swing 3 (For over 8 years.
13. Slacklines 2 (For 8 years and over) and Skating ramp.
14. Splash pad
15. Sand pit 2 (For 8 years and over)
16. Zipline 2 (For above 8 years)
17. Bike riding tracks.
18. Main Pitch.
19. Indoors games and Martial Arts
20. Ninja Warrior Monkey Bars
21. Indoor Boxing Gantry
22. Pitch 2: For pop up ball games.
23. Golf pad
24. Tennis Courts.
As you will see in this video reel, Intaspordia’s extensive outdoor space is more than just a playground—it’s a dynamic environment designed to awaken your child’s imagination, stretch their physical boundaries, and nurture their social growth. Here, your child doesn’t just burn energy; they build confidence, solve problems, and learn how to navigate real-world challenges through active, joyful play. Whether climbing, running, collaborating with peers, or simply exploring, your child engages in meaningful experiences that foster resilience, creativity, and emotional well-being. Without access to such a space, your child misses out on vital, developmentally rich opportunities to grow not just as a learner, but as a whole human being.
Age-Disaggregation in Play
When children of very different ages play together without structure, younger ones can feel overwhelmed or unsafe, while older ones may dominate or disengage. The remedy to this at Intaspordia is age-disaggregation in play. Age-disaggregated play ensures safety, fairness, and developmental alignment. We prioritize this approach from a deep understanding of play as purposeful learning, at Intaspordia, not just recreation. You will find age-disaggregation markers on most of our play facilities.
Play menu at Intaspordia.
We are masters of play!
We recognize that play is a very expansive phenomena. It can be organized into several clear types and categories that reflect what children are doing and how they are engaging. Socially, play ranges from unoccupied play, to solitary play, onlooker play, parallel play, associative play, and finally cooperative play. Functionally, play includes physical play, constructive play, dramatic or pretend play, symbolic play, exploratory play, social play and games with rules.
To manage play, at Intaspordia we have identified and we animate three types of play: spontaneous play, structured play and instructional play.
Spontaneous Play
Spontaneous play is what is happening here on our splashpad. It is unstructured, child-initiated and emerges naturally from a child’s curiosity, mood, or energy in the moment. It is often open-ended and seemingly aimless, with no fixed goals, outcomes, or adult direction. From a child’s perspective, it may not serve any practical purpose—it’s simply fun. But in its very lack of structure or meaning, spontaneous play offers children the freedom to explore their environment, test boundaries, and experience joy on their own terms. Though it may appear random or even chaotic to adults, it plays an essential role in releasing energy, reducing stress, and keeping playfulness alive in everyday life.
Structured Play
Structured play is what is happening here in one of our sand pits. It is a type of play that is organized and guided by specific rules, objectives, or adult direction. While it still allows for fun and engagement, structured play is typically goal-oriented and designed to build specific skills such as teamwork, strategy, or resilience. It contrasts with free or spontaneous play by having clear boundaries and expectations, making it a valuable tool for targeted learning and social development within a controlled setting.
Instructional Play
This is instructional play at work in Intaspordia. It is a type of play guided or structured by adults with specific learning goals in mind. It often involves clear rules, directions, or objectives designed to teach particular skills or concepts, such as educational games, classroom activities, or skill-building exercises. While it still incorporates elements of fun and engagement, instructional play is more focused and purposeful, aiming to support development in areas like literacy, math, social skills, or physical coordination. This form of play bridges the gap between formal teaching and free play, providing children with opportunities to learn through enjoyable, guided experiences.
Grounded on Play - Limitless options
As Masters of Play, PLAY at Intaspordia is limitless. In terms of activities, our learners enjoy a wide variety of play activities: spontaneous, structured and instructional. Our play menu also benefits from a wide sports infrasctructure, equipment and expertise from our School of Sports. Our play menu thus includes spontaneous activities, games and sports activities of a varied nature including but not limited to: slacklining, ziplining, mud pits, mud ponds, sand pits, archery, cycling, skating, obstacle courses, crossbow, splash pads, kids pool, pop-up soccer, kids boxing, tyre riding, Ninja warrior monkey bars and all sports and athletics. You would have to visit our Campus to see how we have kitted it for play. A small non-exhaustive gallery is provided below as an illustration of our menu.
Your Play Gallery. Click on a photo & slide...
Play Menu - Most Popular
From our large menu, some activities have proved “most popular” with kids:
(1). Mud baths in Mud-Ponds
(2). Ziplining
(3). Our Splashpad
(4). Ninja Warrior Rickety Bridge
(5). Skating
Mud bath in Our Mud-ponds
Because nothing says "best day ever" like mud in your hair and laughter in the air! Our muddy ponds are kid-approved for maximum mess and endless joy.
Click right to see full mud-pond slide show….
Ziplining
Flying through the air with the wind in their hair—the height, the thrill and the adventure makes our two ziplines irresistible!
Click right to see the full zipline slide show.
Our Splashpad
Sunshine, squeals, and surprise sprays—our splashpad is where kids cool off, get soaked, and never want to leave!
Click right to view the whole splashpad slide show.
Ninja Warrior Rickety Bridge & Monkey Bars
Our ninja warrior rickety bridge and monkey bars capture children in a physically and mentally demanding play challenge that builds balance, focus, and risk assessment. The experience is marked by determination, laughter, and peer encouragement, set in an atmosphere of energized concentration and joyful resilience. It’s an environment where physical exploration meets emotional growth, turning play into a rich, skill-building adventure.
Skating
Our children are naturally drawn to the thrill of being on wheels—the freedom, the speed, and the sense of control it gives them over their movement. Skating taps into this joy, offering our kids a a playful blend of balance, exploration, and daring that few other activities can match.
Your Lessons on Play
For your child play is not the side hustle school wants it to be: Learn how play is your child’s main hassle—not a break from learning, but the heart of it. This lesson reveals how sidelining play in school disrupts the core way children grow, think, and understand the world.
Is your child talented or just playing? Learn how to identify if your child is talented or just playing. With the right support, play becomes the first step in a much bigger journey.
How strong is your child? Learn why play is as essential as food for your child’s physical strength and how it supports lifelong health and development.
Learn why the disappearance of play from your child’s life—driven by academic pressure, poor urban planning, and play-mute schools—poses a serious threat to their physical, emotional, and cognitive development.