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Wharf Life May 26-Jun 23, 2021 wharf-life.com
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minutes – the length of each session, which allows time for swapping over and thoroughly disinfecting the equipment Images by Matt Grayson – find more of his work at graysonphotos.co.uk or @mattgrayson_photo on Insta
by Laura Enfield
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n indoor play area filled with things to climb, slide down and play with sounds like every little kid’s fantasy. And three-year-old Nico Reckers-Ng is lucky enough to have parents who have made that dream come true by opening Tiny Tigers Cafe. Set in South Quay Plaza, the soft play fun zone is inspired by their son’s favourite things and the principles of Montessori, which encourage less noisy gadgets and more open-ended play. The bright, spacious unit is filled with padded structures to climb and slide down, but also a host of mostly wooden toys and puzzles chosen to foster independent and imaginative play. “There might be the occasional electronic toy but most of what we put in is supposed to try to create this environment where we switch o from electronics and move towards this organic, natural heuristic play that children learn and develop from,” said mum Elaine Ng. “There is a sensory mirror and balls, trains, instruments, some books and I play piano for the children, so we have impromptu sing-a-longs.” Nico gets to run amok in the play area when it is not in use and joins his mum for sessions, which has helped her stick to limited screen time during the pandemic. Following Montessori ideals, TV is a rare treat and even during lockdown she avoided working in front of him, instead logging on after he went to bed and working until 1am to catch up on various tasks and cafe logistics. “If I’m on my computer he just wants to climb on my lap and see what I’m doing,” said the former coder, who now works in wealth management for an American bank “I try not to show him stu on my phone either, so he doesn’t think it’s this amazing YouTube box. “It’s tough because sometimes you would love to just throw them in front of the TV but, what I have found is, it’s quite addictive and they will ask for more and, if you try to engage with them, they are not interested. “Whereas, when I’m playing with my son, he’s making things up and there’s a much more natural type of development that happens. “I completely understand why people use TV and there’s no judgement at all, but we didn’t have TV for thousands of years and now when I’m on the tube and everyone is on their screens, I wonder what that means for social interaction and behaviour.
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Every time we do something I think ‘Would I be comfortable doing this with my son?’ If the answer is no, then I don’t want it in my unit Elaine Ng, Tiny Tigers founder
Finance workers Elaine Ng and Thomas Reckers were inspired by son Nico to create the soft play space but want it to benefit families across the area “Social media will have a lot of responsibility for the mental health of our children, things like filters and how quickly they grow up, scare me.”
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laine wants Tiny Tigers to help children become interested in the world around them. Classes in baby massage, baby sensory and Frog Prince music sessions have just launched and she is planning special events to celebrate the area’s multiculturalism, such as marking Eid and Black History Month. Elaine is Malaysian Chinese, her husband, Thomas Reckers, is Czech German and the couple would love to bring their cultures to the cafe through language classes. “I love London because it is so multicultural,” said Elaine, who grew up between the capital and Malaysia. “If you move to France you become French whereas in the UK you grow up being British but being aware of your own culture because we celebrate Ramadan, Eid, Diwali, Chinese New Year all these things. When I’m in London it doesn’t matter that I’m not white and I think that’s important for my son. I don’t want him to feel like an outsider.” She and Thomas both work full time in finance and run the cafe in their spare time. And there have been more than the usual fun-filled ups and downs at the play
area. The business was two years in the planning and finally opened last ctober, only to close again for five months when the second lockdown arrived. It reopened again on May 17 with sessions limited to eight children and 45 minutes so sta are able to clean the play equipment thoroughly between each use. “Nothing ever happens overnight is my long lesson after this,” said Elaine. “It’s been a huge learning curve and very hands-on, which we can do because we only wanted to open one place. If we were a big chain we would have just thrown money at it.” The couple are running the cafe as a passion project rather than a money maker and Elaine said: “We would like it to break
What is Montessori? Developed by Dr Maria Montessori in the early 1900s the education method is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. Elaine said:” I like Montessori because it’s about treating your children like adults in terms of respecting their opinions and giving them choices and making them responsible for consequences.
even at least, because we have put a lot of money and time into it. But, for us, it was more something that fitted into our philosophy of how we would like to bring up our son.” Elaine said they wanted to keep costs down to make it as accessible as possible and help address the lack of facilities for the growing number of families on the Isle Of Dogs. “Pre-maternity leave, I thought I would travel all over London with the baby, because that’s what I did before,” she said. “ ctually, about minutes from the flat was my maximum journey time. I was really disappointed by the lack of options on the island. “In Canary Wharf the businesses
“If a session is full, I don’t bend the rules for my son, I tell him we have to share with other children and we talk about why sharing is nice. Of course there are tantrums but it’s creating boundaries that are consistent and giving them room to make decisions. “I find it makes them more empathetic children and, because of that focus on organic play, rather than constant stimulation, they tend to be calmer.”
