Montreal Daycare Owner Opens First Adult Kindergarten

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - June 13, 2017) - Former pediatric nurse and Montreal daycare owner Inga Turner has opened a kindergarten for "grown-ups" near the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

Her first clients, Turner says, were from the IT and finance sectors. She explains, "People are too serious all the time…They are so tired of stifling office life, and they are tired of various trainings, sensitivity seminars, PowerPoint presentations, etc. They want to feel free for once, or at least to have an interesting, unique experience. But really, they just want a bit of happiness, and pure happiness is only in childhood."

To take them back to childhood, Turner offers her grown-up kindergarten pupils home-made lunches and afternoon snacks. She designed the lunch and snack menu from vintage school menus to recreate her students' childhood favorites. This, she says, helps adults re-live their childhood.

Her goal, in her words, is to make adult kindergartners "feel happy like a kid." She tells prospective students, "You'll step back into childhood and all your worries will disappear." To that end, she also provides friendship games, creative games, group effort games, as well as nap time after lunch.

Turner designed the space to resemble a home daycare, with 1000 square feet of free space plus a ball pit and activity room.

Turner's time as a daycare owner sparked her belief that such a service would also benefit adults. She says, "We did all this in our daycare, so I thought, why not offer the same service to adults?"

The results amazed even Turner. She shares, "We tried it and the experience for the participants was amazing. Some cried from happiness. It exceeded all my expectations. One of the first participants said that one day with us is as relaxing as a month in Cuba."

One day at iChild costs $80-125 per person. In each class, there are ten participants. Groups are selected according to similar interests and ages.

According to Turner, the iChild adult kindergarten is the first in Canada. She expects to franchise her unique business model throughout Canada and the USA. "It's not easy to get people to feel like kids again. We found the formula, and it's amazing," said Turner. Now, Turner wants to share her discovery with the rest of the world.

iChild builds teamwork, creativity, cooperation, and confidence in adults through play and other fun activities that mirror those that children experience in kindergarten. Its founder, Inga Turner, welcomes companies and individuals to learn more about this unique team-building experience on the iChild website, available in both English and French.