CoWork While Your Kids CoPlay

With all of the buzz around changing demands in workspace options, coworking has become a common option for professionals in most metro areas around the world. And for Rachael Galoob-Ortega, the solution was easy.

Galoob-Ortega, who also goes by the name Saphira, opened CoWork CoPlay in Clarendon, Virginia, as a communal workspace for families. Moms and dads can telework in a traditional coworking environment within one area of thee space, and kids can enjoy “co-playing” with their peers in a variety of structures and unstructured creative and learning-based activities in another.

Space can be booked a month in advance on a first-come, first-served basis. Babysitting on-demand, you might say.

The center says it attracts entrepreneurs and telecommuters from industries that span from accountants to journalists to historians and more, and the space offers conference rooms, various lounges and a café. In accordance with county regulations, kids can participate in the center up to four hours per day, and parents who have meetings offsite can leave age-appropriate children in the center during those times.

While parents are not required to bring their kids while they are coworking and customers don’t have to be a parent to cowork there, Saphira believes her center responds to one of the most common challenges facing families in today’s society – affordable childcare.

On the other coast, NextKids in San Francisco is where coworking meets daycare – a space where working adults and their kids integrate work and life. Founder Diana Rothschild designed the 24/7 accessible workspace as “an environment where you can bounce ideas off others, share knowledge, build relationships, find support and grow mind, body and soul.” NextKids offers multiple-options for full-day care. Diapers, snacks and an emergent curriculum are provided for kids, and parents have good coffee, high-end workspaces and plenty of opportunities to connect.

Their take on an old adage? “It takes a village…one with more Wi-Fi.”

You Might Also Like