A showroom displaying products made by the children at Creative Gara. (Photo: VNA)

At Creative Gara, children are free to design and build their own toys using their own imagination, without books or theories. 

Creative Gara classes are open mostly on weekends, with a different particular topic each week. There are also courses of four or six sessions that give children enough time to complete a complex project. 

“Creative Gara was opened in response to many parents who were looking for a space where their children could play and unlock their creativity. We offer activities through which children can learn about science, technology, math, and arts,” said Pham Quy Phuc, the founder of Creative Gara.

The class usually begins at 9 a.m. Creative Gara prepares all the materials and tools for the children. At the start of each class, a staff member introduces the project the children are going to be working on and gives some pointers on how to begin. 

“We offer a lot of courses. The course “Looking for an inventor” may last 1 to 3 months, while other courses last only a few days. The children express their hopes and dreams through their products,” said Phuc.

In 2015, wanting to create a place for their own children to play, Pham Quy Phuc and his friends built a storage facility stocked with carpentry tools where their children could experiment with toys made from wood, an environment-friendly material which is easily recycled. After three months, the place was attracting many parents wanting to know if their kids could join the activities. Phuc and his friends decided to expand the space into a workshop and named it Creative Gara. It has rapidly grown into a popular place for children.

A volunteers at Creative Gara instructs a child how to make wooden products. (Photo: VNA)

Phuc said that in the early days he and his friends had a hard time designing products and content for the courses. Woodworking is not easy and requires a variety of skills, so each Creative Gara class has volunteers to guide and supervise the children to make sure they work and play safely. The instructors also make carpentry tools that are suitable and safe for kids.

At Creative Gara, children can see with their own eyes how carpenters work with saws, drills and shapers. Then the children are allowed to design and build their own products. Parents can also take part in making products with their children.

Creative Gara is working on a plan to use more recycled materials.