Our Approach
Children are capable.
Children arrive with their own ideas. We put out materials that can become many things and let children decide what they become. Nobody here is told the right way to use something.
Play comes first.
Long, uninterrupted play is the point — not a warm-up for something else. We protect it rather than filling a session with programming. Facilitators lead a Wonder Moment partway through most sessions, and children are welcome to skip it and keep going.
The space does a lot
of the teaching.
A garden that leads to a market. A stage waiting for someone to climb onto it. Each room is arranged to invite something, and children work out the rest.
Our facilitators support, they don’t direct.
They ask questions, put words to what’s happening, and offer a next idea when the play is ready for one. They step in for safety. Grown-ups stay with their children here, which is part of what makes this a place for both of you.
Everyone belongs here.
Screen-free, designed so a wide range of children can be comfortable, and pay-what-you-can days so cost isn’t the reason a family stays home.
I'm a mom of two young children, and finding the right place near home for them to play was harder than it should have been. I kept wishing for something that didn't exist in our neighborhood: a calm, screen-free space made intentionally for young children to explore. So I set out to build one.
Before The Wonder Room, I spent six years as a scientist at the CDC working in public health. My work kept pointing to the same thing: the early years matter. Safe places, caring grownups, and room to explore can shape a whole childhood.
I wanted to do that work close to home. I'm an Atlanta native, and building for my community runs in the family. My grandfather founded Miller's Rexall Drugs in downtown Atlanta because he saw something his neighbors needed, and he built it. This feels like following in his footsteps.
The Wonder Room is a place where children and grownups can simply be together. It's also a place where grownups find support from other families who understand these full, demanding early years. It's a community space where we learn from one another, practice kindness, and model the world we hope our children will grow up to build.
We can't wait for you to come play.
A Note From Our Founder
Avital Wulz