Play Coop was among the first play schools to be started in Chennai, nearly two decades old ago. It is a play school for kids between the ages of two and four.  Established by Princess Naik, the school was a pioneering effort at the time when it was started.  "There were very few schools around and the few that were there, were not clearly focussed.  It was in this kind of a scenario that we started and in a very short time became popular.  Now you see play schools mushrooming all over the city", says Princess Naik.

The name 'Play Coop' was chosen because in the place where it was first started, the teachers and the children were kind of 'cooped up'.  "It was not a very big place unlike the present one where we shifted recently.  Even after we shifted to this big place we stuck to the name", says Princess Naik.

According to Princess Naik, after Play Coop became popular to the extent that parents were willing to bring their children from quite a distance to be at Play Coop, there were a lot of offers for collaborations and tie-ups by people willing to fund her to start a regular school.  But she stuck to her guns, as she believed that this kind of a school is a stepping stone and should help the child believe and look forward to regular schooling with happiness and a positive frame of mind.

Unfortunately in the city, going by the number of mushrooming play schools, the research and knowledge that are necessary to handle children are given the go-by.  "A play school is not a crèche, it is different, not in the sense that you are going to teach, but in the sense that it is not just enough for children to be looked after like in a crèche. It is a place where the child has to be introduced to the concept of school.  I have devised my own play-way methods of teaching things with my over 18 years of experience in handling children", says Princess Naik.

Play Coop is known for its interesting options and concepts, to keep the young and ceaselessly innovative ones engaged.  That is one of the many reasons for its popularity.  Princess Naik says, "We have introduced concepts like music and arts, which were not in a developed form earlier.  There is a lot of work going on to educate the parents, to make them realise that this is not just a place where children are sent to be looked after.  We have an orientation programme every year for the parents in the month of August, when we explain our methods and interact with them in an open forum".

The Timings are from 9.15 a.m. to 12.15 p.m. and 9.15 a.m. to 2.15 p.m. "In the extended session, the children are encouraged to eat and sleep by themselves.  The accent here is on providing facility of high quality, which makes us a little expensive, but the priority is not profit.  Even though I have the capacity for over 50 children,  I keep an upper limit of 35, which ensures that each child has enough and more space to play and move about.  We have three activity rooms with toys, an indoor play area and a sand pit," said Princess Naik.

Play Coop also has started something very different called the Saturday Club.  This club was started to provide an environment for kids to pick up useful and interesting hobbies.  For kids between the age of 7 and 14, the Club meetings are organised on Saturdays and it is a kind of progressive learning.  The programme costs Rs. 1500/- for a term (3 months), and the children are encouraged to be part of the club for a year.  The club works from July to April, culminating in the summer camp during holidays.  "We try to avoid a floating population and choose children who are likely to stay with us for the whole year.  This club is not performance oriented", says Princess Naik.

Address: New No. 12, (Old No. 83), 4^th Main Road, Gandhi Nagar, Adyar, Chennai 600 020
Phone: 441 8448, 445 3830
E-mail: princy55@yahoo.com