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“Why can’t I stop smiling?” I caught myself wondering the moment the lift doors opened on the third floor of a building in Karachi’s Bukhari Commercial that was home to Wonderwhirl.

Maybe it was the sight of children swarming the welcome stall, trying on multi-coloured light-up glasses with serious intent. Or the next table over, where tiny hands were carefully selecting charms for customised bracelets, faces scrunched in concentration.

But the real shift happened the minute I stepped into the main hall.

The lights dimmed. Laser beams cut softly through the space. Parents and toddlers danced shoulder to shoulder to Bruno Mars and Rosé’s ‘APT’. A human-sized Donald Duck hovered near the DJ booth. And towering above it all was a massive LED screen flashing: Toddler Techno Rave — officially ushering in Pakistan’s very first rave for toddlers.

Yes, you read that right.

On Sunday evening, Wonderwhirl, a kids’ café and play space, hosted a toddler rave in collaboration with Motherhood Edit. The concept was inspired by Sydney-based DJ Lenny Pearce’s viral toddler raves, but carefully adapted for little Karachiites.

Wonderwhirl positions itself as more than just a play area — it’s an immersive community space designed for both children and parents, something its founder, Urmea Farrukh, felt was sorely missing.

“I feel like there are very few places that support the kids and the parents and that’s what I want this place to be,” she told me.

From a soft-play corner and jungle gym to a mini market area for role-play and learning, the space caters to children from as young as 10 months to 10 years. But it doesn’t stop there. While the kids are occupied, parents aren’t left hovering on the sidelines. There’s a spa space for mothers, pre- and post-natal workshops, mom and kid Zumba sessions, etc, putting in an intentional effort to make parents feel included.

“We provide a lot of platforms for even young moms to come and connect. We do a lot of workshops not only for that, but also for their career building, if they’re lost in life, anything,” Farrukh explained.

In the month and a half since opening, the team noticed one thing clearly: children were most responsive to music-centric activities. That observation sparked the idea to experiment with a toddler rave.

The pilot event was divided into two one-hour sessions, from 4 to 5pm and 6 to 7pm, ticketed at Rs5,000 for a parent-child pair and hosted within Wonderwhirl’s own child-proofed space. Every corner was thoughtfully planned: a nail bar, face-painting station, charm bar, family photo booth, coffee bar for parents, and even a decompression room for overstimulated little ones. At the centre of it all was the dance floor — turning the event into less of “just another dance party” and more of a fully immersive, multi-sensory experience.

Wherever you looked, a child was mid-joy: faces being painted with utmost seriousness, balloons skittering across the floor, toddlers parading in glowing glasses, or families dancing together without a shred of self-consciousness. Case in point: the ‘Baby Shark’ remix by Uzair Bhatti of Wuzi Beats, a Karachi-based DJ known for curated events, which sent the entire room (including the coffee baristas) into a collective fit of delight.

I’ll admit, before attending, I was sceptical. Loud music, lights, and toddlers; it sounded like a recipe for meltdowns. I half-expected tears, overstimulation, and parents doing damage control.

Instead? Not a single crying child. (I know — shocking.)

That calm didn’t happen by accident. Farrukh and her team were meticulous about sensory limits.

“So we kind of had a meeting with him [Bhatti] before we kind of finalised everything […] we had to cap the decibels, the sound decibels to a certain number. We decided that we’re going to start with 75. And the max it’s going to go to is 110,” she explained.

They also followed Pearce’s model of pacing — starting slow, building energy gradually, and weaving in calming moments like a gentle rendition of ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ to create, as Farrukh put it, “moments in between of calm”.

For children who needed a breather, a separate party room doubled as a decompression space. With blinds drawn, soft toys scattered across insulated flooring, and dim lighting, it offered a quiet retreat away from the rave floor.

Even the lighting was intentional. Instead of strobe or disco lights, the team opted for lasers, enough to spark excitement without overwhelming young senses.

And the energy? It worked.

The kids were clearly having the time of their lives. But perhaps more surprisingly, so were the parents. This wasn’t one of those playdates where adults awkwardly hover, clapping on cue. Parents were dancing, laughing, fully present, enjoying themselves just as much as their children.

One moment captured it perfectly. A little girl stood shyly near the DJ booth, floaty in hand, unsure of what to do. Her parents gently encouraged her — and then Pearce’s version of the ‘Barney Theme Song’ kicked in.

“That is our song!” her father exclaimed excitedly. Her face lit up and what followed was a spontaneous, joyous father-daughter dance moment, exactly the kind of family bonding the organisers had hoped to create.

As the session wrapped up, five lucky children won golden tickets to Olmec’s chocolate factory, ending the evening on yet another high.

Farrukh, who recently moved back to Karachi from Canada with her husband and son, said the idea for Wonderwhirl was born from personal frustration.

When she returned, she realised there were very few spaces that felt innovative, immersive — and, as she put it, “quite frankly also safe and clean”. So she built one herself.

Beyond events like the toddler rave, Farrukh envisions Wonderwhirl as an open, inclusive space, including for children with special needs, rooted in the idea that play, joy, and community should be accessible to all.

All photos by Shahnawaz Photography