FOMO.
It’s a familiar feeling for parents of young kids.
You see a social media post about a street fair, musical event or other fun event — after the fact.
How could I have missed that? you wonder.
A better question is: How can I keep up with everything going on around here?
The answer is easy: Get Kindo.
The website (ourkindo.com) and social media platform (@ourkindo) is your go-to spot to find family activities, events and places, across Fairfield County and into New Haven.
It’s free (and ad-free).
And — here’s the secret sauce — it’s filterable.
Want to find something to do with art, science, water, sports or nature? Choose whichever categories you care about. Ignore the rest.
Other filters include dates, cost or free, and age (0-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12).
Kindo is the brainchild of Dörte Inett. The Hamburg, Germany native came to New York in 2015, for her husband’s job. They were young and childless.
Dörte Inett
As often happens, the arrival of children brought moves: first to Brooklyn, then the ‘burbs.
They knew exactly 2 families in Westport, but fell in love with the town. They arrived in 2020, just before COVID. “We were so lucky,” Dörte notes.
With the pandemic raging, it was difficult to meet people. The best opportunities came through daycare, and a network of German expats.
When the world opened up again, Dörte realized the difficulty of finding — and then sorting through — the many activities for families.
In addition to raising her sons (now 6 and 4), she was managing e-commerce sites for web businesses. As a sideline, she began developing Kindo.
“It was part selfish,” she admits. “I’d be its number one user.”
Dörte Inett, her husband Tom, and sons Finn (left) and Noah.
She was fortunate to work on it one long day, with few interruptions. It came at the Stamford courthouse, waiting until 4 p.m. for a jury duty call that never came.
Friends and family provided feedback and suggestions.
Kindo — the name works on several levels, including “kinder,” which is German for “children”; it’s pronounced “kindoo,” suggesting “doing” something — launched in June.
It’s comprehensive, offering activities at museums, aquariums, libraries and zoos, along with hikes, story times, crafts classes, street fairs, playgrounds and more. On any weekend, Kindo lists scores of events.
“There are already great local resources out there,” Dörte says. “But they’re just lists. I wanted Kindo to let you filter by what your family actually needs.”
Kindo categories …
Many of the listings are pulled in and organized by AI. Dörte provides the important human-touch. “Some of what AII thinks is ‘family friendly’ really is not,” she explains.
She’s kept it ad-free “to be genuinely helpful.” She has no plans to monetize it (or leave her full-time job).
She’s marketed Kindo through chat groups, asking users to pass it along to their networks.
… and drilling down, with filters …
Less than 2 months in, the word is getting out. At last week’s StartUp Westport summer social, she explained what she does to a small group.
“I use it!” one woman said. “It’s great!”
That’s the kind of feedback Dörte was hoping for.
And it shows the kind of things Kindo can do.
(Click here for the Kindo website. The social media handle is @ourkindo.)
(“06880” regularly spotlights children’s activities in Westport — and the Westporters who make them happen. If you like stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
… and details, in an individual listing.
This is so useful! Just checked it out and found a perfect morning activity!
This is what makes Westport special.
It’s a great feature, but you have to take into consideration, Eric, that back when we were young in Westport, there were no computers or cell phones, so it was just the local places like the YMCA, miniature golf and other sports venues. I guess you can throw in Arnies Place too.