Children’s Play & Discovery Centre

1. Children’s Play &Discovery Centre An Interactive Family Learning Center

2. Where will it be? • ON SCHOOL BOARD PROPERTY • NEXT TO VIU • CLOSE TO ISLAND SAVINGS & AQUATIC CENTERS

3. What will it look like? • A free drop-in story and play time • Learning takes place in what looks like a “little town” • Children and their families aged 18 months to 6 years of age (All ages are welcome and there are activities and resources to support their needs) • The program will run 3-5 days a week with a facilitator trained in early childhood education & open at other times by organizations • Gives families a place to play, talk and read with their children around a theme provided or through their own exploration • Play based learning that enhances early literacy, social & physical development • Caregivers stay with their child and support their learning • Free books and resources to continue learning would be available for families to take home

4. Why create an Interactive Play Centre? • Research shows that children who engage in complex forms of socio-dramatic play have… • greater language skills than non players, • better social skills, • more empathy, • more imagination, • more of the subtle capacity to know what others mean, • are less aggressive, • show more self-control, • demonstrate higher levels of thinking. Brown, Stuart (2009) Play, How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. Penguin Books

5. Fire Station Parents and children who play together create healthy, strong relationships which are the basis for future relationships.

6. Story telling

7. Restaurant Rescue Center

8. Construction Station

9. Boats and Piers

10. Who will use the site? We all will. . .

11. Interested Community Groups • Daycares • School visits – kindergarten and grade one classes • Programs such as: • Dad’s nights • "A great idea!  Something to do with my kids in the evening that gets us out of the house for some special time together." • “Cook up a Bed time story” • Children and parents come for an after dinner play followed by a nutritious snack and a bedtime story • Cowichan Tribes • Intercultural Society • Literacy Now Cowichan – i.e. Teen Mom Program • Vancouver Island Health Authority • Infant Development • Aboriginal Success By 6

12. Sample Schedule… • Monday – Mother Goose 9:00 – 10:00 am • Center open 10:00 – 2:00 pm • Literacy Now Cowichan / learning Links– Teen Mom Program 3:30 – 5:30 pm • Tuesday – Community Schools Visits • (Daycares, Preschools and K/1 classes book in for a play experience) • Wednesday – Center open 10:00 – 2:00 pm • Cook up a Bed Time Story 5:30 – 7:00 pm • Thursday – Community Partners Programs (Happy Friends, Play and Learn, etc) • -- Dad’s Night Out 5:30 – 7:00 pm • Friday – Center open 10:00 – 2:00 • - Happy Friends Program 4:00 – 5:00 pm • - Fun Family Night 5:30 – 8:00 pm (2nd Friday of the month) • Saturday - Mother Goose and Play Time 9:00 – 11:00 am

13. Community Partners

14. So what do we need? • Community Sponsors to sponsor a play area or vignette. • Or • Supplies for mini-vignettes~bins to for play areas ex. “Camping”, “Grocery Store”, ”Safety/Transportation”, “Bait & Tackle”, “Pond Life/Gardening” Each bin to have real life play items, books, etc.

15. Play Stations • Fire House • Treehouse with Cave • Restaurant • Construction Station • Hospital/ Rescue Center • Boat with Climbing Stairs/Ramps • Coast Salish/Storytelling • Light Table Exploration

16. Time Line • Community Partnership meetings • Began in February, 2013 • Determine location/move portable • Engage community sponsorships • May-December, 2013 • SD79 renovate portable/ install each of the play center vignettes • January/February, 2014 • Grand Opening • February -2014

17. Thank you!