Labor of Love Childcare in South Bend, Indiana is using their DEY Mini Grant award to host “Meet Me At the Museum” days at no cost to families. They held two dates in May and are planning more dates for August and beyond.
The program director reports:
I observed parents and even grandparents taking an active role in partnering with their young learners in a variety of imaginative play scenarios. They were engaging and interacting with them by playing with the items in areas like the “magna-tiles & light table, music, and magnet areas”.
I believe that these adults’ intentionality and level of engagement displayed their view on how important that they believe play is for young children.
My teenage children and I were able to attend and they even engaged with the children at the museum for an hour and 45 minutes of the 2 hour event.
As a result, our program is looking to host a free “Meet Me at the Museum” each month hopefully beginning in August. We want to continue to provide families with the opportunity to engage with their children in play experiences.
I believe these events will support the mission of the organization by allowing children and families to experience the importance of play based learning first hand which is more engaging and compelling than any informational pamphlet on the importance of play in young children.
