Play Groups

Sibling rivalry. It's a difficult challenge for any family. Even the most laid back kids who tend to always go with the flow can have a hard time when it comes to sharing attention and time with mom. The past few months have been especially hard for our three year old. He is already in the stage that I have found to be the hardest. Three year olds are tough man! To top off his challenging age he is struggling at times with the attention that Little Man gets. With weekly Social Worker visits and now evaluations and soon therapies, it seems like all eyes are on Little Man a lot of the time. Then there's baby who nurses and gets to be worn all the time. Big sister is the only girl so she has all the "look at me twirl" attention on her. I feel like at times, even though we are working hard to make things even, Talon just feels left out. 

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We are making a huge effort to take time for just him. I've told you guys here, quite a few times about his love to pretend and explore. He is a goal oriented dreamer to the max. So when Pretend City contacted me about the launch of their new play groups... Oh man, I swore they designed these bad boys just for us. Right in our timing too. 

There are a few different options as far as age groups. We will be heading to the Three-Year-Old group starting this week. We would love to meet some new friends. There are also groups for 18-24 months, two year olds and four year olds. Here's what they'll look like.

Children learn and grow through play, and below are the age-specific groups for a child’s developmental level:

• Children ages 18 – 24 months: Young Toddler Playgroup 

Each week this playgroup will focus on a new play type and activity to foster toddler’s cognitive, motor and language skills as well as develop creativity and relational skills. 

• Children ages two years of age: Terrific Two Playgroup 

This playgroup will help support children to choose peaceful, positive behaviors. Learn how children communicate through play the way they see the world. Understanding a two-year-old’s perspective sheds light on how to deal with challenging behavior. 

• Children ages three years of age: Three-Year-Old Playgroup 

This playgroup understands that while children at age three are becoming more independent, theyare also learning how to engage with other children as they branch out to discover more about the world. This playgroup will provide tips to support children’s safe exploration and discovery. The age-specific activities will also help children when conflicts arise as they learn how to play and get along.

• Children ages four years of age: Fabulous Four Playgroup 

This playgroup provides children opportunities for math-play, science-play and language-play. It also helps children learn, understand and practice basic social and emotional skills. These social and emotional skills combined with different curriculum areas will provide children foundational skill-building necessary for success. 

The four specially designed “Play’s the Way” playgroups are designed to meet kids where they are at in their ages and stages. Which is huge for us right now. Talon NEEDS that. 

The groups will be lead by playgroup liaisons, including experienced and trained early childhood and child development educators, Brainbuilders and Pretendgineers.   

Pretend City will be providing information, resources, and skills to grown-ups in addition to children because as our kids change, so do we. I mean we learn as we go to a certain extent.

Register by visiting pretendcity.org/classes-workshops/. Cost is $75 per grown-up and child pair and $60 for Pretend City Members. Groups hold a minimum and maximum enrollment for pairs. For information on Pretend City Children’s Museum and its education-based programs, visit www.pretendcity.org. 

Let me know if we will be meeting you there!