CREATIVE PLAY PLACE

The Creative Play Place aims to provide access to all families by remaining FREE to the public, this is why we need your help! While we have raised $38.000 in grants this past year, including two national level grants from the Mardag Foundation and a General Mills Champions for Healthy Kids to support our fitness and nutrition programming, donations are necessary to support daily programming needs and to prove to grant makers that we have a solid finacial base so they continue to support our efforts.

With an increasingly fast paced life style comes fewer hours remaining to spend with family, as well as an increasingly troublesome obesity problem in children. Strengthening the parent-child bond, developing creativity and literacy skills and fighting child obesity through play, movement and the arts are among the goals the Creative Play Place aims to accomplish.

Children learn through play: they play to learn social skills, play to prepare to read, play to learn about roles in society, play to learn about the arts, play to exercise. Because children learn through play, the Creative Play Place is designed to encourage children to explore movement and the arts through creative play. Children climb, slide and run to exercise their body, while playing in imaginative sets. Children learn theatrical arts through costuming, dramatic play and puppetry, visual arts through hands-on, process-oriented art experiences, music and dance through instrument experimentation and movement. Children learn social skills as they negotiate and share.

The Creative Play Place provides parents with a variety of opportunities, through open play hours and classes, to play with their children to help them learn, create, exercise and grow.Additionally, parent information sessions help caregivers learn how to make healthy choices for their family. The Creative Play Place fosters the development of the whole child through play, movement and the arts to promote healthy lifestyles, enhance literacy, and strengthen the parent-child bond.

With you as a partner we can make a difference in children's lives. Regardless of how much you can give, the Creative Play Place values every donation we receive. Every dollar does make a difference. With your help, we can continue to provide opportunities for parents to play together and grow together with their children. The Creative Play Place would be honored to have you as a partner in strengthening the connections between children and their caregivers as they develop healthy lifestyles. Thank you for your support!