Head Start agencies conduct ‘Day of Play’

Submitted information

As part of its celebration of Head Start Awareness Month, the Kids Learning Place in Van Wert and all of the nine counties served by the Council on Rural Services sponsored a “Day of Play” for children and families to get involved in a cardboard box building challenge.

Children are naturally curious, creative, inventive and adventurous and an empty cardboard box is just the object to inspire that creativity. In the classrooms during the day the children and teachers worked together, deciding on their plan, then building and painting for weeks. Then October 7 — the “Day of Play” — was an accumulation of the past month’s ideas and work, with families coming be involved and celebrate with the children.

Some classrooms were transformed into places that included zoo animals, monsters and all kinds of transportation vehicles like buses, race cars and trains.

This Day of Play allowed children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive and emotional strength. Play is a child’s work and play is important for a child’s healthy brain development; it is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them.

The cardboard challenge day was originally inspired by a YouTube video “Caine’s Arcade” that highlights a young boy who used his creativity and ingenuity to create a cardboard arcade in this father’s store one summer.

Kids Learning Place will be planning additional days of play at CORS centers in the future, but families can also get involved by setting aside times that their whole family plays together. These times are beneficial not only for the child, but for parents. Playing with children establishes and strengthens bonds that will last forever. Parent-child play opens doors for sharing of values, increases communication, allows for teachable moments and most of all allows the parent to view the world through the eyes of a child once again.

For more information about Kids Learning Place education/care programs and Head Start, call toll free 866.627.4557 for immediate contact. Also check the CORS website at www.councilonruralservices.org.

Council on Rural Services provides education, support, and volunteer services through Kids Learning Place™, Head Start, and Early Head Start in its nine-county service area.