Program provides fun indoor space for kids to play
The Gaynor Family Regional Library’s Stay and Play program is always well attended and with a $1900 grant from the Selkirk Community Renewal Corporation to buy new toys it’s become an even more fun place to be for parents and kids.
“Stay and Play is something we added to our Baby Time program. We run Baby Time four times a week, twice on Thursdays, that’s our most popular day. Everybody’s getting bundled up, they’re putting on their snowsuits. The parents are coming in with all this stuff for 45 minutes and then they need to go. It seems like they just get here and they’re leaving so, we thought, Is there something that we can do to expand on that make it really worth their while to come out?” said Leesa Furgale, Children’s Coordinator at the Gaynor Family Regional Library.
What they realized was that the playgroups that had been in place before COVID-19 needed to come back in a big way. Instead of just being in the children’s section the program has expanded to the library theatre which gives more space for kids to play and is strategically located next to the Bake + Brew Café which is a bonus for caretakers.
The program, as the name suggests, allows parents and guardians with kids aged baby-5 to come to the library and stay and play. This opportunity gives them a place to develop children’s social skills, find fellowship with other adults caring for litte ones and have a climate-controlled place to get wiggles out all year round.
“Just coming off of COVID, we had many parents coming to us and saying that their child or grandchild doesn’t know how to interact with kids, doesn’t know how to play, doesn’t know how to share. They’d been isolated. So, we needed to do what we could open up a place like this,” said Furgale.
The grant from SCRC is helping to make sure that everyone who takes part in the program is engaged.
“We have activities for the babies, right up to the older ones,” said Furgale.
After seeing the crowd that this program was drawing and understanding the gap that it fills in our community Ashley Monkman from the SCRC said that this was a new initiative that they wanted to support.
“We’re really excited by what we’ve seen of the Stay and Play Program. Just being here today and seeing how phenomenal the program is, and how well attended it is, makes us very excited to be a sponsor for these programs,” said Monkman.
The Stay and Play program runs on Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Sundays from 1:45 to 3 p.m. and doesn’t take a break in the summer like many other community programs.
“Sunday tends to be our family day. Moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas nanas, and babas will come out as well,” said Furgale.
Parents should note that there are no childminders and adults must be present with their kids while they attend.
Ken Kuryliw, director of library services for the Gaynor Family Regional Library said how much they appreciate the SCRC’s generous donation.
“Without the funding, we couldn’t have this great program that mixes both our literacy program and then follows up with a chance for the kids to play and parents to network,” he said.
Parents with kids ages 0-5 are encouraged to stop by and check out the Stay and Play program.
