It's not complicated...
P.L.A.Y. is a community within the local community; a place that nurtures children through natural experiences and intuitive lessons. We encourage them to imagine, mentor, create, heal, and learn through play. While our pupils are children, we welcome and involve people of all ages, be they youth, adult, or elderly.
A small sampling of activities threw fall 2023
Animal Habitats
Edible Finger Painting
Edible Finger Painting
In this hands-on, creative adventure, we learn about how the other half lives, gain some empathy for our fellow creatures, and build stuff!
Edible Finger Painting
Edible Finger Painting
Edible Finger Painting
In this tactile–and tasty–mashup of the senses, kids experience color palette and have some old-fashioned, messy fun.
Democracy
Edible Finger Painting
Writer's Workshop
Understanding the law, elections, their critical role in our nation's future is both sobering and empowering for young children.
Writer's Workshop
Writer's Workshop
Writer's Workshop
In this special event, kids get a look at the other side of the books they read, and learn from the author what it takes to create them.
Bullseye!
Writer's Workshop
Slime Time!!
Archery: a strictly-outdoor activity that offers both a physics lesson and a throwback to our prehistoric roots! The kids go crazy for this one.
Slime Time!!
Writer's Workshop
Slime Time!!
Get messy making slime with custom colors and textures.
Serving the Community
Serving the Community
Serving the Community
One of the most important things kids can learn is their place in the community, as both a giver and recipient of someone else's love.
What's Inside U
Serving the Community
Serving the Community
We spend a day peeling back the layers, learning about all the parts of us that we can't see, yet are critical to everything we do.
Muddy Monday
Serving the Community
Afraid of the Dark?
Unfettered by arbitrary standards of cleanliness, kids get a chance to splash, wallow, and fortify their immune systems!
Afraid of the Dark?
How 'bout the Weather?
Afraid of the Dark?
Darkness holds countless terrors for kids with big imaginations. But with familiarity–and glow slime–we learn that it's not so bad after all!
Critter Repair
How 'bout the Weather?
How 'bout the Weather?
Our pets aren't too wild about the vet, but kids love helping animals. This is a fun, heartwarming exercise in compassion.
How 'bout the Weather?
How 'bout the Weather?
How 'bout the Weather?
It happens all around us every single day, yet it's so difficult to guess what it's going to do next. Understanding how it works is a great start!
Man...that's heavy!?!
Man...that's heavy!?!
Man...that's heavy!?!
Heavy machinery is fascinating and improves our lives in ways we rarely think about. Learn about different types from a variety of industries.
Flower Frenzy
Man...that's heavy!?!
Man...that's heavy!?!
In this bright, cheerful lesson, kids learn the parts of flowers and how they work. Then we go out in nature. and experience them firsthand.
Foam Party!
Man...that's heavy!?!
Learning Leaves
Sometimes kids just want to make a mess! Everyone gets a can of shaving cream and a mandate to have a blast.
Learning Leaves
Thar Be Dragons!
Learning Leaves
Even here in the 'burbs, the natural world is all around. In this experience, kids get familiar with the amazing variety of their local greenery.
Thar Be Dragons!
Thar Be Dragons!
Thar Be Dragons!
By occasionally indulging in the coolest life form never to walk the earth, kids exercise both their imaginations and their inner beasts!
Why P.L.A.Y.?
A Letter From Our Founder
P.L.A.Y. was born from a need. Every summer, the schools close and the kids come home. But parents' work doesn't, and kids–out of necessity–spend a lot of time home alone. While their basic survival seems to be well provided for (food, shelter, and a locking door), I got to know many kids with one huge need that wasn't being met: play.. Not the regimented kind they get at sports camps, or the mind numbing kind their digital devices are so adept at providing, but organic, tactile, social play.
I've got well over a decade as a homeschooling, full-time mom. Our house is full of kids, dogs, bright colors, and not a lot of breakable stuff. The doors have always been wide open to our neighborhood, and I found that kids gravitated toward our home just to be a kid and play!
Play is our brain's favorite way of learning. It's the quickest way to develop skills, and can transform arduous tasks into fun and rewarding activities. Countless discoveries and insights have come to curious minds through play. Albert Einstein called play "the highest form of research".
Our small organization is committed to celebrating, preserving, and maximizing play, and giving kids a place where they can immerse themselves in it. At a time when so many are isolated and fearful, play must go on, for the sake of the children who need it.
I hope you spend some time learning about us, and choose to get involved in one of the many capacities we offer.
~Tracie Cook