Play & Learn at Home Delivers Free Art and Activity Boxes for Kids!
Pictured: Left Samantha Bauman, Regional Family Educator DeeAnn Bohn, Program Coordinator and Facilitator, and Danielle Vejar Ramirez, Regional Family Educator are working hard to bring free arts and activities to kids and families in 5 Oregon counties.
Play & Learn is giving away free arts and craft supplies and bilingual activity boxes to families in Wasco, Hood River, Sherman, Gilliam, and Wheeler Counties to help parents and kids fill their time with fun and educational activities.
Play & Learn is a five-county early learning program supported by the Oregon Early Childhood Equity Fund, Oregon Child Development Coalition, and the 4 Rivers Early Learning Hub.
The activities and programming included in their free Play & Learn at Home boxes originated with Kaleidoscope Play & Learn groups who met in person prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. After COVID hit, the program was awarded Equity funding to expand services and transition programming to bring fun, educational, and exciting arts and activities kits to families at home.
Kits started rolling out in March of 2021.
Staff schedule monthly drop-offs in multiple towns across five counties to ensure easy pick-up and ease of access for all families. The program has enrolled 118 children in its first two months and hopes to enroll at least 130 more. There are currently 39 families in Wasco County, 22 Hood River families, 20 Sherman County Families, 1 Gilliam County family, and 4 Wheeler County families enrolled in the program.
What’s in the Box
The boxes are full of art supplies, crafting activities, musical instruments, bilingual books, workbench kits, bilingual educational fun, child development information, and recipes and safety information for parents.
Each activity in the box is geared toward helping children develop and learn through play.
“We learn best through play,” said DeeAnn Bohn, Program Coordinator and Facilitator. “These boxes include hints about what preschool teachers do to get kids excited about learning. It’s not drill and kill. It’s play. AND it works. Kids learn best through play”
“Last month we sent home slide whistles,” said Bohn. “It helps develop those muscles in their mouth and their face that they need when they’re learning to talk. If it’s too loud you can set boundaries around it and tell them it’s an outside toy only.”
“Most parents do not buy musical instruments for their kids because: One, it’s loud. And two it can seem a little frivolous. But actually- music is another math language,” said Bohn. “You have to have math skills to do music.”
A lot of the activities are open-ended because each activity is about individual children developing their skills and creativity through play. And so each activity will be as unique as each child.
“Something people were really excited about getting was just- sticks, (tongue depressors or popsicle sticks) they have been really popular,” said Bohn “You can make endless things with them. And it develops fine motor skills.”
“The paint pens we’re a big hit. They don’t make a mess,” said Bohn.
Samantha Bauman, Regional Family Educator, had high praise for the Play & Learn at Home boxes.
“I got up this morning and my 3-year-old was sitting at the kitchen counter with the paint pens just quietly painting, she had a tiny little bit of it on her face but it just wipes right off. I was like ‘Okay cool, you got up, you didn’t bug me, and if you want to do that great. There’s no mess,” said Bauman. “I’m going to let them paint on my sliding glass window again because it just comes right off.”
DeeAnn Bohn gives parents a firsthand look at what’s inside a Play & Learn at Home Art Box. Which includes Ready for Kindergarten! information for parents.
Source. The art boxes include a Ready for Kindergarten! binder and information about aps and online resources for preparing your child for a lifetime of learning. It is a research based program that has been proven to improve children’s readiness for kindergarten.
Play & Learn also offers a variety of tools for parents.
Including ideas on:
How to get your 0-5 ready for kindergarten.
Teaching your child to read.
Teaching your child social-emotional skills.
How to stay organized and keep the mess at a minimum.
Tips for getting kids to go to sleep soundly.
Having fun with what you got.
And setting boundaries around certain toys and tools like scissors.
“Using scissors is a skill they need for kindergarten. You can create boundaries around them, you can say, okay you can only use them here at the table with me, you can only use them on paper, and it goes back in the box when you’re done.”
“And accidents happen, my son’s sheets are proof,” said Danielle Vejar Ramierz, Regional Family Educator “But that’s okay that’s a learning experience.”
Local Businesses have stepped up to support the program.
Kidz Dental zone put in packets about toothbrushing, Home Depot donated mini tool workbench kits for each box, and last month they did a ‘Grow This’ Challenge with seeds from OSU’s Master Gardener program.
Teaching Through Play
A child’s learning journey starts before they ever enter the classroom. Learning starts at home and parents and caregivers are a child’s first teacher.
Science has shown that about 80% of brain growth happens by the age of three.
A child begins learning the moment they are born. Babies and toddlers spend every waking moment dedicated to understanding the world around them a little better. And one of the key ways children learn and learn to love learning is through play.
“Parents are the primary educators of their children,” said DeeAnn Bohn, “Parents are their first and forever teacher. We’re just trying to help them and give them some support and encourage them to play- because kids learn best through play.”
Kids learn best through play. Play encourages brain development, communication, cognitive development and relationship building. Purposeful play can help develop self-esteem, strong relationships, and help children form and learn language, literacy, math, social and emotional skills.
Play is so important to optimal child development that it has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child.
But play doesn’t always come easy, not between the hustle and bustle of going to work and paying the bills.
“Parenting doesn’t come with an instruction manual. And sometimes, you forget how to play, because you’re so busy trying to get dinner on the table,” said Vejar Ramierz and Bohn.
Parenting puts a lot of demands on a parent’s time and energy.
Play & Learn is working to make parents job a little easier and help parents feel less alone.
“I work very hard. And Play & Learn helps a lot, and knowing that other parents are going through the same thing,” said Vejar Ramierz.
“I’m proud that we’re able to let parents know they're not alone. And that there’s a lot of people in the same boat and it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference what county you’re in, the emotion is the same everywhere,” said Bohn. “And it’s nice to just give them suggestions on how to support their kids and themselves through quarantine.”
“A lot of people don’t want to just give kids a phone or an iPad,” said Bohn “So we try to mix it up. We have a video on how to make playdough.”
“We made sure to make it wrong first. So that we could teach them how to fix it,” said Bohn. “Learning to play with Play-doh develops fine motor skills. It’s a great social-emotional thing because they can fidget with it and work at it. It’s language building and it will get you an hour of them being occupied with something.”
Play & Learn hopes that they will be able to resume in-person programs for parents and kids in the near future. But until then Play & Learn at Home will continue to provide free information and activities to kids and parents in their own homes.
Click here to learn more about the science of play.
What parents are saying about this amazing program for kids.
“We were so impressed with the boxes – wow! That Ready for Kindergarten binder is such a valuable resource!” –Chelsea Marion, Hood River County
“Gracias por las cosas que dieron a mi niño Guillermo. Estoy muy feliz de mirar su carita de felicidad cuando abrimos la caja. Gracias por todo, que Dios me los bendiga hoy y siempre, bendiciones.” –Adriana Vidals, Wasco County
“What a great box! I loved the calendar. The skin-colored crayons were a nice addition. Maddy will love the playdough. The container and lid are so nice to keep things in too! The notebook is a help to me for sure in making sure he is ready at certain stages. A lot of time and attention went into creating this great box – it shows. The sheets of abc’s and numbers reminded me of my old school days! How sweet. I like that you partnered with local businesses too. I guess I just think the box is wonderful because it contains endless possibilities of what the littles can do with it!” -PattiAnn Monzie, Hood River
“Pues de la bolsa que le diste a Jimena le encantó todo, lo primero que se emocionó y jugó por un rato fue con la arena. Le encantaron las pinturas en barra, se puso a hacerle una tarjeta con el papel a su papa para el dia del padre.” -M. Dolores Acevedo, Wasco
Read more parent feedback about the program here.
Parents can enroll to receive free activities for their children here.
To sign up to receive free books from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library click here.
Parents can also check out Play & Learn’s Youtube channel and Facebook for ideas, support, and advice.
Parents can enroll to receive free activities for their children here.
