JOIN IN THE FREE PLAY, MAKING FRIENDS, AND FIGURING THINGS OUT!

Every other Friday from 4-6pm -- meet at the Jeffrey Mansion Playground.

-- Starting up again in Spring, dependent on finding a person willing to "host"

-- Hosting duties include: showing up each week, greeting people, that's it!

Rain or shine. Wear a coat and boots! Unstructured play.

No need to sign up. Just come! Grown ups will chat or work or do whatever they want while kids enjoy unstructured, adult-free play.

The Let Grow Play Club — a new activity we are offering where kids make their own fun, without adults organizing it — looks like “just plain fun.” But that “fun” is how Mother Nature disguises the hard work. Because it is “fun” to play ball, kids learn the difficult skills of focus, compromise and empathy. 

Play jacks, you learn patience. 

Play superheroes, you learn to imagine. 

Play freeze-tag? Self-control.

But what if you’re left out? You adjust to fit in, or find a group where you do.

Fall down? You get back up so you can keep playing.

Someone’s cheating? You figure out how to make things work — so you can play some more.

When you played as a kid, was an adult always with you? No.

Did you figure out how to deal with a bossy-pants? A cheater? A friend who turned on you? Yes. 

Was it painful? Probably.

Those were growing pains. To assume we could deal with these discomforts but our kids cannot is insulting and untrue.

The Let Grow Play Club gives kids back the resilience-building playtime they need. It is supervised by adults, but they do not organize the fun or solve the spats. The chance to collaborate with friends, resolve disputes and bounce back from disappointments are confidence-and-character-building opportunities. At Play Club, kids get the social interaction they need to develop into empowered adults.

Kids and parents will be asked to sign this pledge in order to join in: 

My kid(s) agree(s) to follow the Play Club rules:

1. No deliberately hitting or physically hurting anyone.

2. No leaving the grounds without permission.

3. Listen to the adults, who intervene only when they must.

4. Don't go in the woods without a buddy.

I agree to the Parent Pledge:

• I understand that not all kids will be happy all the time at Play Club.

• I agree that the adults will not intervene in the children’s disagreements.

• If my child deliberately hurts someone, they need to take a break.

• I understand that this is a chance for my child to become resilient, resourceful, and mature.