PLAY ALL DAY - THE W3K WAY!

At Wund3rKID, we value play. Play that comes naturally to children because that’s what they love to do the most. During my experience as a nanny, I learned that young children play best when they are not rushed from one activity to another. They like to take their time, repeat the steps and then do it all over again! It may be frustrating for an adult to see this but not to the child. This experimental process of play leads to learning. An example of this is when I have observed children with a specific toy, a small wooden house with house numbers and metal keys attached to it. When the child is 1 year-old, they only grasp at the house and not much comes of the exposure. Then, when they are about 18-months and shown by an adult how to insert the keys into the house, they will also attempt to copy the adult and do just this! They may be able to get a key into place but have trouble turning it. Once they are closer to 2 years-old, they begin to recognize the numbers on the house and will begin to try to open the doors for an extended period of time. They may be able to open some doors or none at all! And this is quite alright at Wund3rKID! The play experience we strive to provide to young children is just this type of experience! Children impress us each day with their changing capabilities. The variety of classes we offer at Wund3rKID are offered to support SCEP- social, cognitive, emotional and physical development. Our *NEW* STEAM class helps children explore various science activities such as gears, measurements and balance scales. Through these activities, children develop their fine-motor skills and it also allows children to use their sensorial skills. This week, we made Oobleck which is a wet, gooey substance! Not a favorite of mine but the kids sure love to mix and make their very own goo! Funnels, measuring cups add to the fun! Teacher Adrienne from Mini Yoga really gets kids moving in the cutest way! Through downward dog, stretching and a little kid-style meditation- children begin to learn the basics of Yoga. I also love to hear the kids chant “Peace Begins with Me” throughout the week! Spanish for Tots is a popular class among children and families. Along with providing various activities for the children which include sorting vegetables, counting animals and art fun; Teacher Silvia also speaks Spanish to the children for the duration of the class. She has raised her three children to be fluent in Spanish so she knows just how to engage and immerse children in the language. Teacher Chaia brings the fun on Thursday mornings with her guitar and other special instruments for the children! Her latest treasure for the children are hand bells. It was clear the children felt really special to each have their very own hand bell for the class! Teacher Emily remains our first music teacher at Wund3rKID and is admired by the children. Her mix of classic and new songs are so fun and hard to get out of our heads! We have members who remember the lyrics by heart and could probably act as substitutes for her! “Hot-cross buns”, anyone? She even made some hot-cross buns for the children to enjoy last week! Each of our teachers have unique traits which make them special to the children. I am grateful for them because they complement the team at Wund3rKID! While learning through explorative play is much valued here at Wund3rKID, classes have shown to be equally important for children. For example, members who attend our class on a weekly basis have seen the benefits. These benefits include increased verbal skills in children and the ability to consistently focus on an activity. We often think children have a short-attention span but it may actually be due to their lack of interest in an activity. This type of cognitive development seen from regular class attendance motivates children to communicate and connect with their caretakers in the classes. Children also like sticking to a routine. Our classes are designed to help children adjust to a social setting and the more children attend them, the more it will help prepare them for a school setting. For example, a parent of a child who has begun preschool after being a member at Wund3rKID has expressed how much our classes has helped our child settle into his new school setting. The weekly occurrence and consistency of the classes have also familiarized children with our teachers and more.

Our membership program is valued by families to Wund3rKID. And we value our members! There are 4 different tiers of membership to our center and each tier includes each child of the family. There are 2 tiers for just play or classes. The Basic and Premium membership covers your entire family for unlimited drop-in play, snacks and also includes 4 hours of drop-off supervised play. The difference between them is with the Premium membership, you receive unlimited classes. That means you can take as many classes as you like! With the variety of classes we offer, each child in your family will find a class they enjoy. Along with all the membership perks, healthy organic snacks are also included in each membership! In addition to all the fun you just read about, we also host birthdays on the weekends. They are so much fun!

We look forward to seeing you at Wund3rKID for play, a class or for your child’s next birthday celebration!