In March of this year, my Family Day Home received the disheartening reality that our local playgrounds were closed due to the evolving Covid-19 pandemic. My Family Day Home is immensely engaged in the exploration of physical play within these playgrounds on a daily bases. As an Educator, I immediately had a rush of uncertainty on how I could keep all the children in care physically & attentively engaged using only the materials within our backyard & utilizing our play structure.
Surprisingly, within a matter of days I noticed just how amazing the children were adapting to the repetitive usage of the equipment. These expansive continuous play experiences, opened up a magical door for these children to identify a personal physical challenge- the monkey bars!
With only a few weeks of persistence, encouragement & focus- the 5 varying aged children within my Family Day Home took this challenge head on & mastered the craft of completely flipping themselves over on the monkey bars with little to absolutely no adult assistance.
As an Early Educator (& Mom to 2 of these children), I was completely impressed with these achievements & milestones. Not only did these children truly inspire me, they astonished each of their families as well when demonstrating their newly developed skill.
I strongly believe through the repetitive stimulation & full body movements- each of these children challenged the coordination & core strength of their bodies ultimately resulting in these individual successes. Independently, these children conquered the restrictions & limitations of Covid-19 & I couldn’t be more proud & inspired by this exceptional group of children.
- Lindsay Connors
Innisfail & Area Family Day Home Society (Provider)
