Family Centre’s Play Zone helps build peer relationships

By Ry Clarke - for the Lethbridge Herald on April 8, 2022.

Herald photo by Ry Clarke The Family Centre offers many programs like the drop in 'Play Zone'. Parents Roxanne Baril and Loural Scott can hangout while Baril's children, Torin and Slone da Silva, discover new toys and activities.

The Family Centre Society of Southern Alberta is a non-profit organization providing many services to children, youth, and families in the region with programs offering early childhood development, education for parents, and support counselling.
Drop-in programs, like the Play Zone, are semi-facilitated sessions where kids learn important aspects of growth as well as connecting family dynamics while playing. Play Zone sessions take place Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the centre’s downtown location.
Maral Kiani, executive director at the Family Centre, says it is important for children to have a healthy community around them.
“It is really important in building that community, building that relationship among their peers, as well as different age groups. The younger children will see what the older child is doing, and learn from how they play with that specific toy and then that kind of teaches them.”
Restrictions during the pandemic have created many barriers for communities to come together, forcing many parents and children to be without proper support groups or the ability to create social groups for first time parents.
“With COVID limiting the social interaction for our children for the last two years, now that things are open it’s really important for them to go back into that routine, back into their step of getting those social interactions, being able to be social beings, and that return of interaction.”
Kiani says the Play Zone is a great way to get families a connection with other parents.
“There’s also not just the children aspect, but it’s also really important for the families as well. Families experience different [issues] and they also build skills differently. When they interact with other families they see this family is also going through the same struggle but this is how they overcame that situation. They build that network.”
Loural Scott is a frequent visitor at the Play Zone with her son, saying it helps him socialize with other kids when options are limited.
“We’ve been trying to go out to the playgrounds but over the winter time, it was just […] too cold and too windy and gross. So being able to come inside and have a place where he can play and actually figure out how to play with other kids. It’s been wonderful.”
Scott also says the Family Centre’s programs work well with her day-to-day life.
“She told me about it when I was about six months postpartum, we ended up coming and getting a schedule, and we’ve been spending probably two or three days a week ever since.”
Other families in the community like Dr. Roxanne Baril, a family doctor in the community, have larger families coming to the Play Zone to help expand their children’s social circle while also gaining tips and knowledge with other parents.
“We have four little boys, and through COVID, I’ve been thankful to have four because they have each other to play with. But at the same time, kids learn and thrive by observing other kids. So, this is just a great opportunity to come here and interact with other moms, as a mom myself, but also for them to see other kids as well. The Family Center always offers a variety of different themes and activities, so from a developmental point of view, it’s a great place for them to learn and thrive.”
The impact of restrictions through the pandemic has made opportunities for socializing harder to come by. Many first-time parents rely on community and socializing to learn and share experiences creating a healthy support system. Studies show children use imitation to learn skills that help development using mirror neurons, specialized brain cells that code the actions of other people and ourselves. Which is why having opportunities for kids to interact with each other are crucial to their growth.
“Our vision is to have healthy children, healthy families, and then in turn have a healthy community. That’s really important for Lethbridge. Lethbridge has a high number of families, so investing in those children is important in for the future of Lethbridge,” said Kiani.