Parents: Julie's Story

Julie is the mother of two boys, Oscar and Elijah.

“At the regular playground, the toys are meant to be played in a certain way. They ride the machines or swing on the swings. Here it’s really allowing them to create the world that they want to play in.”

“I’m thrilled. Nothing makes me happier than to see them like physically and creatively engaged in something and having fun, you know, rather than looking to me or looking on the computer or to have a book read with them—to do something that involves their bodies. I think that a lot of kids, they just want to watch TV or they want to be told how to be entertained, but here they’re entertaining themselves.”

More Fun Than Recess

“My older boy doesn’t really like recess. I’ll tell you the truth.  He doesn’t like recess at school because it’s just this regular playground equipment. He usually takes a book out and sits by himself near the building and doesn’t really play. In fact, he told me that he likes rainy days better because they don’t have to go out onto the playground. But as soon as he came in here, I could tell that he was just really captivated by the blocks, and he had some idea of what he wanted to make and. He’s having a much better time here than he actually has at school recess.”

“This is really great, I think, especially for my older one because sometimes he’ll get fixated on a certain toy and there’ll be altercations, but here there’s so many different ways to create something and to involve other children. I could see him really kind of socializing in a much healthier way than he does on a normal playground.” 

“exercising his whole body”

Both of my sons are really obsessed with Lego, especially the younger one. He will come home from school and he’ll just sit on the floor and put the Legos together. But he’s indoors, and he just is very focused on this very small object. That’s great for the fine motor skills, but I would like him to exercise his whole body. These are lightweight and I think allow him to kind of create the same sort of imaginative objects but he can pick up with his whole body instead of just manipulate with his fingers.”