Grades 1-5

Dates: Tuesdays Only

Time: 7:45am - 8:10am

Drop-Off Location: Any Dot

Location: Playground by the Library

Rainy day: Gym

Fee: Free

Limited to 40 students

Email: kathleen.bailey@thebenjaminschool.org

 

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, you learn self-control.

But what if you are 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.

always with you? No.

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 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.