Playgroup trial

The Library Association also conduct a play session for children under 4 years old every Thursday morning. So we went for a trial class on Thursday. It was really fun! There were lots of toys and about 15 sets of mothers and children.

It's a non-profit organization, so the mothers have to take turn to do story telling and craft every week. Maybe also have to chip in for cost of some of the materials used. The membership cost is cheap. I think only Rm20 per month. (not so sure since Sam filled in the form while I stayed with Sean).

I think many of the toys were donated by expatriates or rich parents whose children have outgrown them or by the people who found this organization. They are well used but in great conditions. There are many Little Tommy playground sets (slides, houses, see-saw, cars, etc), which would have cost a bomb brand new.

First thing Sean did was to paint at the easel, that occupied him for about 5 minutes. When I think of all the preparation and clean up required if we do this at home, and then he spends 5 whole minutes only! I'm not sure I'll let him paint until he's a lot older.ha ha ha=P

Then for the next half an hour, he was busily playing at the rice pit, the most popular play spot. There was a huge plastic trough filled with about 60-70kg of rice. All the children were really happy just scooping rice into the wheels , baskets or buckets. Even the babies were content to play in the rice pit. If you have many children, this is a great toy area to invest, otherwise that much of rice is a bit too expensive to be used for just one child at home. he he he =D

There was also a sand pit with many trucks and tractor toys, but he refused to get inside because he didn't like the feel of sand on his feet. After that, he played in toy cars.

Luckily, Sam came along and took care of Sean so that I could chat with some of the other mothers, as well as do the craft (binoculars) for Sean. Since many of the kids are small, the mothers do the craft. The other kids seem to be content to play by themselves while the mothers chat.

At 11am, we cleaned up and kept the toys and rice. Then it was half and hour of story telling and singing. Sean couldn't keep still for long though. He wandered around while all the other kids were listening to the stories.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable morning. I would like to make this a routine activity. There are so many possible play activities that Sean would not get to do at home. Also, I've been looking for a playgroup like this so Sean can socialize more. Being an only child with no cousins around is no fun. I get to socialize as well =P

We've signed up and paid the deposit but we are currently on the waiting list. They only allow a certain number of children at any one time. Supposedly there are a few mother-children sets leaving in a few months time because they're going into Kindergarten or leaving the country. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hope we get a confirmation soon.