Friends, Playhouse is thriving.
We open up the space four times a week in the afternoons, to catch kids and families after school and on Saturday evenings for a safe place to play. And each time, it fills up with old friends and new faces.
We still have two computers available for the kids seven & older to use, playing English games, typing practice, math drills, drawing, and Minecraft.
We have a selection of toys and games for all ages, including the newly popular board games. The board games have been an overwhelming success with the older kids and moms!
We had a team visit from my university campus ministry and do some projects in our community. They made two soccer goals out of PVC that we keep inside, with two soccer balls, until Playhouse. The kids can play in the street but easily pick them up when a car through.
The team also made a set of market items out of fabric–something I have wanted to make for a long time! They did a great job making local fruits and vegetables, a milk & juice, a bag of potato chips, and fish. They also laminated Monopoly money for the kids to pretend with. It has been such a hit!
And last, they helped us set up some more technology pieces! We had one more Raspberry Pi, and we wanted to use it to set up a gaming system. Stephen found a “RetroPie”–it’s old versions of Nintendo games that you can play with a Raspberry Pi, computer monitor, and a couple controllers. The team helped us set it up for the kids to play, and they are absolutely loving it. They really love StreetFighter and WorldCup Soccer.
It’s also fun to see how communal it is!
And last, we have had a 1st Generation iPad from when we moved. It runs very few apps these days, and we were gifted a 2nd Generation iPad last year. We wanted to get our old iPad et up for the kids to use, as another technology piece to get used to. I really think its so good for them to learn how to use their fingers on a touch screen on the iPad, as well as the mouse and computer programs; and even the controllers. I love to see how much they are able to experience and learn!
It was fun to have the team here to help us get some new activities rolling, and the kids are certainly loving it 😁
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