Knox Toy Library’s Stay and Play Sessions

The aim of stay and play sessions is to promote the joy and importance of play to children and to aid families to maximise this precious learning opportunity through playing with purpose. The 24 sessions will be held over a year, each one having a different theme such as science, outdoors, music and construction. The sessions will be tailored to suit children from infancy to preschool and at the conclusion of the session, parents would be provided with points on continuing play at home. With the resources purchased we would offer them to members as part of our borrowing catalogue.

Play is greatly recognised in its relationship with intellectual achievement and emotional well-being, especially for those of lower socioeconomic status. Study findings highlight that access to early play correlates with improvement of life outcomes, including a rise in yearly earnings, high school graduations, and bachelor degrees. Most importantly, play builds the critical skill of self-regulation, which underpins success in later life. Our toy library is a popular resource for many families in the district to come together to form new networks, share parenting issues & strengthen parent-child relationships through play. Thus adequate resources would aid us in continuing our work.