EMES Judy Center Hosts Safe Outdoor Events To Boost Early Childhood Learning
Now that summer’s warm days are gone, our team is anticipating winter weather and we’re evaluating how to manage safe and comfortable engagement with and for our community. Yet so far, autumn has been gentle, so we’ve continued planning and offering many outdoor events, including supporting the weekly EMES Judy Center on-site gatherings for families with young kids, plus many other onsite and virtual options for family-friendly fun.
Not only has this outdoor programming provided important safe distancing between participants: it has also encouraged important social/emotional learning and experiences that have been impossible to offer indoors during this stage of the pandemic.
Even more important: the community has adored the opportunity to play together during regularly scheduled programs and neighborhood events. They’ve loved these new and unique routines that have provided entertaining ways for kids to gather, run, and play together. Our early childhood staff and MSW interns value the opportunities to interact with families in person, even if masked and socially distant.
Our partners at the Judy Center at EMES continue to demonstrate vast levels of creativity by offering entertaining, fun, healthy, and exciting new opportunities for students, to our Community School families, and the people of Upton/Druid Heights.
We’re pleased to share some of our favorites:
Blue Sky Puppet Theatre
On October 15, the audience loved the outdoor puppet show
On October 15, the Blue Sky Puppet Theatre enticed audience participation and boisterous laughter during its 30-minute outdoor performance on a large portable set parked in front of Eutaw-Marshburn Elementary School. That day’s show featured The Three (Not So) Little Pigs, starring Mrs. Pig, Little Yellow, Little Blue, Little Red, and Bernard Wolf.
Kids in the audience screamed out words from the alphabet and commented on how to best cooperate with your friends—something those pesky pigs didn’t learn very well. Not only did the kids have a great time—the programming reinforced efforts to offer social/emotional learning to young kids, which is all the more essential now when most of their time is spent at home. Meanwhile, after the performance and delicious refreshments, each toddler received a box of plush finger puppets to take home.
Fatherhood Friday event for dads, uncles, & granddads
October 23
On Friday, October 23, a collection of Dads, Uncles, and Grandfathers came out for a lively afternoon to meet other men sharing these important roles, and they also learned about the many resources that the Judy Center at Eutaw-Marshburn offers parents. Each man received a reusable Promise Heights face mask, brand new children’s books to read with their kids, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, and a child’s face mask. Kids enjoyed extra fun asking for custom-made balloons to be made for them, and then watched as the balloon-sculpting magic happened.
Harvest Festival
October 23
On October 23, the Judy Center also hosted an outdoor Harvest Festival, with a petting zoo including various species of ducks and a speckled bunny rabbit, and creatively painted backdrops—our favorite was the “Barnstormers” view of biplanes circling a barn surrounded by rambunctious farm animals. Kids enjoyed the ever-popular pile of hay to roll in, a collection of huge bouncy inflatable pumpkins, and a field of big pumpkins that participants could take home to carve with their families. Fun was had by all!
Pre-Halloween Party
October 30
The final event of the month was a pre-Halloween gathering on October 30 that included a talented balloon-art sculptor who quickly constructed custom-ordered delights for each child, made on the spot by Brenda C. Hardy of Balloons By Brenda to match their requests. Kids were welcomed to wear Halloween costumes, and didn’t seem to miss the tradition of walking long distances or knocking door-to-door for their festive Halloween treats.
Thanks to the continued generosity of Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church, staff distributed safely packaged goodie bags with candies, cupcakes, and other sweets. Clearly the kids enjoyed the lively interactive games.
It’s important to note that this entire series of outdoor events has provided an important opportunity for kids to exercise together while adjusting to the habit of wearing face masks in public and learning pandemic-busting hygiene practices.
Finally, every family was invited to pick up pre-packaged delicious FreedomFood meals—this time offered to twenty-five families to enjoy when they returned home.
Want to learn more about our autumn 2020 activities? Here’s how the Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church has recently enriched social/emotional learning experiences in Upton/Druid Heights.