Project Description: To provide free opportunities in the community for families to grow and learn together with their young children.
Our goal is to offer opportunities for families to bring young children together to learn from one another and feel supported by early childhood specialists at no cost to families. Pediatric therapists facilitate learning opportunities, both structured and unstructured, to empower families to learn and play with their children.
1, 2, 3 Play With Me provides families with opportunities to learn how to help their children grow and develop in the community. Therapists are available to answer questions and offer feedback on typical development. Together, therapists and families work to problem solve behavioral challenges, resolve conflict between peers and siblings, and discuss appropriate routines based on their child’s age and developmental level.
1, 2, 3 Play With Me aims to provide a safe space for children and parents to learn together without feeling embarrassed if children are not able to experience success on their first try. We hope that families will then gain confidence to enter into other arenas in their communities, beyond playgroups, with the skills and knowledge gained from their time in 1,2,3 Play With Me. We run several groups around the area.
Our longest running group is for children with developmental delays in the South Hills, and we expanded this year to add 2 additional groups to include typically developing children from populations often excluded from playgroup communities, including refugee and English language learners at our location at South Hills Interfaith Movement (SHIM), and inner-city families at our group located at East Liberty Library in the city of Pittsburgh. Our goal is to reach a more diverse population who might not otherwise have access to free and safe play opportunities for their children. We aim to expand further, to include single dads and caregivers from multi generational homes, if resources allow.