Play Group - 1 (Ahmedabad Only)
“Every time toddlers play with others, explore an interesting object or a toy or get excited about learning a new skill and everything they see, taste, touch, smile at, and hear builds their brain and leads to new abilities. And when you encourage these explorations, children gain confidence as learners.”
Our Play Group – 1 Program is designed for children aged 18 months and above to be their first independent adventure. The program will have hands-on discovery and exploratory activities aiming to encourage children to learn about the world, hone their physical and social skills, and develop independence. The group will meet for 2.5 hours everyday from Monday to Friday.
Day in the Life
Start of the day
Welcome and Free Play
10 minutes
Children are welcomed into a warm, beautifully set-up classroom filled with energizing music. Through play and social interactions, children channelize their energies and settle into the environment.
Circle Time
15 minutes
Circle time is the child’s first introduction to follow a daily routine independently. It energises children and fosters a sense of community. As part of the circle time, children engage in warm up exercises, finger rhymes, action songs and read-alouds.
Station time
60 minutes
Station time is planned by educators to provide children with opportunities to build skills, and pique their curiosity in different areas. Educators design 2 to 3 stations centred around sensory exploration, fine motor skills, read-alouds, art and design explorations, music, and pretend-play.
Physical Play
15 minutes
Children spend 15 minutes everyday in the indoor gym or the outdoor play area participating in activities focused on strengthening their physical skills like balancing and coordination - activities include obstacles courses, ziplining, and tumbling.
Snack Time
30 minutes
Snack time is an opportunity for educators to model healthy food habits and discuss different types of foods being eaten in the class.
Reflection Time
5 minutes
After an exhausting and eventful day, children and educators gather to recollect their energy and experiences. Reflection time is an opportunity to discuss and recollect the activities of the day.
The Bell Goes Off
Play Group – 1 Learning Spaces
Sensory Gym
The sensory gymnasium is every child’s favourite space at Toddler’s Den. It is filled with open-ended and structured challenges that change every week. Children strengthen physical skills and social skills as they walk on balancing beams, wobble on river stone gonges, fall on crash mats, climb on rock walls, jump under parachutes, ride scooters, swing on ziplines, and hang on wallbarz.
Outdoor Play Spaces
Toddler’s Den is equipped with 3 types of outdoor spaces - active, social, and experimental. In the active play area, children have access to open-ended play equipment where they develop their gross-motor skills through cycling, crawling and climbing on mounds. The outdoor social area is an interactive and collaborative space with a sand pit, water tub and a pretend play area. In the experimental outdoor area, children experiment with materials that evoke their multiple senses.
Art and Design Station
The art and design station, equipped with easels and traditional chabudai, allows children to engage with a range of tools and materials to explore textures and create expressive arts and crafts. Children explore a range of paints such as powder, poster, acrylic, dye, tablet, and oil paints and tools such as stamps, sponges, and brayer rollers.
Sensory Station
Interesting wall and interactive installations as well as natural, synthetic, and montessori materials are a part of this station. These sensory experiences are an opportunity for children to express their emotions and interests. Designed to deepen a child’s conceptual understanding of the world, this station allows children to immerse in smelling and tasting experiences, listening activities, and touch and feel games.
Block Station
Equipped with child-friendly blocks of different sizes, shapes, and textures, this station encourages children to tinker and recreate their thoughts and interpretations of the world. Educators encourage children to build and talk about their creations and help support language and physical development. Children get to play with lego blocks, tube blocks, spiral blocks, 3D and 2D puzzles, foam blocks, magnetic blocks and much more.
Storytime Station
The Storytime Station is a reef of imagination and calm in the classroom. Here, children have access to age-appropriate books that need little to no adult supervision such as texture books and picture books. Read-alouds are a central part of this station and help children build their vocabulary and their understanding of the world. Educators use music and movement to support children in their pronunciation of simple words.
Music Station
At this station, children have access to a wide variety of age-appropriate musical instruments, including keyboards, string instruments, wind and brass instruments, and percussion instruments. They experiment with making sounds by shaking, banging, and plucking materials. They slowly understand loudness, tempo, and basic rhythm which further cognitive development.