ALL-SA TOY LIBRARY TRAINING, RESOURCE AND 

DEVELOPMENTAL PLAY CENTRE 

About The Centre

About the Play Materials

How It Works

What We Offer

Operation of the Resource Centre

How To Find Us

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ABOUT THE CENTRE

The Toy Library Resource Centre opened on the 18th June 2004 with the assistance of a generous
grant from the Jim Joel Education and Training Fund.

Our Resource Centre has a wide variety of developmentally appropriate play materials.
We offer 3 main services:

        We have an area where children can play: a drop-in toy library

        Adults can experience the play materials, learn more about them and develop their own skills

        We offer information, advice and training on-

               how to use play materials effectively
               how to start and run a toy library

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ABOUT THE PLAY MATERIALS

        The materials include both commercially bought toys and games and improvised toys made

            from waste material
        They cover all the important areas – motor and cognitive skills, social and emotional

            development, literacy and maths skills.
        The play materials are suitable for children at different levels of development and we are

            able to offer easier toys that help to build the confidence of children who are experiencing

            difficulties
        Many of the toys are suitable for children with special needs and we are gradually getting in

            more of these.

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HOW IT WORKS

Children visiting our Developmental Play Centre are free to choose any toy to play with.
Play sessions normally last between 1 – 2 hours.
We encourage parents to come along to play with their children and it is very rewarding to see shared play between parent and child taking place.
However, children of working parents can come alone as long as the parent has completed the
registration form.

Our volunteers engage in the play when invited by the children. They will also help a child who is having difficulty with an activity or make suggestions about a suitable toy or game that the child may be unaware of.

Many different groups have visited our drop-in toy library:
Nursery schools and day care centres; children that are HIV positive; we have regular visits from a nursery school for autistic and visually impaired children. Children waiting for their appointment with the local dental clinic come and play and the dentist reports that the children are much more relaxed than when they wait in the waiting room.
In the afternoons, mainly primary school children from Hillbrow (a densely populated area with lots of blocks of flats) come to play.

Many disadvantaged adults that come to the Resource Centre are learning for the first time how to build puzzles and to play simple board games. They are challenged by the educational activities and you can see the development of problem solving skills. After a donation of computers from Neil O’Reilly, the director of Advanced Technologies, both children and adults will be able to make use of educational programmes and will learn basic computer literacy skills. We have had an old computer at the Resource Centre for some time and it is exciting to see adults who have never even touched a keyboard before start to glow with a feeling of achievement when they master a game of solitaire.

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WHAT WE OFFER

The ALL-SA Resource Centre offers:

1. Information and advice about
       How to start and run a toy library
       Play materials that help children to develop
       Play materials for children of different ages and levels of development – including youth
       What toys to buy and where you can get them
       How to make toys from waste

2. Training on
       How to start and run a toy library
       How to use play materials to help children to develop
       How to make toys from waste material

(To view our TRAINING PROGRAMME click here)

3. A drop-in toy library where parents/caregivers and children can play together

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OPERATION OF THE RESOURCE CENTRE

The Resource Centre's opening hours are as follows:

        There is no charge for play sessions, information or advice
        Parents need to fill in a Registration Form for their child/ren in case of an emergency
        To avoid disappointment when the Resource Centre is too full, it is better to let us know that

            you are coming. Call us on 011 484 0333 to arrange a visit.
        Parents/groups that can afford to do so can make a donation to the Resource Centre.
            All donations over R100.00 are tax-deductable (Section 18A).

HOW TO FIND US:

Directions to: 

THE TOY LIBRARY TRAINING, RESOURCE & DEVELOPMENTAL PLAY CENTRE WARD 2, 3RD FLOOR, MEMORIAL INSTITUTE FOR CHILD HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT ( T M I ) 13 JOUBERT ST. EXT., (just off Empire Rd.), PARKTOWN, JOHANNESBURG.

Take Empire Road towards the East – Hillbrow direction.
Once you have crossed Jan Smuts Ave., the road winds around sharp bends.
You will see a BP Garage on your right.
Move into the turning lane and turn to the right towards the garage.
You will see a building in front of you with a red & green pattern on it. That is TMI.
You will see the parking area behind the building on your right.

**Park in the last row of parking.
Go in at the first entrance - the one where you walk past a nursery school playground.
On entering, turn right and you will come to the lifts and stairs.
Go up to the 3rd Floor. Turn right and  walk along this corridor, for quite a way, until you come to the 2nd set of corridor doors. ALL-SA is just past these doors on the right - we have orange doors and a black gate. Ring the buzzer to let us know you're there.
Please support the car watch when you leave.

If you are coming from town:
Go down Rissik Street and all the way around to the back of the Civic Centre.
Keep left and turn left at Constitution Hill into Joubert St. Ext.
Just past a sharp bend in the road you will see Gate 13, Memorial Institute for Child Health.
Turn left into Gate 13. You will come to the parking area on your left.
Follow the instructions above **