|
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
Click
here to download full document (216kB)
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
back
to top
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.
back
to top
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.
back
to top
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
back
to top
OPERATION OF THE RESOURCE CENTRE
The Resource Centre's opening hours are as follows:
|
Mondays: |
13H00 – 16H00 |
|
Tuesday – Friday: |
08H30 – 16H00 |
|
Saturdays: |
10H00 – 13H00 |
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 **
back
to top
|