When Malorie, a Mareeba mother embarked on her parenting journey, she was searching for community-based activities that would support the learning and development of her children and allow her to connect and socialise with families in the local area.
Discovering supported playgroups co-facilitated by Every Family and C&K Kindergarten meant Malorie and her children could take part in shared experiences guided by professional facilitators and begin forming friendships with parents, carers, and children in the community.
Offering structured learning activities aimed to improve children’s early learning potential, Malorie and her children look forward to attending the supported playgroups each week.
“The supported playgroups are how we first made friends when our daughter was little. We are excited to go to playgroup every Wednesday, and we have formed some great connections with families who we often meet up with outside the weekly sessions.
“Having facilitators there to guide the sessions is fantastic. They lead art and craft activities which are much more fun and interesting than what we would do at home, and the kids also love the story time and singalongs,” she said.
Malorie believes regular attendance enhances her children’s social skills and will contribute to their school-readiness in the future.
“The supported playgroups are a wonderful opportunity for little ones to become confident in a social environment, allowing them to get familiar with the space, which hopefully makes their transition into kindergarten and school easier,” she said.
She has also learnt about support services in the community from the Every Family playgroup facilitator, allowing her to gain a better understanding of the parenting supports available in the local community.
For more information on the supported playgroups, click here.
