About

The Creative Play Place is a FREE indoor play area for parents/grandparents to play together with their children, ages birth to 9 years.

Mission Statement

It is the mission of the Creative Play Place to foster the development of the whole child through play, movement and the arts to promote healthy lifestyles, enhance literacy, and strengthen the parent- child bond.

The Creative Play Place aims to:

• strengthen the parent-child bond through play;
• promote healthy lifestyles through exercise and good nutrition;
• cultivate healthy social connections & interactions for parents, caregivers & children.
• develop literacy and creative problem solving skills

Goals

The Creative Play Place will provide opportunities for:

• children to engage in movement and large motor activities;
• children to develop fine motor skills and engage in creative activities such as dramatic play, fine arts and music;
• children to develop social skills;
• parents and caregivers opportunities to interact with other adults, while playing with their children;
• parents to participate in educational opportunities to learn about health and nutrition;
• all families! By creating a community funded center that is FREE to all families, regardless of wealth, race, color, national or ethnic origin or religion, the Creative Play Place can provide these opportunities to all members of the greater Saint Peter area communities.

History

In 2005, Saint Peter was awarded a grant by the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation to start the Saint Peter Early Childhood Initiative (ECI). ECI spent the year holding town meetings to address the issue of how best to identify and promote early childhood education and care opportunities for children from birth to age five. The ECI identified three areas of focus to nurture the healthy growth and development of our youngest children: childcare, health and outreach programs.

The ECI Health Task Force developed a number of different goals to promote the physical health of children, as well as the mental well being of children and their caregivers. The task force identified the Creative Play Place as its primary goal. Through partnerships with the City of Saint Peter, service organizations and local businesses, the Creative Play Placed opened in the Saint Peter Community Center in January 2008. The Creative Play Place became it’s own incorporated organization in October 2008 and is currently working to promote a healthy parent-child bond, health: nutrition and fitness, arts, pre-literacy and multicultural programming.

Our Vision

The Creative Play Place provides children, birth to age nine, and their families with an indoor space to exercise their bodies through active play, while also developing both fine and gross motor skills through movement, play and the creative arts. Our youngest children learn through play: they play to learn social skills, play to prepare to read, play to learn about roles in society, play to learn about the arts, play to exercise. Because children learn through play, the Creative Play Place is designed to encourage children to explore, move and create through play. The space includes thematic, changing dramatic play sets (store, restaurant, clinic, house…),  castle, stage, puppet theater,  sand box, art area with easels, paints, & crafts, several child-sized areas with small toys, blocks and puzzles to encourage social interaction in small numbers, as well as infant and quiet reading areas. The Creative Play Place meets a need for families in the St. Peter area who find it challenging to provide space and supplies for such a variety of experiences for their young children. The Creative Play Place allows children to exercise their bodies through play even in winter and provides a gathering space for families to engage in conversations with other parents, as well as learn about health and nutrition issues today. The Creative Play Place is designed to develop the whole child and to strengthen the parent-child bond. It is our goal to provide a space that is developmentally appropriate for young children and that develops their skills, minds and bodies in all areas.

Currently the Creative Play Place is open for families to come and participate in self-directed activities or in a variety of programs.  The target age for the play place is infants through age nine. All children must be accompanied by a parent/caregiver and the focus of the space is to encourage parents to play with their children. During the day, the space mainly serves families with infant, toddler and pre-school age children, whereas the after-school, evening and weekend hours serve the wider age range. We also have group memberships that provide opportunities for pre-school and day care programs in the St. Peter area to use the space when we are closed to the public.

Creative Play Place Board of Directors

Kim Musser, Chair
Rita Rassbach, Vice Chair
April Rao, Founder
Jane Timmerman, Secretary
Bill Malphurs, Treasurer

Sandi Jessen, Board Member
Kim Musser, Board Member
Kris Ohle, Board Member
Jean Peterson, Board Member
Sara Southworth, Board Member

Creative Play Place Executive Director

Evan Curtin