Local Review: Waterford Youth Services Toddler Playgroups

If you haven’t had a chance to look into your local town’s youth services group, you could be missing out on some great programs. In the town of Waterford, they offer a variety of classes supporting kids, families, and even grandparents. Many of these classes are free to residents or around $10 for non-residents (depending on the class).

This fall we tried out the free Fantastic Threes: Parent/Toddler Playgroup held at the Waterford Youth Services Bureau building (the Terrific Twos: Parent/Toddler Playgroup is the same class but for 2 yr olds). It’s an hour long class led by Lisa Carney, the playgroup facilitator. The classroom is filled with toddler toys including a large dollhouse, 2 play kitchens, shopping carts, musical instruments, dolls, cars, and building blocks. I can honestly say the kids never got tired of playing with them. The structure of the playgroup was perfect for the 2-3yr olds. The toddlers would come in to play for the first 45 minutes, then sit down for snack-time, and the class ended with a story read by Lisa. The first snack (crackers/cookies and juice) was provided by Youth Services, and the parents all volunteered to bring a snack for the rest of the remaining classes (over an 8-week period).

Crafts were also part of the playgroup on special holidays. For Thanksgiving we made paper scarecrows and for Halloween we made rice-cake pumpkins covered with orange cream cheese frosting and raisins (these never made it home as they were all quickly devoured). The class scheduled for Halloween week was going to be a potluck-style Halloween party and trick-or-treat at the police station, but unfortunately because of Hurricane Sandy it had to be cancelled.

I highly recommend anyone in the nearby area to sign-up and register for any of the Waterford Youth Services programs. Again, if you are a non-resident it’s usually a $10 charge. For 8 classes that’s only $1.25 per class! Also if your child is just under 2 or over 3, they will still accept them for the Terrific Twos or Fantastic Threes programs. Other programs offered in the past were Snow Subs: A Backup Plan for Working Parents When School is Cancelled Due to Snow!, Grandfamily: A Support Group for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Fit & Fun: Fit Minds and Bodies!, and Making Memories. They have a new schedule for the year so if you want to know what new programs are coming up or would like to register for a class, call Waterford Youth Services and they are happy to help.

Don’t forget to see what programs are offered at Youth Services in your local town!

To see this review and reviews like this one, please visit Southeastern CT Kids or sectkids.com.