Take four exuberant and rambunctious, French-speaking four year olds with a selection of toys, put them in the middle of a room surrounded by senior citizen residents of Willingdon Creek Village, and watch the magic happen.
The initiative is the brainchild of Beau Soleil Preschool educator Danielle Walford.
“I have thought for a long time that the combination of elder care and child care is such a great concept, because it brings two generations together,” said Walford. “So we had the idea that rather than have a childcare centre integrated in a seniors home, we would just be a portable preschool that came and ran our class out of Willingdon Creek.”
According to Walford, it was a bit tenuous at first, trying to get children interacting with the seniors, and vice versa. After a couple of weeks, she said, any hesitation was gone and replaced with smiles and laughter.
“Children are such ambassadors of wonder,” she said, “and wonder is something we lose as we get older. Everything for children is just so full of wonder. They bring that with them; it’s contagious.”
Glynis Higgins, a caregiver at Willingdon Creek, said the popup preschool is really positive for residents there.
“They don’t see enough of the really little kids,” said Higgins. “A lot of them don’t have extended family here with little kids. It’s really good for the kids, too, who don’t have older grandparents in town; they look forward to them coming.”
Children are at the residence every second Friday for two hours of non-stop activity, playing with all manner of toys and taking part in activities such as singing, parachute, mascot, puppets, boxing and golf.
