Over 2,200 parents, carers and young children have attended popular stay and play sessions delivered by Explore in partnership with City of York Council over the last three months.
The weekly, hour-long sessions are for parents and carers with children aged 0-2 years, and are held at the libraries in Tang Hall, Acomb and York.
The sessions have been so popular that they are now being rolled out to three new venues in the city: Huntington Library, Clifton Library and The Place (Sanderson Community House), so even more parents, carers and children can benefit from them.
Run by childcare professionals, the sessions focus on the principles of the NSPCC’s Look Say Sing Play campaign, providing fun and engaging activities to help develop children’s brains and strengthen parents’ and carers’ bonds with them.
Look Say Sing Play is part of the council and York and Scarborough NHS Foundation Trust’s pioneering children’s speech and language programme, Early Talk for York, which is being delivered with the help of partners across the city, including Explore York.
The programme aims to tackle inequality through improving the communication and language skills of children aged 0-5 years, a factor which has been shown to have long term impacts on children’s life chances.
Cllr Bob Webb, the council’s Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education, said: “Good quality communication and language skills can benefit a child throughout their life and we want to do everything we can to give parents and carers a helping hand as they bring up their little one.
“I’m delighted that the Stay and Play sessions are proving so popular with parents, carers and their children. These fun, social activities are creating spaces for bonding and developing young brains.
“Ensuring equal opportunities for all is a key priority for the council and these sessions are a fantastic, fun way of helping to ensure that all children in the city can access development opportunities.”
Lyndsay Glover, Explore’s Service Developer for Children, Young People & Schools, said: "Our Stay and Play sessions offer young families a chance to socialise and play in a trusted environment near to where they live. Thanks to support from City of York Council, we've been able to enhance these sessions with childcare professionals to give assistance and information whenever parents require it."
The free drop-in Stay and Play sessions are held at:
Acomb Explore – Wednesdays 10am – 11:30am
Tang Hall Explore – Mondays 10:30am – 12pm
York Explore Library and Archive – Wednesdays 1pm – 2:30pm
Huntington Library - Mondays 10.00am -11.30am
Clifton Explore Library -Fridays 10.30am -12pm
The Place, Sanderson Community House -Tuesdays 10am to 11:30am
More information about Look Say Sing Play in York is available at www.york.gov.uk/LSSP
More information about Explore’s Stay and Play sessions is available at https://exploreyork.org.uk/family-and-children/under-5s/stay-play/
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