First Day of Playgroup

My city offers some great resources to parents that I had no clue about until Karina's speech problem came to light.  For instance, not only do they do free testing for things like speech, they also have free playgroups and classes to city residents, and the cost to non-residents (for playgroup) is only $2 per time! 

We went to one of the playgroups for the first time today.  It was 90 minutes, included free play time, snack, art, and music.  I had no idea what to expect, but when I first got there, another new mom was coming in with her daughter, so we went down to the room together.  The room was nothing like I expected--it is huge, and they have a TON of toys!  Kitchen toys and building toys and music toys and blocks and puzzles and a huge climbing thing.  I didn't take any pictures today because at first I wasn't sure if it was okay, since other people's kids were there, but then even when I did find out, I was too busy watching Karina play and talking to other moms (yay!).  Karina attached herself to a little boy a few months older than her, and basically followed him around all morning.  She'd watch him play on something for a few minutes, then she'd hesitantly try it herself, see that she could do it, and then do it a bunch of times.  She was so proud of herself when she went up and down some soft stairs without holding on to anything (so was her mom)! 

At snack time, it was no problem to be able to read the box to check the ingredients for peanut information, and fortunately she could have the graham crackers they were all having.  I hope that she will be able to have the same snack as the other kids most of the time.  Oh, I skipped art time.  That was right before snack.  Today they were making collages on these little choo choo trains that had been drawn for them.  Karina didn't really understand the concept of gluing things down, but she did use the glue stick for the first time, and I did manage to get a couple of things stuck on permanently, before she could rip them off. 

Then it was cleanup time, then snack, and then I thought the day was over, but there was still music time!  By this point, she was so tired that all she did was sit in my lap.  Usually she really loves anything music-related, but she was just wiped out!  I thought she'd fall asleep in the car on the way home.  I gave her the grapes I'd brought with me, and she didn't even eat them right away, she was that tired!  Finally, she munched a few of them, perked up a little so she could have her lunch, and then slept for about 2 1/2-3 hours. 

This particular group is for up to 24 month olds, but they're pretty flexible about the ages.  For example, the little boy and his twin sister that she followed around had turned 2 in May.  This group was great, because they were all little, very non-threatening, and a small group.  There were no more than about 10 kids at any given time.  There's another group that meets twice a week, on Monday and Wednesday (we would not be able to go on Wednesdays because of Musikgarten) that is for 1-4 year olds.  We are planning to add that in after a few weeks of this one, so that the older kids can help her with her talking.  The group today wasn't really a talking group, as they were mostly younger than Karina.  But it was still good for her and since she's not been around large groups of kids very often, I think it's a great way to introduce her to the playgroups. 

I can't wait til next week!