5 for Life to host pop-up event
By John Watson Local Journalism initiative Reporter
Partnering with the Strathmore Municipal Library, 5 for Life Early Childhood is inviting Strathmore’s young kids to come out and learn new skills for everyday life.
Courtney Bangen, 5 for Life summer events and communications coordinator, said the idea is to help kids develop social skills and self regulation before they begin school and regularly interact with a lot of other people.
“We’re looking to help them … regulate their bodies, their patience and their emotions … in a really fun way outside after everyone’s been stuck inside for so long,” explained Bangen. “We’re hoping to get kids outside with their families, getting their brains and their bodies active.”
It’s the first event of its kind to be held in Strathmore and is designed to be a pop-up type event.
Bangen added outdoor mindfulness games are a great way to engage kids and help teach them something new – especially coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was brainstorming for quick, easy things we could do to fill up the month of June for some families and I was speaking with the summer students at the Strathmore library, and together we brainstormed fun, outdoor activities that would be really easy to do within COVID-19 restrictions,” said Bangen. “Our big thing was keeping kids safe and making sure we could do something that was fun, that didn’t require a lot of hands-on supplies or any kind of physical interactions between kids.”
She added through speaking with partners such as Golden Hills School Division and other family agencies as part of an early childhood development assessment, the emotional maturity and self regulation in Strathmore’s youth is lacking compared to other areas.
“We have been seeing through schools and through our community that (emotional maturity and self regulation) has been really lacking with COVID because they haven’t had the chance to interact with their peers at such a young age when that development is happening,” explained Bangen.
The hope is to help kids experience working and interacting with others and learning to respect them and their personal space. Further, to help kids in being able to manage their own emotions if they get upset or overwhelmed, or super excited.
5 for Life added they are committed to adhering to COVID-19 restrictions currently in place and keeping everyone who participates as safe as possible.
“It’s definitely reducing barriers for us, (but) we’re still committed to everybody’s safety at our events and we’re going to make sure that we’re always maintaining current restrictions.”
Strathmore library regularly partners with 5 for Life to provide them with space, and many of the committee members work at the library.
Mindfulness Movements is scheduled for June 23 at the library and is free to attend.