WEST BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) - Twice a week, the Cape Cod Toy Library turns the light-filled fellowship hall at the First Lutheran Church on Route 6A into toy heaven.
A sturdy wooden kitchen set invites children to play with little pots and pans and feed dolls in high chairs.
A pop-up tent and puppet theater line the walls, which are piled with brightly colored push toys and trucks and blocks
“They have these very creative toys and wonderful books,” said Maria Herrera, of Hyannis.
Herrera sat on a tiny chair as her 16-month-old son, Benjamin, happily pounded colorful balls into a sorting tray with a toy mallet.
“He’s been all around the room,” Herrera said. “It’s a nice environment.”
What parents won’t find are computer and software driven playthings.
The toy library is a no-tech space where imagination drives playtime, not batteries, said Deborah Willsea, of Chatham, the library’s founder and president.
“This whole thing is about creating a screen-free environment,” said Willsea, who also co-founded a toy library in Rochester, New York. “It’s unstructured. Children will learn what they need to learn.”
That philosophy may fly in the face of educational and child-rearing trends that emphasize organized sports and testing at ever younger ages. But Cady Douglass, of Brewster, a toy library board member, said the library’s mission is based firmly on the Reggio-Emilia philosophy that encourages a love of nature and a sense of wonder.
“It’s child-centered and child-led,” Douglass said. “It’s honoring the intellect of the child and the curiosity of the child and building on that.”
The toy library officially opened June 1 at borrowed space in the First Lutheran Church. The hours of operation are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, after Willsea and volunteers haul tables and chairs and toys from a packed church storeroom into the fellowship hall.
The goal is for the toy library to eventually have its own dedicated space and to offer expanded daytime as well as evening hours, Willsea said.
After the sand tables, balls, play castles, ride-on toys, books and games are all catalogued, possibly by September, the toy library will start lending out playthings, Willsea said.
Joanna Chowanska, of South Yarmouth, said she is looking forward to borrowing and returning developmentally appropriate toys for her daughter, Mia, who is 2 years old.
“You don’t have to have a house stuffed with all the toys. It’s just easier,” Chowanska said Friday as she picnicked with Mia outside the toy library.
Chowanska also appreciated the variety of toys available to try and use.
“There’s less and less toy stores now,” she said. “Here you see the toy before you take it home.”
The toy library is geared to children from infancy through age 8. But many of the games are appropriate for youngsters up to age 12 and are fun for the family, Willsea said.
Toys range from soft and squishy stuffed animals and bouncy balls to hard and durable cars, water tables and doll strollers.
In addition to being tech free, the toy library is also a super hero-free zone, Willsea said. The problem with commercial, branded toys is that they do not encourage imaginative play, she said.
“It’s pre-created rather than imaginative,” she said.
Retired pediatrician Dr. Hub Mathewson, of Barnstable, liked what he saw when he visited the toy library Friday with his friend Candi Brooks, a reading specialist.
“It’s active play,” Matthewson said. “It’s better than the electronic technology. Kids make up their own games as they play.”
But the real stamp of approval came from a 3-year-old from Centerville, Larry, who visited the toy library with his mother, Kierstin Pennington, and 1-year-old sister, Brielle.
“There’s cars and magnets,” Larry said. “And two planes.”
Pennington, who listened to a presentation by Kelly A. Rodriguez about “Playing on Purpose” during the visit, said she enjoyed the toy library, too, including the rule about parents going tech-free during playtime.
“That was a huge thing for me,” Pennington said. “To be able to come and not look at phones and screens and just play.”
Online: https://bit.ly/2WKU18u
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Information from: Cape Cod (Mass.) Times, http://www.capecodtimes.com
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