I arrived at 9:30am for my (or shall I say my son’s class) at Orange Dot on Avenue Road in Toronto. It’s called TRIPLEDOT PLAYSCHOOL. It runs for an hour and a half. This was my first visit to Orange Dot, so I was looking forward to spending 90 minutes doing something new and fun. But, I have to admit I wasn’t sure how it was possible to keep my fireball of a son entertained for that long. Immediately I was impressed with the facilities. They were extremely clean, bright, spacious and most of all the staff were so incredibly friendly and willing to interact with the kids.
The first part of the class gave the children the opportunity to explore the studio and get familiar with the surroundings. My son, as a true boy would ran right towards the basketball net. Less than a minute later he was on the trampoline. I turned around 30 seconds later and he was pushing the toy cars around all over the floor. Needless to say, he was not short of stimulation. He kept saying “WOW!”
Than the children were asked to meet in the centre to do some songs and introductions. They were each given a sticker dividing them up into three different groups. Pink, Green and Red. This system was extremely efficient because the instructors would take each group to a different activity and rotate them around after enough time had been spent at each area. We headed first to a room that was filled with books, toys, play-doh, cars, dolls, sand tables, and a huge chalkboard fixed onto the wall that I have to admit I had to hold back from drawing all over. The children played with all of the different toys that were geared towards developing various skills.
Next we went into the arts and crafts room. Keeping with the weekly theme of “Under the Sea”, the children each did a craft that allowed them to soak a piece of paper in water and put pieces of tissue all over it to resemble a sea. They turned out to be quite the masterpieces. The staff was great in keeping the children motivated to continue their craft.
Than it was snack time, which were bagels and cream cheese and some water. This was quite a treat for my son who is obsessed with bagels. All of the children sat at the cute little tables and chairs and vedged for a few minutes. The only negative thing I could say at this point was that we only had half an hour left.
Finally the green group was brought back into the main room for music. All of the songs were related to “Under the Sea” and Nancy; the music teacher had such enthusiasm and energy that the kids were all up and dancing having such a wonderful time. Afterwards, Lucy, the owner of Orange Dot, who I must say was present, available and eager to please the children thanked everyone for coming and did a few good-bye songs which all of the kids enjoyed.
All in all, I have to say, that I haven’t come across a program as creative, energetic, fun, entertaining and especially as interactive as the TRIPLEDOT PLAYSCHOOL at Orange Dot. I was especially pleased with the cleanliness because many of the programs I’ve attended give the children toys that well, let’s just say – have the word YUCKY written all over them. This place clearly did not have that problem. The staff truly worked their butts off to make the children happy and the activities, as much fun as they were also taught the children counting, sharing, listening, motor skills and many others that are so important in your child’s development.
The children were entertained the entire 90 minutes and were also given the opportunity to go out on their own if they weren’t ready to participate in the given activity. It was a blast!!!! Hmm, I wonder if they could do my 34th Birthday Party there??
Check them out at www.orangedotinc.com for their full schedules and information.
