FARMINGTON – The University of Maine at Farmington will hold an open house for the playgroups for infants and toddlers and families from 4 to 5:30 p.m. today and 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 21, at the new location on Maguire Street across from UMF’s Stone Hall (formerly the Farmington Child Care and Head Start facility).

Refreshments, tours of the new playgroup space and opportunities for children to play and meet practicum students will be provided.

The purpose of the playgroup sessions is to provide hands-on experiences for UMF students and safe and appropriate programs for young children and their families.

The groups offer parents and children opportunities for social interactions with each other, as well as other parents and children, and are facilitated by a UMF professor and UMF students. The playgroup size is limited and registration is required.

The following sessions are offered this semester:

Tuesdays from 9 to 10:30 a.m.: The play-based curriculum, for all infants and toddlers and their caregivers, promotes children’s creative play with an environment of open-ended materials.

Wednesdays from 9:15 to 10:45 a.m.: The group focuses on children’s total development within the context of family and friends.

Thursdays from 5:30 to 7 p.m.: Children’s interests provide the basis for planning creative and multisensory activities that promote self-expression and imagination in the playgroup called “Creative Explorers.”

To register and for more information, contact UMF Early Childhood and Elementary Education Associate Professor Mellisa Clawson at 778-7168 or [email protected].