Last week I had the unique opportunity to attend an experiential family playdate with ZBK: Zone for Babies and Kids. The talented Yuru Lameda, also known as the “babies and kids whisperer” founded ZBK in 2009. She has a college degree in Early Childhood Education and has over 10 years experience working with children and families.
The play dates Ms. Yuru conducts are designed for babies as young as 2 months old to children up to 6 years old. This particular play date was a Halloween themed learning to play experience that was intriguing for not only my preschooler, but also my baby, and myself. Her presence and activities were captivating and there was never a dull moment.
Ms. Yuru understands that young children don’t have very high attention spans, so she keeps her activities moving along quickly so the children stay focused and engaged. She is extremely organized and her activities are well thought out and executed. I could tell she put a lot of time into planning each song she played, each craft she designed, and each activity she planned. We had all of the children and the parents singing, dancing, learning, playing instruments, and interacting together. She puts her heart and soul into her work and it shows!
As a play therapist, I am very child centered when it comes to play activities. I believe that children should play with little restriction as long as they are in a safe and controlled environment. I loved that Ms. Yuru allowed the children to dance and sing as loud and as crazy as they wanted and when it came time to create our own sensory bins, she allowed the children to get messy and play with the rice and didn’t worry about the mess. There was no chaos, just pure joy for the moms and their babes!
I cannot stress the importance of interactive play with your children. Sitting on the floor with them and playing is so important to their mental, emotional, and developmental growth and wellbeing. And playing experientially and using all five senses in play is so beneficial for babies, toddlers, and young children. And Ms. Yuru combined being hands on in active play, being outdoors, utilizing music, arts, crafts, and creative activities into her class.
I love how positive Ms. Yuru is and how passionate she is about her play dates and the children and families she leads in class! She is an absolute delight and is very keen to knowing about sensory play, child development, and having fun! I highly recommend her classes and or booking her for your upcoming birthday party! She surely will not disappoint you!
She offers a Baby and Me class for parents and babies 2-4 months old, a Learning to Play classes for 6-36 months old, a Date with Daddy class for 3-36 months old, and Art and Culture classes for 3-6 year olds.
She offers new classes all of the time so you have plenty of opportunities to join in the fun! There is a Learning to Play class coming up on November 7th and a Thanksgiving themed class for babies and toddlers on Saturday, November 25th!
For more information please visit their website https://www.zbkweb.com and to follow them on Facebook click here https://www.facebook.com/zbkweb/ and on Instagram click here https://www.instagram.com/zonebk/
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