Supporting Growth and Development: Inclusive Playgroups for Children with Special Needs at Children’s Council of San Francisco

Children’s Council of San Francisco’s Caregiver and Child Developmental Playgroups provide accessibility for children aged birth to three years who have mild to moderate disabilities, learning differences and/or complex medical needs to engage in inclusive, sensory-based and hands-on learning activities. We actively partner with their caregivers to participate in supporting their children’s growth and development during the playgroups and at home. Please sign up here to attend: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/66RS8R3 

The developmental playgroups occur over the course of 10-weeks. We offer the opportunity for families to participate in a preferred choice of three playgroups: 

• Tuesdays 10:00am-11:30am 
• Thursdays 5:00pm-6:30pm 
• Saturdays 11:00am-12:30pm 

We create meaningful learning opportunities that align with children’s natural interests and developmental stages, ensuring a rich and engaging environment for exploration through: 

• Participation in sensory-based play, where they will explore their environment through their senses. 
• Participation in imaginative play fostering creativity, building language and social and emotional skills. 
• Participation in music and movement activities, promoting the concept of sound, rhythm, development of language, cognitive skills, gross motor skills and regulation.  
• Participation in storytelling and literacy activities, building early language, fostering an interest in books and reading, cognitive development including improving concentration, focus and imagination.  
• Participation in art and craft activities that will provide opportunities to strengthen their fine motor skills, foster creativity, self-expression and imagination.  
• Participation in block play, that will provide opportunities to strengthen spatial awareness, problem solving, critical thinking and fine motor skills. 
• Participation in simple science activities, sparking inquiry, curiosity-driven learning, awareness and understanding of their natural environment and math development. 

The developmental playgroups provide enriching play-based curriculum, the foundation of early childhood development and a nurturing environment that is intentional in fostering lifelong learning. Our playgroups are also inclusive to differentiated learners and welcoming of diverse abilities. We engage children in meaningful learning experiences to support their development. We understand that there are five developmental domains that are important for a child’s overall growth and development, including cognitive, physical, language, social and emotional and approaches to learning. Each domain is interconnected and contributes to the child’s successful development. 

The playgroups also provide the opportunity for our parents and caregivers to be supported with developmental screening through the Sparkler app with ASQ: SE-2 and ASQ-3 screening tools. In addition, we provide weekly parent education topics through Learning Stories – a weekly journal that captures ordinary early childhood experiences during the playgroups and helps caregivers understand the significance in terms of early childhood development.   

Funding for this program provided by: