Sarah Lawrence College's Child Development Institute Presents "Community Adventure Play Experiences"

Yonkers, NY, August 17 – The Child Development Institute at Sarah Lawrence College will present a series of Community Adventure Play Experiences (CAPEs) at Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site (29 Warburton Avenue.) The first will take place during Yonkers Riverfest on September 10 from 1 – 3 p.m. Other CAPEs at Philipse Manor Hall will be held on Friday, September 23, Friday, October 7, Friday, October 21, and Friday, November 4 from 4p.m. – 6 p.m. CAPEs can be enjoyed by children of all ages and are free of charge. No reservations required.

Community Adventure Play Experiences encourage children to use their imaginations, develop initiative, collaborate, and problem-solve using materials from their own communities. CAPEs are created by children using loose parts –cardboard boxes, tires, fabric, plastic bottles, recyclables, wood, and other materials. Parents are welcome to come and watch their children play, explore, and create. Participants are encouraged to collect and contribute their own CAPE materials, which can include toilet paper rolls, egg cartons, tissue boxes and other household items.

Saundra Norton, Director of Sarah Lawrence College’s Child Development Institute, says: “Children today have fewer opportunities to direct their own play experiences than previous generations. Many parents who bring their children to the CAPEs share fond memories of their own childhoods spending hours building forts out of cardboard boxes, puppets out of pinecones, or rolling tires on the grass. We provide these opportunities for children at CAPEs where the adults are on the periphery to support and to provide a safe space, and children and their imaginations are at the center of the experience.”

For more information, contact The Child Development Institute at Sarah Lawrence College at (914) 395-2630 or cdi@sarahlawrence.edu. To learn more about The Child Development Institute’s other programs, visit http://www.slc.edu/cdi/