At Peterborough Child and Family Centres (PCFC) we’re committed to providing vibrant and exciting places for children to do what they do best ... PLAY!
Unstructured outdoor play supports healthy child development by helping kids build physical literacy, self-esteem, confidence, resiliency and perseverance -essential life skills that help our kids succeed now and into the future.
However, kids are increasingly spending less time outside participating in unstructured play – in part, due to the lack of natural play spaces available within their community.
PCFC is committed to changing that and bringing unstructured outdoor play back into our kids’ lives. That’s why we’ve set out to create a naturalized playscape. Our current space is dominated by a large, aging, and single purpose play structure that is no longer appropriate for the majority of children and families that use our services. Naturalizing our play space – including replacing our existing structure with more natural elements like sand, water and open green space – will provide children and families with a rich landscape that stimulates a child’s sense of wonder and mastery and invites them to make the space their own. Once complete, our new playscape will give children and their families an outdoor play space that is age-appropriate, safe, and inviting. A space that will benefit not only PCFC program participants but will be open for all young families in our neighborhood to enjoy during non-program hours.
But we can’t do it alone. High quality children’s playscapes are expensive. PCFC is a charitable, not-for-profit organization that relies on the generosity of our community for initiatives like this one . While we’re doing everything we can to keep costs associated with naturalizing our play space low – including repurposing existing pieces within the playground – we need your help to make our dream a reality.
A donation of $10 can fill a bucket of sand helping us get closer to filling our amazing large sand sensory space (total approx. cost $15,000) | A donation of $50 can purchase a square of asphalt to extend our gross motor riding track (total approx. cost $18,000) | A donation of $100 can purchase local plants contributing to a flourishing raingarden with wooden walkway and naturalization of the playscape (total approx. cost $12, 300) | Looking to donate an entire element to our playscape? $9,200 will pay for the upcycling of our current slide by landscaping it into the hillside. |
We are reaching out to former and current participants, businesses, community partners and proud proponents of play everywhere asking them to “play their part”. By making a donation to PCFC you’ll be helping us create a vibrant and more accessible playscape for children and their families to enjoy, while improving the health and well-being of children and families in our community.
Please consider “playing” your part in bringing unstructured outdoor play back into our children’s lives. Every little bit helps – whether it be $5 or $500, no donation is too small.
Children are meant to play outdoors. Help us give them a natural playscape to do it in.
