We acknowledge that we are hosted on the lands of the Mississaugas of the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Wendat. We also acknowledge the enduring presence of all First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.

A Place to Play is an extraordinary cooperative nursery school in operation since 1987. If you want to give your child a high-quality preschool experience in a stimulating, nurturing and fun environment then look no further than our Bloor West location.

History

A Place to Play was founded by a group of neighbourhood parents in 1987 and located inside Runnymede Presbyterian Church, 680 Annette St., Toronto. While the school has gone through many changes and improvements during its 35-year history, it continues to be a not-for-profit, cooperative school that is run solely by the families of the children who attend.

Philosophy

The school was founded and continues to operate on a two-fold philosophy that benefits children and parents.

For children, it provides a place where preschoolers can discover and learn through play. We believe that children at this age benefit most from a play-based education where they are given the freedom to explore, interact, and discover at their own pace and according to their own interests. While interacting with other children and mastering new skills, they also benefit from the instruction and guidance of trained early childhood educators.

For parents, the school's cooperative philosophy provides the opportunity to be directly involved in their child's preschool experience and help shape the direction and future of their child's school. It also gives parents the chance to connect with other neighbourhood families and enhance their own parenting skills by learning from trained educators.

Environment

A Place to Play's classroom is clean, bright and welcoming and includes a play structure, play home and store, dress-up area, sand table, water table, craft table, easels and play dough table. There is a selection of age-appropriate toys, books activities and arts & crafts.

We are very fortunate to have a fantastic outdoor space and lots of outdoor toys to go with it, including balls, bikes, cars, hula-hoops, snow shovels and sleds. When the weather is bad, we play inside the gym with indoor toys including tents, a see-saw and plasma cars.

The school uses the church's fully certified kitchen to prepare snacks.