Places to Play in Rhode Island

Places to Play In Rhode Island A guide to the state by our youngest citizens

McCoy Stadium by Javier, Age 5

t the play a e o t e t eat sta ve som our gr ownups ha book, we t i s i v r o is rks. G ome t for th eader, ilies c os, and pa play, but R m r a a f e f D like to nds o ms, zo ces housa ds, museu ren might t , r a of pla e d n s y l i u n y o h o r i r c t e g p ng Ev escrip re you es, cam and d s g beach eas of whe e experts. n i h id l draw , I’m good ure to ask t nderfu sland I o e w s d f e o o . h mad tirely Island r to R visito s. ade en of Rhode e m m s i i t ook dren firstitizen This b by the chil nt or a youngest c e d i s y e a r to pl of our felong re a li erspectives a u o er y he p Wheth u’ll enjoy t o y sure ! aying fun pl e v a H ely, Sincer ee

haf ln D. C o c n i L nor Gover

“I love having picnics at Waterplace Park.”

About the Cover: The picture of McCoy Stadium was drawn by Javier, age 5. To see what he said about the ballpark, please go to our back cover.

Waterplace Park by Julia, Age 5

About this Book: Young children from communities across Rhode Island authored and illustrated this book in May 2013. Children were supported by their teachers, who participated in a professional development series offered by Ready to Learn Providence and Making Learning Visible, with funding from BrightStars, the RI Child Care Resource and Referral Center, and the United Way of Rhode Island. We also thank the Pawtucket Red Sox, Cynthia Ferguson, Leslie Gell and Christine Chiacu-Forsythe for their contributions to this book and professional development project.

—2—

The Butterfly Zoo in Tiverton by Emma, Age 5

“This is the Butterfly Museum. I am looking at the butterflies with my mom and dad.”

—3—

The Playground at Easton’s Beach in Newport

by Walenthine, Age 5

“I play and wear dress-up costumes. This park is near the beach. I wait in the sun near the slide for my mom and dad.”

—4—

Scarborough Beach in Narragansett by Kaylani, Age 5

“Me and my sister and Mommy like to go to the beach all summer. We go fishing and go to the water. I have a yellow noodle and floatie, and my mother wanted a noodle to float on top of the water because of the seaweed. We love to splish-splash inside the water.”

—5—

The Giraffe at the Zoo

by Emily W., Age 4

“The giraffe at the zoo has lots of hay.”

Hasbro Playground at Roger Williams Park “Toy Story Park”

by Javian, Age 4

“This is me on the swings and my brother is the green one.

My brother was going to walk to the toy car. My daddy ... was watching us. I made a slide. My brother was holding the big candy cane.”

—6—

Cass Park in Woonsocket by Kimora, Age 5

“There’s a lot of fishes and ducks inside the water, and when I saw the baby chicklings they were so cute. The rest are inside the eggs. My mom, me, my brother and my sister are on the bridge. We’re going across so we can get my brother to the baseball field. I love to go to the park with my family. We went for ice cream that day.”

—7—

Launch Trampoline Park in Warwick

(Left) “My dad and I are at Launch.

We are jumping on trampolines with other people. I’m dressed really pretty.”

by Zoya, Age 5

(Below) “This is me playing at the trampoline place.You jump in and back out.You have to jump on a square. I went there with my mom, my cousin and my sister.”

by Jezaleigh, Age 4

—8—

The Bulgarmarsh Recreation Area in Tiverton

by Richard, Age 5

“This is where the skateboards are. It’s the baseball field. I play T-ball and usually hit the ball far.”

—9—

Having fun in

pirate e h t s i “This arsh m r a g l u tB ship [a Area]. n o i t a e e Recr rive th d o t e I hav a rock ’s e r e h so boat. T a rope ’s e r e wall. Th o it. I t n o d l ho you can there.” y a l p like to r Finnbah

“I go to the park with the slide and the swings, and there is water and I feed the ducks there.” Izaya

“My mo m, dad a nd me are r oller ska ting, skating d own. We are sitting, re sting fro m roller sk ating. We are hold ing hand s.

It’s a sun ny day a nd it’s warm out. It’s i n summer .”

“I like to play at my park.

It is near my house. We can walk there.”

Grayson

Emily D.

e “I’m selling free ic s Ice cream. I’m at Gray’ n]. I Cream [in Tiverto st!” love vanilla the be Addaline

— 10 —

“There are slides, trees and swingsets [at Town Farm Recreation Area].”

Colin

Rhode Island “I like to play Star Wars at the computer at Mom’s office with Jack.”

Lucie

“I am w ith my f amily at Glob e Park.

I am swingin g in the baby swing a nd my s ister is swingin g in the big-girl swing, a nd we w ere the only people there.”

Morgan

“I like big cities because they have big buildings for kids and grownups to play.”

“I like to see the stadium and watch people play the baseball game.” Joell

Tyri

r lleva a juga e m ía t i M “ Este es el . e u q r a p l a hay hojas o n , e u q r a p les porque o b r a s lo n e en el se cayeron invierno.”

Evahnee

“My aunt takes me to play at the park. This is the park. There are no leaves on the trees because they fell during the winter.”

Evahnee (Picture at right) — 11 —

The Renaissance Gymnastics Academy in East Providence

by Zoe, Age 4

“There’s a road that goes all the way around. There are blocks to jump on the roof. We stand on here and do the balance beam. Those are maple trees. This helps you jump all the way to the clouds. And that’s called a trampoline.”

The Providence Children’s Museum by Desanni, Age 5

“I had fun at the Children’s Museum. These are us when we went there.”

— 12 —

Roger Williams Park

(Right) “This is a river at Roger Williams Park Zoo. There’s a bridge and trees and a baseball field. The red circles are pebbles.”

by Siara, Age 4

(Below) “This is a picture of the treehouse at Roger Williams Park.

I am playing with my friends in the water by the trees.”

Our Big Backyard at Roger Williams Park Zoo

by Aiden, Age 5

— 13 —

The Playground at School by Jayla, Age 4

“This is Hadiya and this is Miss Victoria. Her hair’s gone wild! This is the slide and this is me. We’re waiting for someone.”

— 14 —

The Walnut Hill Lanes by Nicholas, Age 5

“I’m at the bowling alley with my mom, meme, pepe and daddy. There is ketchup and sweet potato fries on the table. I am on the lane with a bowling ball. I am going to get a strike.”

— 15 —

The Children’s Discovery Room at the Providence Public Library

“At the library you have to be quiet while the teacher reads a book. We have to play nicely. The library is a quiet place to play.”

by Ja’Nyah, Age 5

“At the library there are lots of books. The teachers say ‘be quiet,’ but we were yelling and running. It was so much fun. We were excited about the library.”

by Skylah, Age 5

— 16 —

My House by Samantha, Age 4

“I’m playing at my house. I’m playing outside with my daddy – just Daddy.”

— 17 —

Ready to Learn Providence, a program of The Providence Plan, is a school readiness initiative that was founded in 2003 with the vision that all young children will be healthy and ready to learn. R2LP initially focused on Providence, but now offers many of its services statewide. Since its inception, more than 2,500 early-care educators have participated in R2LP professional development programs, and hundreds of parents and other caregivers have attended classes for families. R2LP is a participant in the Rhode Island Pre-kindergarten Project, and administers a 35-member AmeriCorps program.

In 2010, R2LP became the Rhode Island home of T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood®, which awards college scholarships to early-care educators. For more information on the organization’s many initiatives, please go to www.r2lp.org and follow R2LP on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ReadyToLearn Providence.

Since 1997, the Making Learning Visible Project (MLV) has supported teachers and administrators in creating powerful learning groups in classrooms and schools. Based at Project Zero, a research group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, MLV takes inspiration from the individual and group learning and documentation practices of the Preschools and Infant-Toddler Centers in Reggio Emilia, Italy. For more information about the project, please visit the MLV websites: http://www.pz.harvard.edu/mlv/ and http://www.makinglearningvisibleresources.org.

To create this guide, facilitators from R2LP and MLV helped 22 preschool educators explore a variety of best practices to support their children’s learning. Teachers talked with children about what play is and where it happens. They introduced the ideas of drafts and feedback. They involved families, who shared photographs of their children’s favorite places to play.

They visited interesting places to play. They helped children to share their ideas and expertise with their classmates as well as with children from other centers. They supported children’s drawing, talking, exploring and collaboration.

Early educators participating in “Making Learning Visible: Places to Play in Rhode Island” Stephanie Ferreira, Sandpipers Early Learning Center

Sara Foster, Jewish Alliance of RI at Temple Habonim

Colleen Kilmer, Sandpipers Early Learning Center

Bernice Stone, Jewish Alliance of RI at Temple Habonim

Jennifer Cunningham, Heritage Park YMCA

Caitlin Vezina, Sakonnet Early Learning Center

Danielle LaBossiere, Heritage Park YMCA

Christine Botelho, Sakonnet Early Learning Center

Kate Maccio, Woonsocket Head Start

Jennifer Magnan, Sakonnet Early Learning Center

Sandra White, Woonsocket Head Start

Rossy Porras, Early Start Family Child Care

Yuberka Jimenez, Federal Hill House

Jacqueline Jenkins, Jump for Joy Family Child Care

Aura Caceres, Federal Hill House

Kristin Read, Ready to Learn Providence

Rosario Rodriguez, Federal Hill House

Emily Schwab, R2LP AmeriCorps/Virginia’s Home Day Care

Josiah Mardell, R2LP AmeriCorps/Federal Hill House

Paula Enciso, R2LP AmeriCorps/Heritage Park YMCA

Esta Yavner, Jewish Alliance of RI

Facilitators: Ben Mardell, Bethany Carpenter and Sue Sevegny

Robert Sousa, Jewish Alliance of RI

There are 31 drawings and quotes in this guide. But in reality, 136 children contributed to this book. Children in 10 early childhood programs from around the state discussed and researched places to play. As part of a drafting process, they provided each other with feedback about their drawings. All the children involved in the project are recognized on the back cover.

— 18 —

Where do you play in Rhode Island?

Draw and write about it here.

— 19 —

McCoy Stadium by Javier “I really liked McCoy Stadium! I want to take my dad to show him everything I saw. I also liked the field. I want to play with my dad there. I will wear my hat, my shirt, my pants and bring my bat. There is also a lot of people in the stadium.”

We thank all of the young children who participated so enthusiastically in this project.

Aaron Abbie Addaline Addison Aibhlin Aiden Alex Alexandra Alienor Alivia Alyse Amanda Amaya Amy Andre Angel Angeni Angus Arianna Arizyon Ashley Ava P. Ava W. Axel Ben C. Benjamin G. Benjamin S.

Beverly Brent Caleb Calvin Camryn C’anna Christian P. Christian P. Christopher Colin Collin Daniel David Derek Desanni Dylan Elan Emily D. Emily W. Emma Emmanuel Ernesto Ethan Evahnee Evelyn Fabricio Fayth

Finn L. Finnbahr Gabriel Gianni Grayson Guillermo Hadiyah Hannah Imara Isabella Isabelle Izaya Jakari Ja’Nyah Javian Javier Jaycee Jayden F. Jayden R. Jayla Jesstina Jezaleigh Joell Johnara Jonah Jorge Joseph Josh

Julia Khadija Kai Kaylani Keegan Keymani Kimora Lailani Layla Leah Leandro Leila Leo Lila Lindsey Lucie Luis Mackenzie Malcolm Mamadou Manuel Margaret Mason Micah Miley Mitchell Morgan

making learning visible

places to play in rhode island a guide to the state by our youngest citizens

Morrison Mya Nadia Natalia Nicholas Oliver Paige Raegan Ra’Jhan Rian Richard Roberto Ryan Samantha Serenity Shawn Siara Skylah Sofia Tais Trinity Tyler Tyri Vanessa Walenthine Zoe Zoya