Young children in three new early childhood education spaces within the Brookings School District will have fun while they are learning, thanks to activity boards funded and built by Brookings Rotarians.
These activity boards will allow children ages three to five to “fidget” safely while standing in line or playing in a collaborative space, helping them to explore devices mounted on pegboard, such as lock and key, light switches, faucets, padlocks, rulers and more. Playing with the items mounted on the boards also will help these young children with their small motor skills development.
The boards were funded by a Rotary District 5610 grant, with matching funds provided by the Brookings club. Rotarians collected the devices, bought what they needed to supplement the boards, and gathered one afternoon in a club member’s garage to build the boards and mount the gadgets.
The concept for the project originated with Rotarian Deb DeBates, who also serves on the Brookings School Board. DeBates wrote the $300 grant, which was approved earlier this year. “The first five years of life are a time of rapid brain growth,” said DeBates, a retired educator. “Stimulating experiences boost brain development and lay the foundation for learning.” The boards will be installed over the summer at the early childhood education spaces being offered this fall in three local elementary schools through a collaboration of the Brookings School District and the Boys and Girls Club of Brookings.
“The activity boards will impact more than 100 children the first year and many more over the course of time,” DeBates said. “This is a small way our Rotary Club can show support for the children in our school district as we continue to focus on preparing all young learners for kindergarten.”
