Our first visit to the 21st Century Parent Education event was so much fun that we decided to go back for February’s session.

These monthly events help parents assess and nurture the development of their children. January’s theme was literacy and reading, and February’s activities were all about the five senses. {Click here to view 21st Century’s FB album of the event.}

This past Tuesday we had an absolute blast! Silas and I started with the Nutrition station where we built a man out of pretzels, raisins, banana slices, an apricot and pear. Silas loved being able to play with his food!

Next, Bitty Boy went fishing for letters at the Playing with Purpose station. He eventually snagged a fish, but it was fun for him just to play with the fishing pole.

The next station focused on sensory/motor by letting the kids dig for treasure in small sandboxes. After finding the items on the treasure hunt list, Silas “cleaned” the toys using paint brushes.

The Assessment station is designed to rate your child’s progress in several areas (physical, social, etc.). Since I had completed the forms for both Cooper and Silas, we earned two free toys and two free books! I was shocked at the great toys we brought home–a wooden clock and a chunky safari puzzle.

Silas also did some no-mess painting by squishing the paint around in a sealed ziplock bag.

Parents and kids gathered for songs and story time. The story time was all about using our five senses to experience the ocean. We watched waves crash on the screen, listened to the ocean surf as played for us on the ocean drum, and felt the mist of the spray from water bottles. Then we read a book about the ocean, and everyone received a free copy of the book to take home.

I love super fun free events for the boys!