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Feeling at home among your own

by Tina Luton

Culturally specific playgroups allow parents and children the chance to escape isolation.

PLAY is key to the way children learn about the world they live in. It allows them to try out ideas, practice skills, develop structures and rules and to play as many different roles as their imagination allows.

Playgroups provide non-school age children with the opportunity to increase their social and communication skills and to learn simple rules and routines while making new friends and having fun. At the same time, playgroups provide an ideal environment for parents and caregivers to share ideas, information and experiences and to develop a support network with other members of the community.

Playgroup Victoria is a not-for-profit peak body that helps families join, start and run playgroups. In Victoria close to 40,000 families with 50,000 children go to playgroup each week. The groups are low cost, meet locally and are usually run by the families attending.

Executive officer of Playgroup Victoria, Kaye Plowman said families often get together because of a specific need or interest.

“There is a wide range of special interest playgroups including grandparents, cultural groups, older mums, single parents, gay parents, vegetarians/vegans, and special needs,” Ms Plowman said.

 “All playgroups are about building a support network. They offer a great way to meet other people outside of the immediate family, and if you are new to an area they help to break down the isolation and build friendships while giving children the chance to play with other children.

“Some parents find that going to a specific playgroup, for instance a culturally specific playgroup or a group for children with Downs Syndrome, helps them to build a bond where there is mutual understanding and support. Some families might start off with their own culturally specific playgroup and then go on to a multicultural playgroup,” she said.

Special interest playgroups also provide pathways to important services such as speech therapists or physiotherapists Ms Plowman added.

“Having a facilitator there is important. They are not just there to run the playgroup but to link those families into community services either by referrals or personally taking them to places, such as Centrelink, if they are unfamiliar with the system.

“If they are newly arrived or newly settling families who are unfamiliar with the language and Australian currency, the facilitator might travel with them and show them how to pay the fare on the bus and which stop to get off at. It’s about building a connection,” she said.

For more information, see www.playgroup.org.au