Southridge Playschool students found some toy snakes in the ball pit during Halloween week. They celebrated the week with safari-themed decor and activities.
Lions and tigers and pre-schoolers. Oh my!
The Southridge Playschool celebrated Halloween by going on a safari. Teacher/director Lola Palik, affectionately known as Mrs. P by the children, puts a lot of time and effort into making the yearly themes come to life for the pre-schoolers.
“I like doing it. I think it’s good for the kids to come in and it’s bright and colourful,” she said.
“What we do is, instead of Halloween … I do different themes. I do safari, I do outer space, I do circus, I do dinosaurs. This is the year for the safari, so I decorated for the safari theme and dressed up,” said Palik, who was decked out in a safari guide outfit, complete with binoculars.
She said the themes solved a problem she was having with certain costumes the children were wearing for Halloween.
“Sometimes I don’t like the costumes they come in because they can’t play—they can’t move or they can’t see out, or they go to climb, and they rip it.”
The goal of the playschool is to prepare children for elementary school by offering activities and socialization with other children their age.
“The three-year-olds come one day a week, the four-year-olds come one or two days a week. Just enough time for them to come in, get some structure and get to play with other kids and socialize,” explained Palik.
“I find that kids that have speech problems pick up on other kids talking, so it enhances their language.”
It’s a milestone year for her as she has been with Southridge Playschool for 30 years. She still enjoys it, even though she has contemplated retirement a time or two.
“I had said five years, and it was like I’ll wait until my kids graduate, then it was well what else am I going to do right?” said Palik.
When asked what she likes most about her job she said it’s the development she sees as time goes on.
“I think the biggest thing is watching the growth in the children—from the time they come. Especially a lot of my three-year-olds, by the time they’re done as five-year-olds. Just their growth and their readiness for school.”
