At the Mooney’s Bay Intergenerational Early Learning Centre program, organic and meaningful interactions between different generations are commonplace. Together, children and older adults will decide how they wish to spend their time together in an environment full of possibilities. Some grand-friends will be directly involved with the children while others will be a support to the Educators or the Cook. Some children will snuggle with a grand-friend to read a story, while others will greet the regular visitor by name and perhaps show them a picture they’ve made.
That is the beauty of choice, that belongs to both the grand-friend and the child. It doesn’t make any difference whether the grand-friend arrives on their own or is accompanied by a caregiver – they know they belong and play an integral role in the lives of the children and their families in our intergenerational centre.
The families of the children are also involved, they receive updates and pictures and are well aware of the blossoming relationships between their child and the older adults. If you’d like to know more about the Engage at Every Age Intergenerational Child Care Project, or about becoming a grand-friend at our Mooney’s Bay centre, visit our website.
The Engage at Every Age Project is a collaboration between Andrew Fleck Children’s Services, The Council on Aging of Ottawa, and Families Canada.
Intergenerational Programming │ Andrew Fleck Children’s Services
We aren’t just a child care centre. We are a community. Young and old, hand in hand, heart to heart. While the concept of intergenerational programming has been offered for years, what would happen…
