SOUTH HADLEY – As of late November 2021, The South Hadley Family Center has restarted their indoor playgroups. The center hosts playgroups for families with young children from birth to five years old and is the longest running playgroup in the area with a history of 25 years.

Director of the family center, Molly LePage said in September 2021, they “officially” opened for outdoor playgroups beginning at local playgrounds. Then, after Thanksgiving, they moved the playgroups indoors. She explained, “The weather was starting to get cold, and I absolutely felt the need to bring families together safely, wear masks and using all the proper precautions – but really, for the social and the emotional reasons because I’m seeing that there is a need to bring young children together to learn how to be with other children again. All these kids have been home for almost 22 months with their adult caregiver and they had very little social interactions and so I felt like bringing them into the center would give them that opportunity to start playing and interacting with children and also allowing adults to start interacting with each other too.”

When schools and businesses all closed and moved to the remote model on March 13, 2019, due to COVID-19 Le Page said, “We are really proud that we never closed.” She said they started playgroups on Zoom within the first week, where she led virtual story times and music classes. She said she would also go to families’ houses, sit outside with children – socially distanced – and read them stories.

She noted that the stories and the music classes eventually evolved into a “check-in” and added that, “just being able to see someone else and just to say I recognize that you are there and you’re working hard as a parent because they were so many new moms that had just had babies that were home and feeling isolated and that’s when I would go spend time in their front yards just to see them and just to let them know that they were not alone.”

LePage said that in June 2021 they had a kickoff letting families know they would be moving back to in-person playgroups. She explained that in July at Battery Park there were three outdoor concerts they hosted that were well attended. She added that the center “is very big on supporting music and the arts” and during the playgroup time they have musical performers come in and teach music classes. She said that because the center is a non-profit organization, they rely on funding through grants, generous donations and fundraising events.

Now that the playgroups have moved indoors, there aren’t any capacity limits due to the center being a “large space.” Pre-pandemic, LePage reported it could fit up to “60 people.” Since the reopening, they see numbers in the 20-25 range. She also noted that all the toys and games are sanitized after each playgroup.
LePage added that the playgroup is for children to join with parents or caregivers, who must stay with their children – drop-offs are not allowed. Families do not have to sign up for the playgroup in advance as it is on a drop-in basis.

The South Hadley Family Center is open Monday-Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and follows the South Hadley public schools schedule, including vacations and snow days. They will be closed Dec. 23 -Jan. 2.

The center is located at 7 Woodbridge St. in the All Saints Episcopal Church basement. Free parking is at the back of the church, where the center’s entrance is. For more information, call 533-7096 or visit the center’s Facebook page for the latest updates and information. https://www.facebook.com/SHFAMILYCTR/