L L o o v v i i n n g g a a c c h h i i l l d d w w i i t t h h D D o o w w n n s s y y n n d d r r o o m me e i i s s c c o o n n t t a a g g i i o o u u s s . . . .. . H H e e l l p p u u s s s s p p r r e e a a d d t t h h e e l l o o v v e e ! ! Plainfield 10052 S. Bode Rd, Unit D • Plainfield, IL 60585 630-778-PLAY • www.gigisplayhousetoo.com Hoffman Estates 1069 W Golf Rd • Hoffman Estates, IL 60169 847-885-PLAY • www.gigisplayhouse.org MARCH 2008 Serving 2 Locations TM What a mission!! And we are able to achieve it through the Traveling Gallery that has been unveiled at last month’s Gala. The goal is that this traveling gallery will be seen across the nation, spreading awareness and touching lives. To further our mission, we will be creat- ing a book that celebrates and continues to build on the stories of these amazing people. This gallery will be displayed at high traffic venues including hospitals, country clubs, hotels, meeting places, trade shows and more! We have already been booked for the North Shore Art Festival where over 25,000 people will see our beautiful kids!! The amazing pho- tographs are so captivating and spread such amazing positive awareness!! If you know of a venue to display this amazing Gallery or would like information on corpo- rate sponsorship of the Gallery, please contact 847.885.7529. With your support we can give our children and adults with Down syndrome a voice in a world where they belong. Set High Expectations… Celebrate… Touch Lives… Educate… Thank you to renowned photog- rapher Thomas Balsamo of Portraits by Thomas in Barrington, IL, for captur- ing the inner voice of these children through his intimate portraitures. Thank you to Steven Bagby, owner of Bagby and Company, an agency of Brand Expressionism, for his time, talent and for bringing profound life to this project. Inspire people to believe in the possibilities and joys of individuals with Down syndrome.
Inspire people to believe in the possibilities and joys of individuals with Down syndrome.
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With the new schedule forLiteracy we have been ableto take over 30 kids off thewaiting list and enroll themin the program for the 1sttime! All the kids that havebeen in the program areable to get materials fromthe Playhouse and continueto practice at home until theare able to re-enroll. Being a
home-based program allows parents tolearn the program and be able to takethe skills home and work with their childwhile new kids can be taken off the wait-
ing list every 16 weeks.Our Literacy Satellite inWestmont is openingthis month! If you liveclose to Westmontarea, call thePlayhouse to see howyou can enroll in theSatellite program!847.885.7529.
KKiiddssKKlluubb!!Kids Klub is the talk of the town these
days! Led by our volunteer OccupationalTherapist, Ellyn Podolsky, this playgroupis full ofexcitingand fungames andactivities.Come tothe Play-house thelast Sat-urday ofthe monthfrom 10-11:30am tojoin the fun!!
TTrriikkeess YYiikkeess!!!!Join us 10am on Sat., March 15th to
practice our cycling skills. This class isfacilitated by a PT, with focus on pedal-ing, stearing, and overalltrike skills. Each childmust bring their ownbike/trike and theclass is limited to7, so sign upearly. 847.885.7529.
TTHHIISS MMOONNTTHH’’SS FFEEAATTUURREEH O F F M A N E S T A T E S L O C A T I O N
Every Thursday from12:30-2pm we get to-getherand
play! This
open event is foreveryone and is greatway to meet otherparents and kids! See you there!
The 3-5 year old group is an actionpacked group that incorporates so muchlearning into the fun filled 90 minute
show. Or the gross motor strengthen-ing with the scooters. Or even themusical talent development with our
youngestbandmem-bers!!Thesepictures
speak for them-selves! Join us eachmonth, the 2ndSaturday fromNoon-1:30pm. It’s a blast!!
FFrriiddaayyFFrriieennddss!!Are you over 18? Then join us for a Dance
Par ty on March 28th a t 7pm! ! !
See you there and be ready to show off
those moves!
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Literacy 9-10am
Crawlers 9-9:45am2 and Under 10-11:30amHS&J Noon-1:30pm
Yikes Trikes 10am
Easter Party 10am-Noon
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27 28 29
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LiteracyNoon-2pmLiteracy4-7pm
LiteracyNoon-2pmLiteracy4-7pm
LiteracyNoon-2pmLiteracy4-7pm
Board of Directors meeting 7pm
CommunicationSeminar (0-3yrs) 7pmRSVP required
Open Play: Every Thursday!Everyone is welcome! Stop by forpizza, pop and fun! We have volun-teers to assist with the kids so theparents can hang out! It’s awesome!
Literacy Program: GiGi’sPlayhouse provides FREE privatetutoring to children with Downsyndrome. Customized materialsare provided for each individualstudent. The program also assiststeachers and parents on how totutor their children.
Friday Friends: Ages 18 and uponly. Party with the gang! Equalnumbers of peers with Down syn-drome as without. Karaoke, dances,laser tag, bowling, prom, movienights, friends and fun!
2 and under group: Families withkids 2 and under get together toplay, and have fun while the par-ents network with each other!
Hop, Skip and Jumpers: For 3-5year olds, this program will helppromote friendships, good socialskills and interactive play throughfun creative activities!
Hispanic Group: Spanish speakingfamilies gather for food, fun, friend-ship and education.
Polish Play Group: Polish speak-ing families gather for an afternoonof fun and friendship.
Reserved: Playhouse may bereserved for private play groups,parties or support groups
GiGi’s Crawlers: This group focus-es on crawling skills as well as finemotor skills, social interaction withpeers in a semi-structured environ-ment. Children need to be crawlingand are accompanied by a parent/adult.
GiGi’s Walkers: This group focus-es on post walking skills with peersto prepare children for school activ-ities (balance beam, kicking, throw-ing, jumping, etc.) Children needto be walking and must be accom-panied by a parent/adult.
EEvveenniinngg OOppeenn PPllaayyIt’s time to relax and have some fun!
Come join us Friday, March 28th forpizza, playing and visiting. Everyone is welcome!
CCrraawwlleerrss GGrroouuppNNoottiiccee
Please note that the March Pre-Crawlers and Crawlers groups will meeton March 29. This is a one-monthchange from the usual fourth Saturday ofthe month.
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There will be a group leaders meetingon Tuesday, March 4 at 6:30pm. All group leaders, please mark your calen-dar for this meeting.
P L A I N F I E L D L O C A T I O N
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Our December Playhouse Pals had funwith music thanks to Melinda Creasyfrom Music Together in Naperville. Thekids had fun dancing, singing and play-ing different musical instruments to theirfavorite holiday tunes.
The Central Community High Schoolin Clifton, IL raised $1,200 for GiGi’s intheir annual “PACK THE TRACK WALK!”
For the past 3 years the student coun-cil led by Ms. Carol Davidson has run thisevent. The students had a lot of responsi-bilities to make this event possible. Theyhad to set up for the event, go to ourlocal businesses for sponsorships, set upconcessions, clean up and all kinds ofbehind the scenes happenings! The eventis a walk at the high school track. Each
person that participates donates $5 (ormore!) and they get a t-shirt. There was aBEAUTIFUL, PURPLE balloon launch tostart the event. There were also raffles,music, food, and fun as the students andcommunity got together to raise moneyfor Down Syndrome awareness. All themoney raised goes to the Playhouse tohelp continue to spread awareness. Thehigh school also had a bake sale this pastsummer which they also donated all theirsales to the Playhouse.
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GiGi’s Playhouse Too would like towelcome new volunteer Ann Benco. Annwill be assisting with the day to day oper-ations of the playhouse. Ann will be atthe Playhouse Tuesdays and Thursdaysfrom 11am to 2pm.
Ann is a Certified Operating RoomTech who currently works at CentralDuPage Hospital. Ann enjoys workingwith children and was introduced toGiGi’s by her niece Abby who is a regularGiGi’s participant.
Please join us in welcoming andthanking Ann for her volunteer service.
Gigi’s Too was the site for fun, danc-ing and good food on January 12th! TheSimple Gifts Foundation hosted a HighSchool Musical Party for all kids and theirfamilies. Over 50 people came out for the
movie, a craft project and pizza. The kidshad a blast as they sang and danced to,“We’re All in This Together” and “Stick tothe Status Quo”!
HHiigghh SScchhooooll MMuussiiccaall PPaarrttyy
TThhaannkk YYoouu CCeennttrraall CCoommmmuunniittyy HHiigghh SScchhooooll SSaavvee tthhee DDaatteeMark your calendars for
GiGi’s First Annual CornholeTournament. The date isSunday, May 18th (with arain date of June 1st). Come join the fun! Look forfurther details next month.
2 & under playgroupFamilies with children 2 and under gettogether and play while the parents net-work with each other. Siblings alwayswelcome.3-4 year old playgroupFamilies with children ages 3-4 gettogether and play while the parents net-work with each other. Siblings alwayswelcome.Pre-crawlers/CrawlersThis group focuses on crawling skills aswell as fine motor skills, social interac-tion with peers in a semi-structuredenvironment. Pre-crawlers is for childrenwho are just starting to crawl and theCrawlers is for children who are crawl-ing on all fours. Children must beaccompanied by a parent/adult.Pre-walkers/WalkersThis group focuses on post walking skillswith peers to prepare children for schoolactivities (balance beam, kicking, throw-ing, jumping, etc.) The pre-walkers is forchildren who are just starting to walkindependently and the Walkers group is
for children who are walking independ-ently. Children must be accompanied bya parent/adult.Teen-TasticThis group meets from 7-9pm. We orderpizza for dinner and have lots of funwatching movies and playing gameswith each other. 6th-12th grades.Hispanic GroupSpanish speaking families gather forfood, fun, friendship and education.Signing Time GroupLearn sign language by signing along tothe songs from the TV series. All agesare welcome.Daddy and MeDads get out with the kids and gettogether with other dads. All ages.Open PlayOpen to everyone.Playhouse PalsFor families with children in 1st-3rdgrades.Birthday PartyAll ages.
Your child’s communication devel-opment starts at birth with a baby’s firstcry. Families with a young child withDown syndrome are often told thatspeech therapy will begin when thechild begins to make sounds. This infor-mation frequently does not take intoconsideration that communicationdevelopment, be it eye contact, bodylanguage/gestures, vocalizations andpicture communication are important,early and vital communication tools forthe young child. Families benefit frominstruction on the many ways to facili-tate and enhance this development dur-ing the day to day interaction with theirchild. This builds a strong foundationfor speech and language development.
Lora White, M.A., CCC-SLP is aspeech and language pathologist in pri-vate practice. She will share her knowl-edge and insight learned from over thir-ty years of working with children withDown syndrome. Lora will present infor-mation in regard to the child’s commu-nication development, oral motor/feed-ing development and the importancethese areas play in a child’s speech andlanguage development, specifically,speech intelligibility. Parents will be pre-sented with strategies to facilitate theirchild’s communication development,develop a better understanding of oralmotor and feeding skills and the impactthis foundation has on a child’s speechintelligibility. Parents in attendance willalso have the opportunity to ask ques-tions in regard to their child’s communi-cation and speech development.
Call the Hoffman Estates location,847.885.7529 to RSVP!!
SSaavvee tthhee DDaattee
CoCo Keys Resort & Water Park
Helfrick Family
Suparossa Restaurant Group &The Cirrincione Family
Van Kampen Investments
Alexian Brothers Children’s HospitalB96/JACK-FM
BenefaxBiggers Chevrolet
BoschChicago Symphony Orchestra
Chris Guillen PhotographyCrist Associates
Elixir Wellness CenterGrants Appliances, Electronics & More
McHenry Country ClubPortraits by ThomasPublishers’ Graphics
Rahl JewelersThe Vybiral Family
WSDI
Hana K Design-Prosper & Susan Maman
Gold SponsorsGold Sponsors
Silver SponsorsSilver Sponsors
Bronze SponsorsBronze Sponsors
Our 2008 Spread the Love Gala Sponsors! We couldn’t do it without you!
Platinum SponsorsPlatinum Sponsors
The Playhouse family of over 350 peoplegathered together for our 2nd annualSpread the Love Gala last month. We hadso much fun dancing, eating and cele-brating together and even moreimportant ly we spread somuch pos i t ive awarenessabout Down syndrome! !There was a wedding in theroom next door to the Galaand lots of people came overto our registration table tolearn more about us! Wewere able to share withthem why we were all gath-ered together to celebrate the blessing
that is Down syndrome! RobJohnson from CBS 2 news hosted theevent and shared with us his own passionabout Down syndrome and helping the
world see these special individualsthe way we do. Thankyou to Roberta Costionand the whole Gala com-mittee for their hard workand to all our sponsors formaking the Gala such anamazing event!
Rob Johnson from CBS 2News with our 1st Pr izeRaf f l e Winner, Beth Spenade l !
GGeett RReeaaddyy ttoo RRuunn!!Our 5K committee is up and RUN-
NING!! With every location (includingMcHenry and Chicago!!) participating inthis event, it is goingto be our biggestone eve r ! Wen e e d Y O U ! !You can jo inthe committee,s p o n s o r t h eevent or be a vol-unteer at the event!Mark your calendars nowfor this amazing time of awareness andcommunity. See you on June 8th!!
Call 847.885.7529 or your localPlayhouse to get involved!!
