September 15, 2021 Reimagining Together: Learning in Everyday Spaces Registration is available for the “4th Annual Summit, Reimagining Together: Learning in Everyday Spaces!” hosted by the LaundryCares Foundation and the Clinton Foundation’s Too Small to Fail initiative. Individuals may register using the online registration form. More Information At this virtual series, you will:s Learn from parents and caregivers who will share their vision for their neighborhood spaces. Hear from community and business leaders who have led innovative work to turn everyday spaces into learning-rich environments. Discover how to reimagine, design, and transform environments in your community into family-friendly, learning-rich spaces. Session Information Session One: Why We’re Here, Why Now, and Opportunities for Change Tuesday, September 21, 1:00 – 3:00PM ET Session Two: Reimagining Environments in the Spaces You Represent Thursday, September 23, 1:00 – 3:00PM ET Session Three: Building Together Tuesday, September 28, 1:00 – 3:00PM ET
November 3, 2020 WQED Cardigan Day Did you know that Friday, November 13 is both World Kindness Day and King Friday the XIII’s birthday? Join WQED to celebrate kindness and the inspiring work of Fred Rogers during their 3rd Annual Cardigan Day. About As a day of festivity, Cardigan Day brings the community together to celebrate kindness. Beginning at 10 a.m., WQED will showcase the “Mister Rogers Neighborhood” castle in the street outside of the WQED building (4802 Fifth Avenue). This street lane will be closed to regular traffic, allowing motorists with children to safely pull up to see the castle and receive a kid’s kindness bag. Each bag comes filled with snacks, crown-making materials, and Sarris Candies chocolates. The castle will be available, weather permitting, for picture taking from the car, and kindness bags will be offered while supplies last. Following COVID Safety Guidelines, the event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Motorists MUST remain in their car at all times. Wear Your Favorite Cardigan As has been the yearly Cardigan Day tradition, WQED asks its neighbors to support kindness by donning their cardigans and using social media to post photos using #CardiganDay. Last year, Cardigan Day blew-up social media, trending as number one, as cardigan-wearing babies, pets and entire classrooms of students overtook Facebook and Twitter. Episode Screening of Mister Rogers Neighborhood WQED will culminate the celebration with a Family Movie Night featuring a Mister Rogers Neighborhood “kindness” episode. The show begins at 7 p.m. on Facebook. The event link will be available soon. Please continue to monitor the Facebook event page for updates. More Information For more information, visit the event Facebook page.
July 1, 2019 Fred Rogers Educators’ Neighborhood to Launch Reflecting on a piece she wrote in December 2018, Melissa Butler identifies long-term benefits observed with the same group of children five months after the initial observation. Additionally, the Fred Rogers Center announced that they will be launching “Educators’ Neighborhood: Learning and Growing Together” in support of early childhood teachers. Overview In December 2018, Melissa Butler wrote a blog article named, “Beechwood Kindergarteners Learn with Mister Rogers,” observing LeeAnne Kreuger’s kindergarten classroom as they gathered every Friday morning to watch an episode of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Labeled “Mister Rogers Friday,” teachers selected an episode each week for their students based on key themes, needs, or interests expressed in the classroom. What they observed from April through June 2018 was that by the end of the school year, the children were actively singing along, naming characters, and making fun connections throughout the school day. In addition to this, teachers noticed benefits as well, having significant learning opportunities to reflect on child development, cultural relevancy, and ways to weave Fred Rogers’ lessons into the school day. Five months after, this same group of children continues to watch a new episode of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” every week. By doing so, they’re still observing significant impacts and benefits. Benefits for Children Butler highlights that this group of children: talk with each other during and after each Picture-Picture video because they have so many questions and connections; know the difference between real and make-believe; sing songs with confidence; answer Mister Rogers’ questions with eager attention; allow for the silence and slowness of episode moments; and have come to trust in the learning and joy each episode bring during and in the classroom. Benefits for Educators Teachers have also displayed key benefits, including: more trust in their instincts; more collaboration with each other; more sharing of personal stories with students; more confidence with developmentally appropriate practice; more improvisation with what they choose to do after each episode; and an overall approach that trusts in the larger picture of what they do as teachers. Conclusion Needless to say, the benefits of incorporating meaningful videos, especially those of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” are substantial. When educators and students are allotted a period to slow down, reflect, and talk with one another about influential topics, all parties benefit in and out of the classroom. For more, read Butler’s full blog piece. About Educators’ Neighborhood Educators’ Neighborhood: Learning and Growing Together is a place for educators to learn more and with each other, inspired by the life and work of Fred Rogers. Fred Rogers Center will grow an expanded community of educators to study episodes of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” read from the Fred Rogers Center Archive, and generate new ideas together connected with their daily practice with young children. If you’re interested in joining, sign up for news, register for Educators’ Neighborhood Online, or apply to be part of the local Educators’ Neighborhood Learning Community. More Information For more information, read Butler’s full blog piece. Share this flyer with your network.
May 31, 2019 Mister Rogers Family Day 2019 On June 8, families and community members are invited to join Mister Rogers Family Day in downtown Labrobe–the “original” Neighborhood of television personality Mister Rogers–for a FREE day of activities to celebrate Fred Rogers’ life and legacy. About At the event, families and community members are invited to enjoy activities, live entertainment, food, a trivia stroll, and more, all centered around the center of downtown Latrobe, making for a fun-filled day for the entire family. Activities Examples of activities at the event include: Storytime, Puppets, Arts & Crafts, Silk Screen Painting, Live Performances, Fred Rogers Trivia Stroll, Bouncy House, Obstacle House, and more! Learn More This event is free and open to the public. Free Parking available. To learn more, visit the Facebook event page!
May 30, 2019 Senator John Heinz History Center: Kids Enter Free! During the month of June, kids enter for FREE each Sunday at the Senator John Heinz History Center! This opportunity is available thanks to UPMC. About On Sundays in June, all children ages 17 and under receive free admission to see the History Center’s six floors of award-winning exhibitions and interactive learning spaces. Families are invited to zoom down a 12-foot spiral “Liberty Tune” slide, throw an epic touchdown pass to legendary Steelers, explore the Neighborhood of Make-Believe featuring the original set and puppets from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” and so much more! If you punch your stamp card on all six floors, you’ll even receive a free Heinz pickle pin! Regular admission fees apply to all adults. Learn More To learn more, visit the History Center’s event page! For questions, call 412.454.6000.
November 20, 2018 KaBOOM! Announces Let’s Play Everywhere Challenge Winners KaBOOM! recently announced the winners of the Let’s Play Everywhere Challenge. As part of the Challenge, 10 grantees in Allegheny County were selected to receive a combined total of $200,000 in prize funds. Trying Together is pleased to announce that the Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative was awarded one of these grants for The Neighborhood Play Stop Project. Learn more about it and the other grantees below. Challenge Winners The Let’s Play Everywhere Challenge selected nine organizations as winners, with a total of ten ideas: Trying Together (Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative) The Neighborhood Play Stop Project Glassport Community Outreach, Inc. Families Will Go Gaga to Play GaGa Pittsburgh Fulton PTO From Pittsburgh to Paris and Beyond! Garfield Jubilee Association, Inc. James Sensory Park Grounded Strategies MACS Discovery Walk Race Me! Pitcairn Green Playce Community Forge Number Mountain Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Ping Pong in the Plaza UniversalWit Play! to End Blight Focus on Renewal POW! (Place of Wonder) The Neighborhood Play Stop Project The Neighborhood Play Stop Project will reimagine existing spaces within Hazelwood by using play stops to encourage community engagement and playful interaction. These play stops may be featured in public spaces near businesses and civic locations such as grocery stores, green spaces, fire stations, and more. Conversations are underway to identify the finalized play stop locations. Impact By placing play stops in spaces that are not typically associated with play, this project will prompt community members of all ages to rethink their daily routines. For children, it’s an opportunity for imaginative play. For adults, it may be a space where they can take a mental break and play chess or engage in a calming playful activity. Similar to the Little Free Library movement, these play stops will be stewarded by various entities (the businesses where they are located, Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative member organizations, interested community members, etc.). A Closer Look Each stop will be based upon the common concept of play and will have playful interactive parts that relate to the location and the party stewarding the installation. For example, a stop outside a grocery store may include play items such as plastic fruits and vegetables to “purchase,” paper and pencils to create grocery lists, and laminated sheets of information about grocery store products. However, if a stop is located outside of a fire department, their play items may include play items such as firefighter helmets, a mini fire drill tower, and fire safety facts. Each stop will include a chalkboard with permanently affixed prompts for participants to write their thoughts. Prompts may include statement starters such as “When I play outside I like to…” or “At the grocery store I can find these colors…” About the Challenge The Let’s Play Everywhere Challenge is a design competition that took place in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania—presented by Keurig Dr. Pepper and KaBOOM!—to develop innovative ideas for making play easy and available for kids and families. This challenge is about creating opportunities for free, unstructured, unplanned play to ensure that all kids, no matter where they come from or where they live, get the active play they need to thrive. Learn More To learn more about the challenge winners and their ideas, read KaBOOM’s post.
