November 11: Deanna's Playhouse

With my parents living in Holland, MI, I've driven past Deanna's Playhouse numerous times, but never really noticed it.  I wasn't aware of what it was until I discovered the link on grkids.com (one of the best sites!).  Deanna's Playhouse is a FANTASTIC place!  Grandma Smits met us there to explore the 15,000 square feet of toys, music, crafts, snacks, and so much more.  I was so impressed with the different areas of play and so were the boys.  They even had an area for infants/young toddlers with age-appropriate toys.  Of course, my boys immediately found the trains, but shortly after we arrived they had a story time.  The book, Mouse Paint (I think that was the title) was about three mischievous mice mixing paints to create different colors.  Koen and Brielle were the lone listeners (Ty was playing trains), and Koen received his own book to create at home (which he did soon after we arrived home).  

We were one of two groups there that morning which was so nice.  The kids could run and play wherever they wanted and I could easily keep tabs on them.  Of course, the staff said the weekends and winter days tend to be much, much busier. 

The neat thing about Deanna's Playhouse is its connection with the non-profit group Life Services.  They have a huge number of resources (brochures and check-out materials) to help parents and families...everything from encouraging reading to safe car seats.