Child Development Center Receives Grant for Equipment

CDC receives Joseph H Cannon Memorial Grant for $12,400

The Child Development Center at Parkland College has received the Joseph H Cannon Memorial Grant for new playground equipment.

The grant, which was approved by the Champaign Rotary Club, will provide $12,400 for new equipment including a large playground structure from Team Reil, Inc., a four-seat playground swing set, two triangular trapeze rings, and a tunnel.

Director of the Child Development Center Adrienne Shockley explains the importance of play to developing children. “Play stimulates the brain connections between nerve cells helping a child develop both gross-motor skills like…coordination, along with fine-motor skills like writing, manipulating small tools, and detailed hand work,” Shockley said. “It might look like ‘just play’ to some, but when kids are active and running around a playground, they are building their physical skills [and] several other critical developmental skills.”

Other cognitive development skills such as problem solving, dramatic imagination, and mental representation, are improved through play and facilitated by equipment. “The swings are also responsible for helping with sensory stimulation, as well as providing opportunities for social development such as sharing, turn-taking, and cooperation,” Shockley said.

The Child Development Center would like to thank the Champaign Rotary Club for the honor of the Joseph H Cannon Memorial Grant. Along with the new swings, the grant will replace several well-loved equipment pieces so the children can continue to play and learn on safe, reliable structures.

“We are very excited for this opportunity to grow and improve our center to better serve our community,” Shockley said.

For more information about the Child Development Center, please visit parkland.edu/cdc or call 217/373-3777.