DAPs Magic Disney News – PRESS RELEASE
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., Dec. 15, 2011 – Children at the Welbourne Avenue Nursery and Kindergarten in Winter Park have a brand new way to exercise their minds and show off their creativity, thanks to the new Imagination Playground they received from Walt Disney World Resort.
Part of the KaBOOM! organization’s Building Playgrounds initiative, Imagination Playgrounds encourage children’s creativity, character-building and enrichment opportunities. Youngsters learn to design their own course of play using giant foam-like, weather-resistant blocks that can fit together to create just about anything a child can imagine.
Once the new playground was unveiled, children quickly began assembling the various shapes and sizes of blocks into forts, skyscrapers and a maze of slides. Others pretended to make barbells and telephones.
“The kids are really enjoying this new piece of what I would call art,” said Maria Gibson, executive director of Welbourne Avenue Nursery and Kindergarten. “They are creating some awesome things: train tracks, tunnels, building, cars and everything else. They have been busy morning and evening with this new playground. It is awesome.”
Walt Disney World Resort is actively involved in supporting education and organizations that share the company’s commitment to building better futures for local children. In 2010, the company donated more than $28 million in cash and in-kind support to local nonprofit organizations such as A Gift For Music and Central Florida’s Second Harvest Food Bank, Boys & Girls Club and Coalition for the Homeless.
“The benefits of focusing on our children’s future is far-reaching,” said Nancy Gidusko, director of community relations at Walt Disney World Resort. “Investing time and money in educational programs show great returns, including higher graduation and employment rates, reduced crime and less reliance on public assistance.”
The gift Walt Disney World made to the Welbourne Avenue Nursery and Kindergarten is one of many charitable activities underway at Walt Disney World Resort during the “Season of Sharing” that focuses on improving the lives of local children and their families during the holidays and beyond. During the last year, Walt Disney World also presented an Imagination Playground to the Winter Park Day Nursery, and the company gave a KaBOOM! playground and Imagination Playground to the Orlando Day Nursery.
To read more stories in the Season of Sharing series, visit waltdisneyworld.com/about.
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