(Aspire Child Development Centre/ Facebook)

By Ian Gustafson

Runs through August

Aspire Child Development Centre free summer program ‘Park It’ kicks off today

Jul 2, 2025 | 2:16 PM

The Aspire Child Development Centre’s annual summer program “Park It” has returned for it’s 20th year.

It first began in 2005 and is a free play group for children with diverse needs that runs from July 2 to August 15.

Tanza Hovelkamp, development and operations coordinator at the Aspire Child Development Centre, said it was created because they noticed a significant gap in summer programming in Red Deer specifically for children with diverse needs.

“Families needed a place that they could go and feel welcome and safe,” Hovelkamp said.

The program also bridges a gap for families who attend programming at Aspire from when they leave at June and return in September.

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“While it’s designed for all children, special attention is given to ensuring children with diverse, and sometimes complex needs can participate fully,” she said. “It provides families with an emotionally safe place where they can connect with other families and build those meaningful networks that they need in order to thrive within our community.”

Park It offers developmentally appropriate activities such as games, toys, crafts, music and story time. The program is funded by ATB Financial and the Rotary Club of Red Deer Sunrise.

It runs from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m from Monday to Friday and all ages are welcome. No registration is required.

Every week until the end of the program, the play group is held at playgrounds across central Alberta including in Penhold on Monday’s, followed by Red Deer on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. On Fridays, it’ll be held in Blackfalds.

“The feedback we’re receiving from families is that they’re so appreciative and the connections they make have been very valuable to their families,” Hovelkamp added. “We have noticed over the years just the number of people who are attending is significantly increasing each year.”

A full schedule for the program can be found on Aspire’s website.