Novel and Nourishing: CBEL’s Infant-Toddler Play Groups
Written by Tim Buckley, September 2025
Success is a sign of adaptation, taking what works and improving on it. For example, the Marion Polk Early Learning Hub (the Hub) received an application from CBEL that didn’t fit the standard Parent Education Grant categories. Instead of rejecting the application, the Hub found a way to support it because they saw the potential for CBEL’s Infant Toddler Play Group to succeed.
CBEL started We Families Flourish Together three years ago as an eight-week evening class for parents. While it was well received, CBEL used the experience and student feedback to improve on the model. “The Infant Toddler Play Group is a year-round drop-in program requiring no registration. Each of the twice-monthly gatherings invites parents and their children to be served an evening meal, then make crafts, play and learn together.” said Whitney Contreras, a translator and co-facilitator for the group. “Every family receives a gift card and a chance to get another gift card as part of the free raffle.”
Last year, attendance gradually increased as families shared news about the Play Group. “We now average a dozen families at each Play Group, with around 25 kiddos.” Contreras added that the sign-up list for the next Play Group is already large.
Part of CBEL’s mission is to help neighborhoods with five family-strengthening protective factors, including tangible support in time of need, positive social connections and parental education. The Infant Toddler Play Group does those things well.
“The Hub’s mission is to partner with organizations like CBEL to develop resources for children and families,” said Hub Parent Education & Family Engagement Manager, Tiffany Gallagher. “We also enhance the early learning system in our region and build capacity among providers. The outcome we seek is that every child is safe, healthy, and prepared to learn, that every family is strong and resilient, and that early learning services are coordinated, effective and efficient.”
The Hub traditionally has worked with a slightly older population of children, Gallagher said. “We have only dipped our toes into the infant-toddler area, and we think it’s important to offer families more opportunity for younger children. After working with CBEL to modify its application, and talking to the Hub directors, we decided to support the Play Group.”
The Hub funding allows CBEL to start another Play Group in Keizer for the next year, at the Salem Mennonite Church, and supported by the Kennedy and Cummings Neighborhood Family Councils (NFCs).
CBEL partnered with the Salem Evangelical Church last year in the Highland neighborhood, and they are supporting the Play Group again with a flexible space in their North Salem facility. “It’s an ideal location with a place to eat together, a gym with basketball hoops, a stage, movable partitions, tables for craftmaking and supplies,” Contreras said. ValJean Pratt, a long-time volunteer and program manager at Salem Evangelical Church, has been an avid supporter of the Play Group from the start.
Each Play Group evening, families show up early and stay late, simply because it’s become a time to socialize, make new friends, and to help set up and clean up. “We welcome them at the door and quickly sit down to dinner together,” Contreras said. “After that, for about an hour, families play, mingle and do crafts together. At the end, before the raffle, we hold a short class with tips on emotional wellness, Outward Mindset, and parenting tips.”
“One mom at the last Play Group told me that her car’s fuel tank was on empty and how grateful she is for the gift card,” Contreras added. Others thank her for the opportunity to meet in a safe, welcoming atmosphere. “And frequently, the kids show their appreciation with laughter and hugs.”
To supplement parental education about emotional wellness and resilience, the Play Groups this year are introducing short teaching modules and practice with the RULER program, which is rolling out in a handful of Salem-Keizer elementary schools (including three with NFCs) this year. RULER, which stands for Recognizing, Understanding, Labeling, Expressing, and Regulating one’s emotions, helps people communicate their emotions and, thus, have more opportunity to connect with others peacefully.
“The idea is to make the RULER practice part of one’s lifestyle,” Contreras explained. “As it becomes a natural, organic way for you to communicate your feelings, it becomes part of the way you interact with your children too, and they quickly model the behavior.”
“So, this year, when families arrive at the Play Group, we have a metal tray with magnetic Mood Meter on it. We ask parents to indicate where they are emotionally by pointing to one of the dozens of feelings words arranged in four quadrants: from low energy and unhappy to high energy and super happy, and everything in between,” she added. “And at the end of the event, we ask them again, to see if the Play Group was able to shift their mood in a positive direction.”
Yale University, developer of the RULER program, trained dozens of teachers in the Salem Keizer school district how to administer and teach RULER. Among the students were Contreras and several other CBEL staff. RULER program directors at Yale said that CBEL’s effort to bring RULER directly to parents and families is a first in the country, and that they welcomed this adaptation of RULER for strengthening connections to families and building more resilient communities.
Lisa Harnisch, director of the Marion-Polk Early Learning Hub said that “CBEL supports families with young children in meaningful ways—offering parent education, play groups, and lively Fun Friday events.” Harnisch, who also sits on the Salem-Keizer School Board added, “It’s been a joy to see these programs flourish as families engage and connect, meeting real needs while strengthening our sense of community. Together, we’re making a real difference in preparing children for kindergarten.”