Project SANDbox

Hopewell’s kindergarten yard needs some updates!! For most kids (and teachers) the best part of the day is when they go outside to run, play, explore, and inevitably learn. Outdoor play during recess promotes social and emotional learning and provides children the opportunity to practice and role play essential social and life skills.

You may have noticed the kinder yard frequently has flooding in wet weather and icy surfaces in winter. During these times, large parts of the yard are unusable and our youngest kids become stuck inside. To make matters worse, the main play structure is entering the end of its service life and needs to be replaced.

Parents, teachers, and our amazing community members are hard at work to fundraise and design a space that provides shade, accessibility, natural elements, and drainage. We need your help! By participating in this auction, you are helping our youngest school members have a fun and safe space to play and learn, but also contributing to a space that can be used by the community at large. We are also grateful for any donations, large and small. We hope that you bid on the items in this auction, but you can also donate directly at https://my.charitableimpact.com/groups/project-s-a-n-d-box-at-hopewell-ave-p-s

Project SANDbox is Hopewell Avenue Public School's school council led initiative to create a natural playground that encourages nature play for 200 kindergarten students and 16 preschoolers. The current play structure is dated and has a compacted sand surface that prevents drainage, creating floods and hazardous icy conditions in the winter. We successfully submitted two grant applications over the summer and received $7,500 from the City of Ottawa an another $10,000 from TD Friends of the Environment Fund. Now that school is back, with your support, we are hoping to ramp up fundraising efforts to create the natural play ground space our children deserve.