Little Hands Child Creative Center, a daycare center and preschool near Halsted Street in Homewood, celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday, Dec. 22.
This is the second daycare center owned by South Holland resident Sharon Cooper, who opened the first Little Hands location in Chicago’s West Englewood neighborhood in the mid-2000s.
Homewood village officials, Little Hands regional director Dantavia Payne, Little Hands site director LaTonia Clark, other Little Hands staff and Cooper’s friends and family joined Cooper in cutting the blue ribbon, officially marking the opening of the daycare center.
“This has been a long time coming,” Cooper said. “Though I don’t live in Homewood, I’m in the Homewood area. And I’ve always wanted to open up a center here.”
Cooper said Little Hands offers children social and emotional learning they might not otherwise receive before kindergarten, such as how to make friends and interact with peers.
Clark and Payne emphasized that Little Hands also offers children academic learning, making it easier for them to succeed in elementary school.
Payne said Little Hands provides STEM learning, homework and field trips, and is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). All Little Hands teachers have qualifying degrees, she said.
Little Hands classes are organized by age into different sections of the building. Play areas are stocked with a variety of books and toys tailored to each age group.
The infant and toddler room has cribs and a changing table. In the bathroom, photo instructions show older children how to wash their hands.
Little Hands has equipment for what management called “dramatic play,” including toy tea cups, firefighter vests and other pretend occupational clothing and toys.
“That’s where they can learn how to dress themselves. Or they can learn about different occupations. Or they can learn about the foods,” Clark said, explaining the concept of dramatic play.
Some walls at Little Hands feature murals of characters from Sesame Street and other children’s television programming. The murals were previously inside Alphabet Campus, another daycare center that was in the same building at 742 Ridge Road.
Payne said Little Hands’ Chicago location is partnered with Head Start, a federally funded program that’s helped provide preschool education to low-income families since 1965. Clark said the Homewood location is also trying to partner with Head Start.
“Some children may need additional services other than what we can provide,” Clark said, describing the assistance that a family support specialist from Head Start could offer Little Hands customers. “What if the child is developing more slowly? What if the child needs a speech therapist or a physical therapist?”
“It’s on the eastern side of town, just south of Home Depot,” Mayor Rich Hofeld said, describing Little Hands. “I would encourage anyone who has childcare needs to really come over and take a look at the place. It’s very nice. The people are absolutely lovely.”
