Drouin Toy Library

About the Toy Library

The Drouin Toy Library is a ministry of the Drouin Presbyterian Church serving our community.

Our aim to love people in Jesus’ name affects every aspect of our service and means we operate very differently to a traditional toy library with reduced fees, no fines, we clean every toy ourselves, offer free beverages and stay and play space, and seek to comfort and give courage for the struggles of everyday life.

The Toys

All families are welcome to join Drouin Toy Library. We seek to cater for all the developmental and educational needs of our community including disabilities, bilingual families and home schooling. We have a full range of developmental and educational toys, books and games and are continually looking to include more as the needs arise.

Most of our range suits ages of 3 months to 7 years. There are puzzles up to 1000 pieces; board games up to adult age; giant games of Four in a Row, Dominoes, Jenga; gross motor toys including spinning tables and tops, ride-ons, slides and climbing frames; role play toys including dress ups, kitchens, dolls, tools, train sets and more; and books, DVDs and CDs.

Duty of Care Check / Cleaning

We clean every toy returned with a vinegar solution; every dress up or fabric toy is washed; batteries are checked for corrosion and recharging; every toy is checked for damage and safety.

Missing Pieces

We recognise that toys can be easily lost and broken. We do not want you to be frightened to borrow toys and have no fines for breakage or missing pieces. We search for spare parts in op shops and gratefully receive many donations of toys.

Cost

The borrowing account fees are:

• For one child $5 a month or $60 a year.
• For two children $6 a month or $72 a year.
• For three or more children $7 a month or $84 a year.
• Family Day Carers may have a borrowing account for $70 a year.
• Church ministries to the community may have a borrowing account for $100 a year.
  

Operating Hours

Every Friday from 9am to 12pm (during school terms).

Fortnightly on Saturday mornings 9:00-10:00am (during school terms).

Story Time

Every Friday at 10:30am there is a short Storytime led by a trained child care/kinder teacher. It is a time of singing action songs, reading stories and playing parachute games. We encourage parents and grandparents to join in the fun with their children.

This is an opportunity for children to get used to a group activity before kinder and school. It also provides an opportunity for positive and fun interactions between the parents and the children.

Our Beliefs

As Christians, we believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came to earth to show us how to live and to take the judgment of our sin in our place so that we can have a relationship with God for eternity.

Eternity is a much longer time than now. The strongest love we can show anyone is care for their life in eternity.

We do not force our beliefs on anyone and it is not a requirement to join Drouin Toy Library.

We do seek to make it easy for everyone to know Jesus and welcome any questions you may have.

Every Easter and Christmas we will take the opportunity to ask you if you have considered Jesus and invite you to join in our celebrations.

Also, from time to time, we will invite you to a short course to hear about Jesus in a relaxed environment so you can make an informed decision yourself on whether to believe in him as the Son of God or not. We want everyone to have the opportunity to hear the truth for themselves, not just hearsay. It will always be led by someone who has studied 3 or more years to read the Bible in its original languages and studied the culture of the times. Someone qualified to answer your questions.

Staying to Play

We encourage you to stay and play when you come and change over toys. We offer free tea, coffee and milo so you can have a cuppa and make friends. We believe God made us to live life in community, much more like a village raising a child than our culture currently does. We are not built to go through the struggles of life alone and early childhood parenting can be very isolating. We are ready to hear your struggles and pain and offer comfort and courage to get through the day. We all need it sometimes.

Gross motor activities are a main focus of our play environment. We live in a wet climate and can be indoors in a small space a lot. We have a large hall to set up activities in and also an outdoor play area. Come and let the children run, climb, ride and play.

We also set up quiet spots for children needing some retreat time from the noise and activity.

Let Us Know

We welcome suggestions and requests for purchases of toys or the layout of our stay and play environment. Let us know your thoughts.

English as a Second Language

We use an established and accredited ESL course written in Sydney. If you or someone you know needs help to learn English as a second language, please let us know. This is a free course and is run during the opening hours of toy library so children can play whilst the parents study.

Contact Us

Kerryn is our friendly our Toy Library Co-ordinator. Please use the contact form below to send your message directly to Kerryn and she will get back to you as soon as possible. Any questions are welcome.