Trico Centre Parent and Tot Programs

The Cause

Trico Centre for Family Wellness is a community-owned, not-for-profit health and wellness facility that promotes active kids, health families, and vibrant seniors in partnership with our neighbouring communities.

The children’s programs at Trico Centre are designed for children to foster a sense of belonging, connection, independence and fun. Our purposeful programming supports cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. We offer a variety of genres to explore including active gym classes, sports, arts and crafts, dance, and more, for children ages 2-14 years old.

Our Parent & Tot classes are often the child’s introduction to structured classroom experiences. The children are taught to explore and learn independence, getting them ready for classes and environments without their parents. Some of this year's Parent & Tot programs include Mini-Movers, Explorers, Music and Movement, Messy Hands, and Fine Motor Fun.

There are very few facilities located in south Calgary that offer any Parent & Tot programs on a year-round basis, let alone the number and variety of program that Trico Centre does. All of these programs are in high demand, and often fill up very quickly due to their popularity, seasonality, or small class sizes. A recent City of Calgary report estimated that Calgary’s population (as of April 1, 2023) is 1,389,200, which represents a 3% annual population increase since April 2022. This was the greatest annual population growth Calgary has ever seen. Over the last 20 years, the city’s population has increased by approximately 50%.

Trico Centre wants to ensure the future of our Parent & Tot program by improving and expanding the classes that we are currently offering. By doing so, we will be able to serve children and parents in our community by providing fun, modern, innovative programming, and meet the ever-increasing demand for these educational, skill building classes at a crucial stage in a child’s development.

Who Will it Benefit?

New resources will directly benefit all of the young children and parents that participate in our Parent & Tot programs. As mentioned above, the demand for interactive programming for parents and their young children is very high, not only within our facility but across the city. Trico Centre's ability to offer a wide range of affordable, year-round programming to the south Calgary community is very important not only to the individuals that are registered in our programs, but the greater community's physical, intellectual, emotional, and social health.

Unfortunately, there are also barriers (or at minimum, reluctance) for some parents that want to participate in any sort of extracurricular or recreational activities, including gender, culture, and skill level. The Parent & Tot programs allow mothers or fathers who prefer a quieter, small group setting for reasons pertaining to gender, personal preference, or other cultural reasons, to interact with their children and other parents.

Although these resources will be used first and foremost for our Parent & Tot programs, they may also be used in other Child & Youth programs as required: Preschool (2.5-6 years old), Dance (3-12), and Skill Builder (4-12), as well as our summer day camps. Our Preschool programs occur frequently in the space that would receive these vital resources.