What sets the Wemagination Center apart from other reusable resource centers nationwide is training. The center requires a two-hour Orientation and Play Experience for teachers and parents who want to use Wemagination materials. Michael LaFlamme, Mary Dudley and Amy Peterson at the Wemagination Center, A special project of the UNM Family Development Program in the College of Education. Photo by Michael Mouchette. Through the training, Wemagination personnel establish relationships with and among parents, teachers and other adults committed to the well-being of a child.
Parents are children's primary teachers.
Upon completion of the training, participants may purchase an annual partnership with fees depending on the cubic footage of items they will use for class projects. Participants completing the prerequisite Orientation and Play Experience almost doubled in the past fiscal year and the number of schools, daycares, preschools and other organizations served around the state almost tripled. After purchasing a partnership, teachers and parents then take materials back to their classrooms and homes to use in play-based projects with children. Through these projects, children's abilities become more visible to themselves, peers, teachers and parents. They first get to know the material-playing with it, seeing how it feels, posing questions.