SEARCH SITE

EARLY CHILDHOOD - THE TOY LENDING CENTER

What is the Toy Lending Center?

Quality toys and equipment are important to the development of young children. Unfortunately, the tight budgets of most child-care centers and family child-care homes and households don't allow for much more than the essentials.

The Toy Lending Center (TLC) at Santa Fe Community College lends toys and equipment FREE OF CHARGE to community child-care providers and families. The more than 2,000 items available include educational play materials for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarteners. Materials for school-age children up to age 8 are also available.

The TLC is part of SFCC's Department of Education and is operated by the TTAP staff. A child development specialist is on-site to help with selecting appropriate toys and provide information about general child development issues.

Who may use the TLC?

• Parents, early childhood professionals in the community, and SFCC students and staff may all use the TLC. The service is FREE. To borrow toys, equipment and books, you must first complete a TLC registration form and present a valid New Mexico photo identification.

Location 

• The TLC is located on the south side of the SFCC campus next to the Early Childhood Development Center. The campus is on Richards Avenue, 2.5 miles south of Rodeo Road.

Hours

• The TLC is open every Wednesday from 1 to 5 p.m., the second Wednesday of every month from 1 to 8 p.m., and the second Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

What is available at the TLC?

Research shows that children learn basic skills through PLAY. The TLC supports children's learning by offering a diverse inventory of toys and equipment, including:

• Dramatic Play - furniture and accessories, dolls, puppets, dress-up clothes, play figures, and water and sand play equipment.
• Block Play - a wide variety of cardboard, plastic, soft and wooden unit blocks and block accessories.
• Large Motor Activities - riding, climbing, pushing and pulling equipment, balls, parachutes, ring tosses, bean bags and stilts.
• Small Motor Activities - LEGO, DUPLO and other building toys, scissors, nesting/stacking toys, stringing beads, puzzles and pegs and peg boards.
• Mathematics -geoboards, lotto games, and sorting and counting activities.
• Music - instruments, tape players, headphones, records, CDs, and cassettes.
• Art - easels, chalkboards, paintbrushes, and more.
• Language Development - "big books", books, story kits and tapes, flannel and magnetic boards and stories, finger puppets and puppet stage, and more.