Tri-County Play Collaborative

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Charleston, SC
Tri-County Play Collaborative

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We'd love to introduce ourselves!

Ensuring every young child in the Tri-County can play, learn, and explore the arts, culture, nature, and history—through access to museums, theaters, nature centers, and more—regardless of income or background. We are an early childhood partnership between Tri County First Steps local agencies (Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester County First Steps), libraries, and cultural attractions offering parents and caregivers of young children from every community and economic background free or low-cost access to the Lowcountry's world-class museums, theatres, aquarium, historical sites, and nature centers. By offering this access, we seek to introduce young children from hard-to-reach communities to the powerful world of personal discovery and learning. Hundreds of young children, parents & caregivers, and early educators can explore local cultural and natural history, expand early learning concepts, deepen interests, and connect their natural curiosity to the wider world around them.
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Nos encantaría presentarnos! Tri-County Play Collaborative es una asociación de la primera infancia entre las asociaciones locales de Tri-County First Steps (condados de Charleston, Dorchester y Berkeley), el Museo de Niños de Lowcountry y las bibliotecas y atracciones culturales que ofrecen cuidadores primarios de niños pequeños de todas las comunidades, y económicos. Acceso gratuito o de bajo costo a los museos, teatros, acuarios, sitios históricos y de naturaleza de clase mundial de Lowcountry, y centros al aire libre. Nuestro objetivo es garantizar que las familias más difíciles de alcanzar tengan oportunidades de acceder a la comunidad local sin tener en cuenta el estado socioeconómico.

07/16/2026

🌿 Free Childbirth Education with BEE Collective 🌿

Expecting a baby? Join us this Saturday, July 18, from 10:00 AM–4:00 PM for our FREE Lamaze Childbirth Education Class!

You'll learn about:
🤎 Preparing for labor and birth
🤎 Comfort measures and pain management
🤎 The stages of labor
🤎 Breastfeeding and postpartum recovery
🤎 Newborn care and what to expect after birth
🤎 How partners and support people can help

Our classes are evidence-based, culturally responsive, and designed to help you feel informed, prepared, and confident as you welcome your baby.

This program is offered free of charge thanks to the generous support of the Coastal Community Foundation. 💛

📧 Space is limited! To register, email Simone at [email protected].

We look forward to walking alongside you on your birth journey. 🌼

07/11/2026

Some stories are meant to be lived.

At our 4th Annual Gullah Geechee Day at the Beach, children surfed, explored sea life, cast seine nets, and experienced the wonder of the coast together. Before heading home, we shared *Saving American Beach* by Heidi Tyline King—a reminder that these shores hold stories of resilience, belonging, and joy worth protecting.

Joy is our birthright. Play is how we reclaim it.

Thank you to our Youth 2 Ocean partners and our funders for making this Play as Prevention gathering possible.

07/06/2026

Every great art lover starts somewhere! 🎨

Introduce the tiniest member of your family to the wonderful world of art at the Gibbes with our Tiny Tour, a special gallery experience designed just for babies, toddlers, and their grown-ups!

Together, you’ll explore colorful works of art, discover fun shapes, and spark curiosity through a playful, family-friendly tour. Strollers are welcome, making it an easy outing for even the tiniest art lovers.

📅 July 9, 2026
🕥 10:30–11:00 AM

Free for Gibbes Members | Included with Museum Admission

Spark a lifelong love of art with a museum experience designed just for your littlest explorer.

SummerAdventure

06/12/2026

🌿 FREE Food as Medicine – Week 3: Breath as Medicine 🌿

Join us tomorrow from 11:00 AM–12:30 PM at Berkeley County First Steps as part of our 5-week Food as Medicine series with Takeya Meggett.

This week we'll focus on the healing power of breath. Through gentle breathing, movement, humming, rhythm, and co-regulation practices, caregivers will learn simple tools to reduce stress, support emotional well-being, and strengthen connection with the children in their care.

This session is especially supportive to pregnant and postpartum mothers, as well as any caregiver raising young children.

✨ Learn calming techniques for you and your child
✨ Practice rhythm-based grounding and breathwork
✨ Take home tools to support wellness and connection
✨ Enjoy a delicious Gullah-inspired meal with us!
(Banana pudding for dessert ya'll!)

Come breathe, connect, and be nourished in community.

06/03/2026

🏕️ Ready for a family adventure?

Join us for our FREE Family Camping Clinic & Play + Read Event on Sunday, June 7, from 2–5 PM at 2008 Success Street, North Charleston!

✨ Learn safety in nature
🌿 Explore Leave No Trace principles
⛺ Discover camping basics
🎲 Enjoy camping games and activities
📚 Play & Read fun for children
🍿 Camp snacks
🎁 Free giveaways
📝 Sign up for future family camping trips

Whether you're new to camping or already love spending time outdoors, this family-friendly event offers a fun way to build outdoor skills, connect with other families, and prepare for future adventures together.

Hosted by Tri-County Play Collaborative and the BEE Collective.

06/01/2026

Southern BEE Alliance First Aid Kit Assembly & Stay Ready Session!

Join us to identify what you and your family most need during an emergency and create your own personalized herbal, wellness, or care kit. Participants will also have access to a variety of free materials to support both holistic care needs and medical essentials.

Come build community, strengthen preparedness, and leave with resources to help you stay ready.

Please share and help us spread the word! See the updated flyer for details.

05/30/2026

Do you remember summer evenings spent near the water, trying to catch fireflies as the sun disappeared below the horizon?

Last night BEE Collective/ Tri-County Play Collaborative families enjoyed a magical sunset paddle with our friends at Charleston Kayak Company. Families paddled together as the day came to a close, then explored a cypress forest after dark in search of fireflies-including several new species found right here in the Lowcountry!

As part of our Play & Read Series, families also enjoyed Eric Carle's beloved children's book The Lonely Firefly, and each family received a free copy to take home.

Experiences like these help children build a lifelong connection to nature, spark curiosity, and create the kind of childhood memories that stay with us for years to come.

✨ Ready for the next adventure?

Join us for our next Play is Prevention event on Sunday, June 8, from 2:00–5:00 PM as families learn the basics of camping, outdoor safety, Leave No Trace principles, nature exploration, and how to confidently and safely enjoy the outdoors together.

🏕️ Great for first-time campers and families with young children!

🎟️ Register on Eventbrite.

Thank you to our amazing partners and families for joining us on this special adventure.

🛶🌅✨📚🌿🏕️

05/10/2026

This Mother’s Day, we honor and celebrate the love and labor of those who help children grow, heal, and thrive. Caregiving is essential work, and those who care for our youngest children deserve fair wages, benefits, wellness supports, and dignity.

As National Association for the Education of Young Children reminds us, investing in early childhood educators and caregivers is investing in children, families, and our collective future.

Happy Mother’s Day to all who mother, nurture, and hold community together. 🌿

04/22/2026

On this Earth Day, we center children and the generations they will carry forward 🌱

The way children play, explore, and connect with the land today shapes the world they—and those who come after them—will inherit. Every outdoor gathering, every moment of curiosity, every connection to nature is part of a longer story of care, stewardship, and belonging.
When we gather with families on our Tri-County Play Collaborative adventures, we teach and remind: leave no trace.

When we center children in our work, we are also tending to the future—protecting their right to breathe clean air, access safe green spaces, and grow in environments that nurture their full selves.

We hold all children as sacred to what comes next.

04/15/2026

A Closer Look with 2025 Community: Empowering Women Honoree Katrina Carpenter - https://mailchi.mp/ywca-charlestonsc/wwb-april-10588864

Address

Charleston, SC

Website

http://www.tricountyplay.org/

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