Tots: Saturday Playdate


Date: Apr 13
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Where: Harbour View Room
TOTS

Kickstart your weekend by joining us at The Rooms! Spend Saturday mornings with your little ones in our charming Harbour View Room. It's a delightful opportunity for unguided playtime amidst a variety of toys and books tailored for toddlers aged 2 to 4.

There's no need to pre-register; simply pay your admission at The Rooms front desk and then drop in anytime between 10 am and noon and let the weekend festivities commence! 

While the activities are designed for children aged 2 to 4, younger kids are more than welcome. Caregivers are required to accompany their children throughout the session. Our program room can accommodate up to 20 adults with their little ones, but if it's full, caregivers are encouraged to step back momentarily to allow space for others to join in the fun.

The Playdate is included in the cost of admission. Free for Rooms Members. 

With support from Tom and Susan (Kent) Foran Family Foundation.

Events & Programs

2:30 pm - 3:30 pm

Have you ever wondered about the connections between creativity and neurodivergence, such as autism, ADHD, or dyslexia? From attention to detail to pattern recognition and language originality, neurodivergent artists can display talents that could be considered advantages.

Join us for a moderated panel discussion with Dr. Andreae Callanan and Dr. Kate Lahey, who will talk about how neurodivergent people express creativity in unique, unconventional ways.

Part of the discussion will address some challenges for neurodivergent artists during and following the creative process, such as executive functioning, sleep disturbances, and burnout. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions following the presentation.

Cost: $12 plus HST. Free for Rooms members. Register online or by calling (709) 757-8090.

About the Panelists:

Andreae Callanan holds a PhD in English from Memorial and serves as co-convener of the Research and Knowledge Exchange on Critical Disability Studies at the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research. Her debut poetry collection, The Debt (Biblioasis, 2021), was shortlisted for the E. J. Pratt Family Poetry Prize and was a runner-up in the Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry. Andreae’s creative and critical writing has been published in Riddle Fence, The Walrus, Newfoundland Quarterly, Canadian Notes & Queries, Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, and in Best Canadian Essays 2026. She lives in St. John’s.

Dr. Kate Lahey holds a PhD from the University of Toronto, is the front person of the band Weary, and writes arts criticism. As a musician, writer, scholar, community organizer, and postdoctoral fellow at Memorial’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, her research centers on trauma-informed values such as healing, care, empathy, and social justice.