Holon’s new baby

The Tif Taf Center is a novel learning facility for children under three – and their parents.

By ORI J. LENKINSKI
The Tif Taf Center in Holon (photo credit: TAL KIRSHENBAUM)
The Tif Taf Center in Holon
(photo credit: TAL KIRSHENBAUM)
As any new parent will tell you, children do not arrive with an instruction manual. Though perhaps a cliché, the absolute lack of knowledge that first-time mothers and fathers discover upon welcoming a baby into the world is often surprising and overwhelming.
While some families benefit from the accrued experience of grandparents or other relatives, many parents find themselves feeling utterly alone in their quest to become the best mother or father they can be.
In Israel, the official educational structures become available to families once a child turns three. It is then that children are eligible to enroll in municipal preschools, where parents reap the benefit of community activities.
Before that, parents are left to their own devices. And yet research shows again and again that this period is the most critical in cognitive and emotional development.
It is exactly for this reason that the Holon Municipality created the Tif Taf Center. Championed by municipality director Hanna Hertzman, the newly opened center aims to extend a loving hand to parents and children aged zero to three.
“Holon is the City of Children,” beams Hertzman. “I am a new grandmother with three grandchildren who are all under three. I started to wonder what young or new parents have to do with their kids outside the home. As a leader in the Holon community, I constantly ask myself if we have enough activities here for every age group. I saw that for this age group of birth to two plus, we don’t have enough.”
Hertzman has been the director of the Holon Municipality since 1993.
She recently added a master’s in early childhood education to her roster of degrees. During her studies, she came across the writings of Israel Prize winner Prof. Pnina Klein. Hertzman later called Klein and asked her if she wanted to be part of a ground-breaking project. Klein jumped on board without hesitation.
It took 18 months for the two women and their team of architects, counselors and designers to craft the space that is today the Tif Taf Center. Sadly, Klein died suddenly a few days before the official opening.
“She was an amazing woman,” says Hertzman. “I was completely in awe of her. She had an immense knowledge of this age group. She chose every little piece of the space – the color of the sponges, every character in the movies, the music and the toys. We sat and discussed every little detail. We met once a week for a year and a half to discuss every detail in the exhibition.
We checked every toy, what its goals were, where it was made and what it was made of. Every single aspect of the space is deliberate.”
The amount of care that went into Tif Taf is evident upon entering the space. Each area in the open-plan room offers a different attraction, be it touch-screen games, giant foam cubes for climbing, the interactive library or the stuffed-animal petting corner.
“The idea is that space responds to the child,” explains Tif Taf director Iris Granot. “This sends a message to the child that making an effort is worthwhile, that he or she is seen, heard and felt by the environment.”
Although play is central to Tif Taf, it is not a gymboree. Parents visiting Tif Taf are encouraged to get as involved in their child’s playtime as possible.
At any given time, two counselors are present. They are there to guide the parents during playtime, to answer questions and to share information about healthy practices.
“The biggest challenge was to get parents to understand that our counselors aren’t entertainers. It’s not a place that’s just for enjoyment,” explains Hertzman.
First-time visitors receive a binder that outlines the philosophy behind Tif Taf, called More Intelligent and Sensitive Child (MISC).
“The goal of this approach is to provide a high-quality menu. Just as our bodies need a balanced diet, our minds also need balanced menus. In the MISC approach, we teach quality communication using baby steps, which allows the child to fulfill his or her potential,” says Granot.
Hertzman and Klein brought Granot on board near the completion of the center’s construction. An expert in early childhood education (both academically and as the mother of six), Granot puts parent learning at the core of Tif Taf’s goals.
“We want to facilitate parents to play with their kids. The experience is opened through the joint enjoyment of the child and parent. That’s where the opportunity for information and learning lies,” she explains.
“We work with the parents so that they can work with the children. We aren’t trying to work with the children because the parents are the ones who spend time with them. We want to give parents the sense that they know best because confidence is so important.
When a parent feels confident, he/she is much more open to give. Parents almost always have the best sense of how to care for their own children,” says Granot.
In the few weeks since Tif Taf opened, the response has been overwhelming.
“In the beginning, people weren’t aware that they could ask or that they could lean on or learn from us. Now parents come with lists of questions,” she says.
Private counseling sessions, in which parents are filmed during playtime and then reviewed together with an expert, are also available at the center. These meetings are offered by appointment. Other resources parents can draw upon include a collection of articles, curated by Granot, about healthy parenting, after-school programs and performances.
“These years are critical. From birth to three, the mind is very elastic,” says Granot. “The more we pour in, the more we strengthen the mind’s abilities.
In the 21st century we are exposing our children to a world of stimuli.
Here, we teach how to choose the right stimuli, not just at the center but back at home and out in the world.”
Although there are no official details available yet, the Holon Municipality will soon unveil another project geared at this age group. The next Tif Taf, Hertzman’s newest baby, will be housed by the Holon Theater and will bring together education and the arts.
The Tif Taf Center is located at 109 Hankin Street in Holon. Single visits cost NIS 30 for a parent-child pair. A 10-visit card costs NIS 250. For more information, visit www.holon.muni.il.