Our Founder
Eileen Levine, M. A., founder and director, was inspired to develop Creative Play for Kids in 2000 after being disappointed with the “mommy and me” programs she and her infant son tried. Eileen wanted to find a class that best suited the needs of her and her son, a program that had just the right mix of music and movement activities, was fun, had an enthusiastic teacher, and was fairly priced. Much to her surprise, she couldn’t find one. So with encouragement from her mommy friends and her husband, she was inspired to create something on her own.
Having worked as a child development specialist and an early childhood educator, Eileen was able to draw from all of her resources. She combined her academic knowledge of child development, her professional experience in early childhood education, and applied them to create an upbeat, dynamic, fun, music and movement play program.
Creative Play for Kids first began in 2002 with one class per week in a downtown Greenwich Village location. Currently, Creative Play for Kids is in multiple locations primarily in downtown Manhattan. In February 2005 Creative Play for Kids was featured on FOX 5’s Morning Show “Good Day New York.” In 2014, Eileen was featured as a developmental expert in a series of developmentally based on-line videos for Parents Magazine.
While Eileen no longer teaches the classes herself, she has hired wonderfully talented musicians and instructors all of whom bring their individual talents to Creative Play for Kids.
While it has been many years since Eileen taught that first class in Greenwich Village she has loved and continues to love every minute of being with the babies and toddlers. Creative Play for Kids is her passion and love. Ask Eileen about Creative Play for Kids and she says, “I think I have the best job in the world because I get to be a part of so many people’s lives; I get to watch babies grow and develop into little people; and they all have a place in my heart. Creative Play for kids was a seed that sprouted into a full size garden and I’m just fortunate enough to be its caretaker”.
Eileen Levine holds a Masters Degree in Child Development and Educational Psychology from Columbia University. She has worked as a Child Life Specialist at Bellevue Hospital, counseled families in need, and worked as an early childhood educator in a variety of therapeutic nursery school settings. Eileen is a mom and resides in Manhattan with her husband and son.
The classes are great and Eileen has trained her teachers very well…some of the best I have seen.”
– Jen, an Upper Westside Mom
