Rooted In Community: Local Gems For Families
At Little Roots, we believe it takes a village to raise confident, thriving kids—and we’re so grateful to grow alongside a community full of incredible people and places. This page is our way of sharing the love! Here you’ll find a curated list of trusted local resources—from play spaces and wellness providers to shops and services that support families just like yours.
Whether you’re looking to connect, explore, or simply find a new favorite spot, we hope this guide helps you feel even more rooted in our shared journey of growing together. Because Little Roots loves local—and we know you will too!
Therapies & Developmental Support
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Thrive SPOT
Lauren Ruffage is a Speech Language Therapist who offers evaluations and treatment of feeding and swallowing, orofacial myofunctional disorders and speech sound disorders. Her philosophy is holistic: determine the root cause in order to address a symptom. Lauren serves children from birth to 12+, providing one-on-one therapy in the home, daycare or school setting.
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Mini Milestones Physical Therapy
At Mini Milestones, we strive to provide a whole-body and collaborative approach from infants to adults. Our goal is to improve the quality of life of our clients while increasing their overall functional independence and self-efficacy. Brittany is a national board-certified, registered, and licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy, who has a passion for thinking outside of the box and providing individualized care specific to each client and family. She is a Board Certified Neurologic Specialist, Certified Brain Injury Specialist, as well as an Introductory Level C DMI certified practitioner and Certified Primitive Reflex Practitioner.
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Amy Mack, LCSW, RPT
Amy Mack, LCSW, RPT a trauma-informed therapist offering play therapy, family counseling, and parent support in Central New York. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Registered Play Therapist, she specializes in play-based approaches, nervous system regulation, and relational healing. Services include individual therapy for children, family counseling, parent coaching, and group workshops grounded in neuroscience and attachment. She specializes in nervous system regulation and connection-based care for children and families.
She is certified to lead Raising Kids with Big, Baffling Behaviors: A Parenting and Caregiver Course. This parenting course, which was created by Robyn Gobbel, author of the book by the same name, supports caregivers with better understanding the neuroscience of behavior and provides practical tools for connection, co-regulation, and compassion-based parenting.
Wellness for Kids & Families
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The Alexandre Centre For Children's Health
The Alexandre Centre was created solely to please the children and parents of today. The independent physicians and professionals at the Alexandre Centre ("we") aspire to provide medical care and wellness in a setting where the wonderment and joy are retained, and the heartaches and nightmares are left out. From the moment we opened our doors, the mission has been to build a community of joyful, healthy families. We aim to make a positive difference in children's lives by providing outstanding care and heartfelt service. We practice holistic medicine, integrative medicine, allopathic medicine, homeopathy, food is medicine, complementary medicine, alternative medicine, naturopathy, Ayurveda, amongst others. We invite you to come experience all the Centre has to offer.
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Primal Chiropractic
Primal Chiropractic is a family wellness practice specializing in pediatrics, pregnancy, postpartum, & whole family health located in Fayetteville, NY. Primal Chiropractic is designed to make you feel at home, our team has a passion to educate and empower whole families in their holistic health care journey. The body houses your nervous system, the most PRIMAL part of you, our goal is to help you tap into its true potential, and become the BEST version of yourself!
Support & Connection
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Cuse Mom's Club
Cuse Moms’ Club is connection and support for moms in Syracuse. This club strives to find, share and plan adventures for you and your littles around the area!
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5 Moons Doula
Jessica of 5 Moons Doula has a deep passion for supporting birthing families, bringing a well-rounded foundation of training and hands-on experience to her doula practice. As your doula, she’s there to support you with knowledge, compassion, and confidence every step of the way — from pregnancy through birth and into the postpartum period. Her qualifications include:
Certified Birth Doula (2021): Professionally trained and certified to support families through labor and delivery with evidence-based care and emotional, physical, and informational support.
Prevention and Treatment of Maternal Birth Trauma (2021): Specialized training focused on identifying, preventing, and addressing birth-related trauma, ensuring compassionate care and mental wellness for birthing individuals.
Certified Postpartum Doula (2023): Equipped to provide essential support in the early postpartum period, including newborn care, emotional support, and guidance during the transition to parenthood.
Spinning Babies® Workshop Attendee (April 2024): Hands-on training in physiological techniques to support optimal fetal positioning and comfort in pregnancy and labor, enhancing birth outcomes and reducing interventions.
Certified VBAC Doula (2025): Trained to support clients planning a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC), offering informed, personalized care rooted in the latest research and best practices.
Certifying Placenta Encapsulator (2025): Currently completing certification in placenta encapsulation to provide an additional holistic service aimed at postpartum recovery and hormonal balance.
Every family’s journey is different, and her goal is to walk beside you with respect, warmth, and evidence-based care — wherever your path leads.
Creative Play & Learning
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My Gym Children's Fitness Center
My Gym offers Mommy & Me classes, independent beginner gymnastics classes, camps and birthday parties for children starting as young as 4 months all the way up until 8 years old! With new class curriculum, fun themed camps and exclusive use of the entire facility for birthday parties, My Gym is a no brainer.
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Play2Learn
Play2Learn is a weekly program that offers parent child classes in Dewitt, Baldwinsville and Skaneateles. We offer a Baby Sensorimotor class for ages 5 months-16 months and our Multi Age Art & Sensory Class is ideal for ages 18 months-age 5. Founded by a mother and former teacher, we've created a class that encourages healthy development during the early childhood years. Each class offers a new theme, stories, music and movement, art and sensory play and of course promotes socialization and language development. Contact play2learntt@gmail.com to schedule a free demo class and be sure to stream the Play2Learn Podcast to learn from experts in the fields of parenting and early childhood development.
Outdoor Adventure & Nature Spots
Local Finds We Love
Events & Seasonal Fun
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Mommy & Me Yoga Day With Cuse Moms' Club
Join us for a day of connection with your baby or toddler this summer! Two separate yoga classes will be offered—one for Mom & Baby and a second for Mom & Toddler. More details to come from Little Roots and Cuse Moms’ Club about this fun collaboration!
Tentatively planned for Tuesday, July 29th!
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Little Roots On The Play2Learn Podcast
This summer Little Roots will be guest speaking on the Play2Learn Podcast! Stay tuned—we will be discussing the importance of sensory integration and play in the first few years of life for optimal growth and development in babies and toddlers.
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Back-To-School Event With Primal Chiropractic
Little Roots and Primal Chiropractic are teaming up to bring you a back-to-school day, where you’ll learn about growth and development cues to keep an eye on as your child transitions back to a school setting or goes to school for the first time, as well as discuss brain and spinal wellness within your child. Keep on the look out for more details about this end-of-summer event—it’s never too early to set your child up for success in the classroom!