Maria Dyck makes a paper fish during Family Literacy Day at the Meadow Lake Library on July 30. The library had books to read that were connected to the five crafts and activities. (Nikita Ganovicheff/meadowlakeNOW staff)

By Nikita Ganovicheff

Summer Reading

Meadow Lake Library hosts Family Literacy Day

Jul 31, 2019 | 10:12 AM

The Meadow Lake Library is combating summer reading loss by getting parents involved with their child’s summer reading.

The library held a Family Literacy Day as part of their TD Summer Reading Club on July 30. Five crafts and activities were set up for children and parents and books were provided that connected to the activities.

“This is just one example of a good way for parents to think about what their kids are doing over the summer and to combat that dreaded summer slide where kids start school and they feel behind,” Programming Clerk Tawn Marshall said. “Whether or not they are actually behind, this is a good way to show families and kids that you can engage with literacy and it doesn’t have to be just for school.”

Families made paper animals and animal masks out of paper plates and put together a keychain with their name on it. They also participated in a balloon race and a ping pong ball shake where the kids had to shake the balls out of a box without using their hands.

Kids who finished all five activities were entered into a draw for movie theatre tickets.

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Gianna Dileone (left) and Nora Martodam compete in the balloon race. (Nikita Ganovicheff/meadowlakeNOW staff)

Maria Dyck said she had fun making crafts but her favourite was the balloon race. She said she read a lot of books this summer as part of the TD Summer Reading Club and wanted to check out more books after she was done.

Marshall said the activities and reading encourages families to participate in things together including reading.

“The more the parents read that encourages and models children’s reading and this is also a way to show families is that they can extend reading into wider activities,” Marshall said. “It’s easy to find something to go along with the book to extend what they’ve learned and integrate some of the ideas that they’re reading in the book into something in real life.”

Quinn Hoddenbagh and Casey How make keychains with their names on it at Family Literacy Day. (Nikita Ganovicheff/meadowlakeNOW staff)

Marshall estimates 150 children have signed up for the reading club this summer and most of their summer programming is fully booked.

“We have a lot of children signed up for our reading club. Kids of all ages, right from when they’re babies and can’t actually read they can have their parents or siblings read to them all the way up to teenagers. We really encourage that and we love to have kids reading and engaging with the library,” Marshall said.

The TD Summer Reading Club ends with a wrap up party on Aug. 22 where there will be more activities for children to try as well as a children’s entertainer. Kids have until Aug. 23 to bring in their book logs and will be entered into a draw to win a gift card for a local business of their choice.

According to TD Canada Trust, the program is offered in more than 2,000 libraries and reaches 700,000 children annually. TD estimates attendees at all clubs read more than 1.2 million books each summer.

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nikita.ganovicheff@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @Nikitaganov