Keeping children reading through the summer is a great way to keep their minds active, their creativity engaged, and a way to keep them busy!
The TD Summer Reading club has long been a favourite club for children, and this year we’re delighted to announce that it will all happen – online! Children can register at www.tdsummerreadingclub.ca, and keep track of what they’re reading. Report their reading at peclibrary.org/kids, and we’ll enter them into a weekly draw for prize packs including a soccer ball, basketball, skipping ropes, travel bingo, puzzles, card games, a Golden Snitch Model, and a Harry Potter wooden model. And yes – “reading” can be comics, being read to, or any other interpretation that means your child is engaging with the written word.
Although we can’t welcome children into the library to browse, we are happy to do some personal shopping for them. Email Joanna at jhoward@peclibrary.org with your child’s age and interests, and she will pack up a bag of library books and DVDs for them.
Our summer programs usually bring groups of children into the library to play, learn and discover. This year, Joanna and Belicia, will host three online clubs that will meet weekly over Zoom – Game Changers, Dreamers, and Coders. Game Changers: What’s the best part about summer camp (other than s’mores)? Silly games of course! Let’s build our own games and play together in a group. Each week we will play different games together and build your own games to play with at home.
Game Changers will be challenged to work together and get their game on! Dreamers: What kind of dreamer are you? Embark on a summer of discovery and creativity.
Dreamers will create their own “Wreck It Journal” and work on various creative art and writing projects. Try your hand at different forms of storytelling and work on a group video project.
Coders: Have you ever thought about how your computer communicates a message? Coding is the language that tells a computer what to do. At Coding Club we will get together each week to learn how to code through a block coding program called scratch! You will learn how to add sound, motion, and visual effects to animations and even learn to create your own game. Basic navigational skills on a computer are recommended, and this program will be best suited for kids 8 and up.
Registration opens June 15 at peclibrary.org/kids and will remain open until the groups hit capacity. We’ll mail you a kit of supplies that you’ll need, or arrange curbside pick up at any branch of the library.
We also have a no-tech option if that is better for your family. You can register by phone at (613) 476-5962.
We look forwarding to connecting with children across Prince Edward County this summer.
NOTE: We now have one public access computer set up outside of the Picton Branch Library in good weather from 10 – noon Tuesday through Saturday. We sanitize between uses.
-Liz Zylstra