What’s your best adventure outfit? River City Coffee will be hopping with children and parents playing games tomorrow evening as the annual Family Literacy Day event takes place from 4 to 7 pm, Thursday, January 27 so put on your best adventure gear, and come out to join the fun.
“The theme for Family Literacy Day this year is Play for Literacy,” said Literacy Outreach Coordinator Emma Larocque. “It’s an event that will focus on fun learning.” There will be games, coffee and tea, snacks and prizes, and the event is free and open to everyone. “Learning can seem so serious sometimes,” Larocque continued. “It’s good to get together to really enjoy playing and to recognize the important role that playing can take in learning.”
Play has been shown to be an important part of literacy, from baby to teenager. From an early age games can help to enhance oral and written language skills, as well as motor skills. Games that are played by more than one person also provide quality time for the participants.
“When I was growing up we often played games on weekends and evenings,” Larocque said. “I have very fond memories of spending time with my parents and sisters around the boards of our favourite games. Lots of times those games evolved as we changed and adapted the rules to suit us. To this day, playing games is something we do whenever we’re all together.”
According to the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), play is essential for all children’s healthy development and learning across all ages, domains, and cultures. Play
• Enables children to make sense of their world.
• Develops social and cultural understandings.
• Allows children to express their thoughts and feelings.
• Fosters flexible and divergent thinking.
• Provides opportunities to meet and solve real problems.
• Develops language and literacy skills and concepts.
Tomorrow’s Family Literacy Day event is sponsored by Powell River Literacy Council, but many partners from the community have come together to make it happen. “We have had a great team of people working on this,” Larocque said. Representatives from all the organizations will be present to run games and raise awareness about the literacy services they offer to families. “Besides being fun, the event will be a great way for local families to learn more about the literacy-related services that are available to them.” Powell River Public Library, Powell River Family Place, StrongStart, Tla’Amin Community Health Services, Powell River Youth, Child and Family Services, Community Adult Literacy and Learning, Powell River Diversity Initiative and the brand new English Second Language Settlement Assistance Program are the organizations that will be represented.
Some ways to play for literacy with children at home:
Host a family game night where everyone is encouraged to read instructions, actively participate and keep score. Invite another family over for a friendly competition.
Driving in the car doesn’t have to be boring. Turn off the radio and play fun games involving signs, billboards and licence plates.
Play an active game such as Simon Says, which improves comprehension skills.
Open a book and make up a story using just the pictures (either adult or child can make up the story, or it can be a combined effort).
Follow a recipe to make a batch of cookies together, where the child does the reading. Not only will it help improve math skills but there’s also a yummy treat at the end.
Card games like Go Fish help children learn to articulate sounds and improve memory development.
Have a scavenger hunt. Give children a list of items that have been hidden around the house and ask them to find them.
