Treasure Chest

I was one of the lucky parents who helped walk my son's nursery class (27 children) to Kendal library today. We were accorded a police escort in the form of PC "Bill" who stopped the traffic on the two roads we had to cross. He must be one of the tallest constables around and towered over the children!


On arriving at the library the children made special crowns with glue and sticky tape which required quite a lot of adult intervention! After this strenuous activity they were fortified with water or milk and a choice of fruit (libraries weren't like that in my day!). They all then sat entranced as the librarians read them two stories with some audience participation.


They were rewarded for the patience with a quick action song session with them all having fun joining in. In fact it looked so much fun some adults with disabilities joined in after being surprised by the normally quiet library being such a hive of activity.



At the end of the session the children were handed a surprise of a ticket entitling them to a Bookstart Treasure Chest. They were shown the contents of one of these with books, colouring and a secret compartment! These tickets were so precious that the children clutched them tightly all the way back to the nursery... a bribe for tired legs was the thought of the Chests waiting for them back at school...


My son was so excited to be handed his box plus one for his friend who was off sick. We had barely got to the car before he asked me to open it so he could have a look!  He also had to take his box to show his sister when we picked her up from school:

He was pleased with the contents which included We're Going on a Bear Hunt:

I think these Bookstart chests and other handouts to children are fantastic. The children at nursery obviously all love books and these help to cement that love at an early age.