Our local library has a regular art club for children one Sunday a month. The only time we have managed to go is when it coincided with my book club! Today when we nipped into the library there was a special day on with the resident artist getting children to help create a haunted house backdrop for this summer's reading challenge:
Of course my children were straight in there without even pausing to roll up their sleeves! They had a lot of creative fun painting one of the house walls:
They were having such fun I had time to take out a couple of books and sit reading one whilst drinking a coffee! It took them a while but eventually they produced this:
My daughter then had had enough but my son went on to do some turrets:
It was good old fashioned messy fun:
And I had a chance to notice and admire son of the great bits of art in the library building itself:
What a great way to attract families into libraries and I hope we can make t for the next session at the start of the holidays!
Saturday was the annual National Libraries Day though events weren't limited to just the one day. The idea is to promote libraries and encourage people of all ages to use their local library. Our local library in Kendal has recently had a major refurbishment and until Sunday we hadn't had a chance to check out the changes. From the outside it still looks like a traditional library with its design from 1909:
However on the inside it is very modern with a large range of books for everyone plus computer terminals, comfy seating and a coffee machine! I was wanting to try out the library Sunday book club as recommended by the librarian at my school. We were discussing Good Omens which is by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I had to take my children along but the library was an ideal place for this. One librarian suggested that my daughter go on one of the computers (she is 9 so just over the age to be unsupervised in the library) so she was happy. My son was in a corner of the library close to me and another librarian dug out a story sack of Where the Wild Things Are and he was happy making the toys fly over the book racks, not sure that's what the librarian intended! So I could relax and discuss the book. We went home with a plentiful supply of new library books and my son wasted no time in reading to me:
So as a family we all love our local library and we will be back again very soon. Do you use your local library?
1) Lie in Let your children wake up when they are ready - earliest mine made a noise was 8:45 today! This meant that we all got enough sleep after struggling with early starts for school. My children know mummy needs a relaxing start to the weekend so they take themselves downstairs and quietly watch TV. My daughter offered to do me breakfast in bed but she wasn't able to put together any of the Hairy Dieters ones so I had to miss out today... 2) Let off steam My son had bought a new maxi micro scooter with Christmas money as we had difficulty sharing the one we got to review at Easter! He was dead chuffed to have a special jubilee year one with a special bottle holder:
He and his sister then let off steam for half an hour in the street whilst I got on with the laundry:
3) A trip by the river We love going into Kendal along the banks of the river Kent. There is always wildlife to look out for and today we saw ducks and goosanders:
Along the way my on acted like a personal fitness instructor telling me to go faster and jump up the hill. He is a hard taskmaster:
4) Naughty lunch After all that exercise the children were allowed a Happy Meal in McDonalds. I was good and had the salad! 5) A literary break We nipped into the temporary library (newly refurbished library opens on Monday!) to return old books and borrow some new ones. My son loves choosing books and spent ages making a decision. The temporary selection didn't tempt my daughter but I have got a stack to help me with my 100 book challenge. 6) Sale shopping It's always good to have some Christmas money to spend in the sales and we all managed to grab some bargains. Always annoying when the size you want isn't available... 7) A restorative drink
It was such a cold day we had a drink at costa before heading home. We attempted to sit outside but had to retreat indoors! It was nice that we ended up chatting to another mum who gave us a hot tip for a football club for my son to join when he leaves Little Kickers. 8) A brisk walk home Not a day to dilly dally in the cold so we whizzed back home via the river bank again:
9) Car clean As I'm giving my mum a lift tomorrow it was time to clear out the rubbish and accumulated stuff and give it a vacuum! Wonder how long that will last... 10) Easy dinner It was a chance to empty freezer a bit tonight for an easy cook dinner. Kids very happy with fish fingers, waffles and peas! I had my leftovers from last night re-heated. Have to keep it simple sometimes. 11) Movie We are now all watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and I have my son snuggled on my knee. After our energetic day it's nice to unwind...
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.
