The Grande Prairie Public Library will be kicking off its Summer Reading Games, with this year’s theme being Musical Mayhem.
The Summer Reading Games will run from June 28th to August 19th, with the kick-off happening Saturday, June 24th. Lead for the children’s summer reading games Hallie Idell says the kick-off event will include something for the entire family with performers, a bounce house, and games. However, the summer initiative itself is hoped to help keep participants engaged in reading.
“When [kids] get off school usually they don’t want to read they want to go outside, so we have incentives to keep these kids engaged in reading like we have a bunch of fun prizes that they can win just from reading,” Ideal says. “We have these little booklets that they can fill out for every 10 minutes of reading and at the end it adds up.”
This summer the library will also be teaming up with United for Literacy, as every Wednesday between July 5th and August 23rd there will be different reading tents set up at various parks throughout the city to encourage reading.
Children’s program coordinator Kate Renfree adds these sorts of activities and initiatives create a chance to combat what is known as the summer slide.
“By keeping it fun and celebrating success with prizes, we hope to encourage a lifelong love of stories as well as bringing the community together.”
Kick-off Saturday will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Grande Prairie Public Library.