INNISFAIL – It was a celebration of family literacy.
Families from across the region came out for the 4th Annual Family Literacy Festival at the Innisfail Library/Learning Centre on Jan. 25.
The one-day event included a variety of interactive activities, a free barbecue lunch provided by members of Innisfail town council, an Under the Sea-themed storytime, games, a community art project, crafts, treasure hunt, photo booth, computer coding session and a sensory play area.
“It did start very slowly with the storytime. From zero people it went to a few dozen very quickly,” said Tara Downs, library manager. “It’s been busy ever since.
“Town council was pretty excited that it was such a nice day because they draw people out there, they get to engage with them and talk with them,” she added.
Several partners joined the Innisfail Public Library for the annual Family Literacy Festival, noted Downs, including the Envision Children First Coalition, Henday Centre for Lifelong Learning, the Town of Innisfail, and the town’s Family and Community Support Services, (FCSS).
Downs said there were several new and returning family activities during the event, with some revolving around the festival’s Under the Sea theme.
“We have fishing for prizes, Envision Children is doing their tinker shack and blocks and that is always busy. Kids love that station,” said Downs. “We have Kapla blocks for a family building activity, we have virtual reality in the foyer and we have Harry Potter coding in the Henday room.”
Family Literacy Day is a national awareness initiative by ABC Life Literacy Canada, held every year on Jan. 27. It helps raise awareness of the importance of reading and engaging in literacy-related activities as a family.
Downs also noted the importance of celebrating literacy as a family and its positive impact.
“(Statistics) show that success in school is dependent on early literacy and that’s what this is about,” said Downs. “If a family is engaging in this sort of activity and showing the importance of literacy there tends to be a correlation between that and success in school.”
The Caissie family from Penhold was one of many enjoying the day’s activities.
“This is our second time here. It’s a fun family event that the kids seem to enjoy,” said Natasha Caissie. “We made a trip back this year for it as well because they put on a good program like this.”
