Interior Savings encourages Families to unplug and play this Family Literacy Week

MERRITT – Family Literacy Week kicks off January 22nd to 27th, which focuses on raising awareness about the importance of reading and engaging in literacy-related activities as a family. It’s also a great opportunity to take a break from one’s devices, which led to the creation of the Interior Savings Unplug and Play Family Literacy Week.

“Taking a break from our devices can be a challenge for many of us, but making a point of bringing more offline activities into our daily lives has many proven physical and mental health benefits,” says Brian Harris, CEO at Interior Savings.

Families are invited to the January 12th Merritt Centennials home-game sponsored by Interior Savings and Literacy Merritt & Nicola Valley Society.

Bring a book to donate to the Bright Red Bookshelves Book Drive. Join in on intermission games for literacy prizes and pick up your Family Literacy Week schedule. If you miss the game, your local Interior Savings branch will be accepting book donations from January 13th to January 27th.

Donations are also accepted at the Merritt Herald.

Come Read With Me will be offered to parents/caregivers of grade one children. Participants will learn strategies to support their children’s reading at home and receive a free book and literacy games.

Daytime sessions will be held at each elementary school and registration forms will be sent home with grade one students. In addition, an evening session will be held at the Merritt Library, Tuesday, January 23rd from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

To register for the evening session, visit literacymerritt.com

A Free 3-week session of Explore Art Literacy begins Wednesday, January 24th for children ages 4-6. Participants explore books and art through fun, hands-on, and sometimes very messy projects.

Pre-register at susan.c.parkinson@outlook.com.

Families are also invited to a Free Creative Playground at the Merritt Civic Centre, Friday, January 26th, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. There will be a variety of fun activities from dance to crafts, to games and stories, and a free concession.

Another FREE literacy program on offer is Active Stories. Held Saturdays from 10:00 to 10:45AM  for children ages 4 to 9, sessions are centered around a storybook with physical activity based on the storyline. Activities encourage the development of movement skills, improvisation and creativity. Pre-register at kia.ltdadance@gmail.com.

“This week is a great opportunity to let everybody know about all the family literacy programming on offer in our community – and not just what we’re doing as Literacy Merritt & Nicola Valley, but other groups in the community too.” said Susan Doncaster, Chair, Literacy Merritt & Nicola Valley Society.

Many of these and other literacy links and resources will be posted online. For more details, visit literacymerritt.com or facebook.com/LMNVS.