Summer is officially here! We have some great programs and activities planned for the summer, which will focus on getting outside and being active. We will continue to have our Children’s Storytime on Tuesdays at the Bruce Johnston Branch and Fridays at the Millbrook Branch. As we had such a great turnout last year, we will be continuing with our No Bake Cooking Club on Tuesdays at 1:00pm. Children will learn valuable skills when it comes to dealing with food and how to use a variety of kitchen equipment.
This summer we’re going to be introducing obstacle courses at the Bruce Johnston Branch. Join us on Thursdays at 10:00am to get active and enjoy the weather! Children will improve their gross motor skills, analytical thinking, strength, balance, coordination, and so much more! There will also be the opportunity later in the summer for children to help create their own obstacle courses, with the help of staff.
Every Wednesday at the Millbrook Branch we will be hosting a surprise activity! For the first week of summer, we will be tie dying, an activity that focuses on creativity and imagination. For this activity, we ask that you bring a shirt or other item of clothing to be tie dyed. Weather permitting, we will be outside. Every week, Courtney will be posting on social media what the next activity will be. See if you can guess what we will be doing based on the following themes:imagination, construction, history, and cooking/creating.
On Fridays at the Millbrook Branch, we will be focusing on being Mindfully Outdoors. Using our five senses and creativity, we will be engaging in a variety of activities that will help us connect with the nature that is all around us. Some of the activities will include a scavenger hunt, cloud watching, leaf art, how to make a suncatcher, and how to stretch like an animal.
Join us every Thursday at the Bruce Johnston Branch for a Lego Challenge. How can you make a catapult out of Lego that actually works? How do the Legos need to be arranged so that they can make an exploding volcano? What design do you need to choose to make a functioning marble maze? Let’s find out!
On Saturdays in July and August, the Bruce Johnston Branch will be having French reading for students from kindergarten to grade 2. This is an informal drop-in but the perfect opportunity for your little one to keep up with their French during the summer holiday.
On top of our fun activities and programs, we’ve also kicked off our TD Summer Reading Program! Stop by either branch to grab a goodie bag filled with fun activities and reading ideas. We will also be having the TD Story Walks, which will be out on the first week of July. Both branches will have “Treasure” by Mireille Messier. Our Bruce Johnston Branch will have the bilingual version, which will switch to Millbrook in August.
As a fun way to start the summer holidays, we will be hosting Critter Visits again! Enjoy a visit with sheep, goats, rabbits, pigs, chicks, chickens, ducks, and geese. Staff from Woolley Wonderland will be on hand to answer questions about the animals and to ensure that they are being well taken care of.
Weekly & Monthly Activities:
We will be continuing to have our regularly scheduled activities, such as our Adult Storytime for individuals who have physical/developmental disabilities and our two Adult Book Clubs which follow the same book. We will also continue with our Catalogue of People; Rob Hiseler will be stopping by to discuss wills and estate planning. Included in our crafty groups are Community Threads every third Saturday and Knotty knitters every fourth Tuesday at the Bruce Johnston Branch. We also have our Cookbook Book Club, which focuses on new and interesting recipes that we have in our cookbooks, magazines, and even in our online resources.
Our Coffee & Conversation will be moving to our Bruce Johnston Branch! Stop by and have a chat with Courtney and Karla and enjoy a variety of flavoured coffees and teas. Courtney has tried the rosebud tea (from our spice library) and both the herbal and black tea versions are surprisingly good!
Both branches of the CMLibraries will be closed on Saturday, July 1st. Happy Canada Day!
See our newsletter for more information regarding activities and programming. If you have any questions or concerns, let staff know or email Courtney at tutor@cmlibraries.ca
By Courtney Spence
