On Wednesday 7th September, ‘My Place’ Family Day Care organised a special playgroup session celebrating Children’s Book Week. We also encouraged our Coordinators, Educators and children to dress up as their favourite Australian book characters!
Established in 1945, The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) (www.cbca.org.au) is a not-for-profit, volunteer run organisation aiming to nurture a literate, educated and creative Australian society.
Every year, CBCA aims to connect children and books by celebrating Children’s Book Week across Australia. During this time, schools, libraries, booksellers, authors, illustrators and children celebrate Australian children’s literature.
This year’s Book Week theme is Australia: Story Country. The theme has the potential to involve cross-curriculum priorities, particularly regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and culture, Asian and other cultures from around the world.
Our playgroup started with a lively storytelling session by a special guest – Colleen McCarthy from the local Inala library. To warm up, Colleen first introduced herself and started singing a few children’s songs with some clapping and dancing too.
Colleen proceeded to tell two award-winning children’s stories:
Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas by Aaron Blabey
(The Book of the Year: Early Childhood 2016 Notable by CBCA)
Ollie and the Wind by Ronojoy Ghosh
(The Book of the Year: Early Childhood 2016 Notable by CBCA)
“I previously worked as a teacher for 25 years. I only recently started to work at Inala and West End libraries. I also visit Mission Australia and various schools to organise storytelling sessions. The best part about storytelling is you can create imaginary worlds through interesting stories and songs while engaging with the children in stimulating ways,” shared Colleen.
Colleen later distributed the Brisbane City Library brochures and encouraged our Educators to bring the children to local libraries especially during school holidays. You can find out the latest events here: https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/facilities-recreation/libraries/opening-hours-locations/inala-library.
The children had a free Play Session afterwards.
Educator Kerri Roughley with one of the three children in care.
Find out more ideas on how you can celebrate Book Week: https://cbca.org.au/book-week-activities
Reading and storytelling are great ways to spend time and bond with your child. They also help promoting language, literacy and brain development. To contact ‘My Place’ Family Day Care, please visit http://myplacefdc.org.au, e-mail FDCadmin@ich.org.au or call (07) 3372 1711.