Families Week Celebrations at the Toy Library

May 31, 2012

On Thursday afternoon May 17, 25 children and 17 adults enjoyed a teddy bears picnic in the back yard of the Toy Library on Finch Street in Bingara which was a combined activity from the Public Library and the Toy Library for Families week.

There were mats and picnic rugs set out on the ground, two tables of picnic food and refreshments plus chairs for the Mums and Dads to sit on to watch the excitement.

Gail and her “Friends of the Library” along with the kids/book club children joined us for our picnic and read stories to the other children who attended. We also sang a few bear songs to end our afternoon. Everyone seemed to have a good time and all went home with a bag of goodies which were provided by the Australian Government.

This event also involved a teddy bear sleepover at the Toy Library. The children were to bring along a teddy/doll/toy (not sleep time teddy though) along to the picnic and then leave it in the library for the night. The children placed their special stuffed toy where they thought they would like to play and then went home, leaving the toy to have a great adventure during the night.

On Friday morning the children returned to hunt for their teddy. You see all of the toys had been playing overnight and shots were captured by the staff and then compiled into a flip album of photos of the antics the toys got up to. Staff then hid them in a different spot ready for their master to find them. What a night!!

This was an event planned and executed from the combined efforts of the Public Library and Toy Library staff plus the friends of the library volunteers. Staff kindly donated their time to compile the night time teddy fun as they love seeing the children having a good time and know that imaginative play is so important for a child’s development.

A special mention must also go to Kim Apthorpe, Social Services Assistant, Youth Space students Crystal Cooper, Georgia Coss and Kristy South for cooking yummy biscuits and cupcakes for this event they also did most of the washing up too. It was lovely to see them come down and help pass their cooking around and chat with the children. These girls sure were creative with their cooking.

The Toy Library is open each day and you do not need to be a member to participate in these events or to come and play at the library. The Public Library is open each day and Gail and her volunteers run valuable activities after school for our community.

(Contributed)