Library offers summer fun for kids

Summer is here and if your kids aren’t yet out of school, they will be very soon. For maximum enjoyment, summer break at my house requires a little planning. Sunscreen for those lazy days at the pool — check. Lunchtime foods and snacks to feed kids and husband during the day — check. Whistle and striped shirt — check. OK, so that last one only applies if you have more than one child staying at home together this summer. Let’s just say “family togetherness” wears off quickly if your children are anything like mine. And since a summer full of bickering, tattling, and “he said, she said” might send my husband and I to an early grave, we’ve developed an offensive strategy I like to call “positive distraction.”

“Positive distraction” (heretofore PD) strategy combines change of scenery and activities at regular intervals so as to disrupt the normal sibling combatant cycle. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but does require some collaborators to be successful. One such collaborator — the library.

The Washington-Centerville Public Library not only provides a change of scenery, thanks to our newly redesigned children’s libraries, but it also provides countless free activities to keep your children busy. Plus, many of the activities are educational.

Library activities

Summer Reading Club – Clubs are available for babies, kids, teens and adults. Register online or at the library and then start reading. Your kids will be motivated by the thousands of free coupons, and prizes that have been donated by local businesses.

Cool Contests – Kids and teens can do word searches, match games, and even guess the number of items in a jar. New contests are offered each week, giving your little ones something to do, with the added anticipation of potentially winning a prize like Dragons tickets or movie passes.

Fun Events – With more than 20 different events slated for kids and teens in the months of June and July, chances are good you will not want for an activity. Whether your teen likes to play video games at our Totally Teen Tuesdays or your little one is into magic shows, there is a lot of choices.

For more information on upcoming events at Washington-Centerville Public library, visit www.wclibrary.info/events or call (937) 433-8091.

Georgia Mergler is the community relations manager at the Washington-Centerville Public Library.

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