Huron County, ON – Family Literacy Day is coming on January 27, 2014. Huron County Children’s Services has been participating in Family Literacy Day for the last eight years in conjunction with the child care centres and Early Years programs in the County.
Family Literacy Day was created by ABC Life Literacy Canada in 1999 to encourage Canadian families to read, play and learn together.
This year, Huron County Children’s Services is encouraging families to play and learn together by celebrating this event from January to March, 2014 at Early Years and childcare centres throughout the County. We are highlighting the benefits of physical literacy in 2014 and how to build that brain and body connection for your child.
What is physical literacy? It is really quite simple. It’s about helping your child develop their mobility and motor skills in play and activities, so they have the skills and confidence they need to be lifelong participants in physical activities, and ultimately all of the health benefits this brings.
When your baby is born, one of the first things a parent does is talk and interact with their baby. This simple interaction begins the process of building neural connections and pathways in their child’s brain, laying the foundation for early language and literacy skills. In the same way, parents can help their child develop physical literacy and movement skills by encouraging their child to be active, whether it be in activities such as rolling and sitting in infancy to running, jumping and hopping for preschoolers and beyond.
The Imagination Playground, a portable foam block building playground filled with blue blocks in a variety of sizes and shapes, has been purchased by Huron County Children’s Services and will be available for use during Early Years programming. It develops a child’s creativity and skills as they use their physical, social emotional and problem solving abilities to create and build their structures.
The Imagination Playground and information about physical literacy will be available at select Early Years program locations. For further information please contact Huron County Children’s Services at 519.482.8505 or 1.888.371.5718. Visit our website at //www.huroncounty.ca/childrens-services/
TO FIND OUT MORE…
For more information contact: Diane Millian, Program Coordinator, Huron County Children’s Services at 519.482.8505 or 1.888.371.5718.
Backgrounder
What is Physical Literacy?
When your baby is born, one of the first things parents do is talk to their baby to begin to build their child’s language and literacy skills. This process helps a child develop the literacy skills they need to carry them through life. In the same way, parents can assist the development of children’s movement skills with activities from sitting and rolling in infancy, to running, jumping and hopping later on. this helps to build a child’s confidence to be a lifelong participant in physical activities, with all of the health benefits this brings.
Guidelines for healthy growth and development include:
- Infants should be physically active several times daily through interactive floor-based play.
- Toddlers (aged 1-2) and preschoolers (aged 3-4) should have at least 180 minutes of physical activity spread throughout the day, including a variety of activities in different environments; activities that develop movement skills; progression toward at least 60 minutes of energetic play by the age of 5.
- More daily physical activity provides greater benefits.
What is the Imagination Playground?
The Imagination Playground was designed to encourage a child’s creativity through the use of big blocks and loose parts (found items). Children work independently or in groups to create, design and build their structures and as they do so, develop their physical, social emotional and problem solving skills. Every part of the playground, from the colour of the blocks to their shape and size, has been designed with the intent to foster creativity and play in the growing child. Each time a child plays with the Imagination Playground is a new creative experience and opportunity.
This amazing resource has been purchased by Huron County Children’s Services. Check with your local Early Years or childcare centre to see when it will be coming to your area.