The summer holidays drew to a close last week and with it ended this year’s summer reading challenge…and what a challenge it was! We had Medusas at Chelsea, sea monsters at Brompton, yetis and unicorns all over the place: all kinds of weird and wonderful fantasy creatures appearing across the borough.
Mermaid Madness!
This year saw hundreds of children taking part, and almost all completing the challenge and triumphantly taking home their SRC certificates. A huge well done to them all…and what have our staff got to say about their Mythical maze experiences?
This is my third year of being involved in the Summer Reading Challenge and feel like an old hand now! The Mythical Maze theme was really popular with the kids and they loved their own Maze and getting the stickers. The rewards were better this year and, for those who knew how to fold them, the fortune tellers went down very well – I think all the staff were accosted by children wanting to tell their fortunes! We’ve been helped this year (as in previous years) by some really great volunteers, 3 of whom have been with us at least once before and our newbies have done really well at engaging the kids – we’d have been really hard pressed without them! Here at Brompton we were all a bit worried that we’d set the bar quite high last year and wouldn’t get the same level of participation this year but so far we have even more starters and finishers than last year, and we’re still counting! Our finishers are now looking forward to the party later in the month.
Medusa
Yes, don’t forget the summer reading challenge finisher’s party- coming soon to a library near you!
And from a volunteer…
I was extremely impressed by the new iPad sessions that were introduced this summer. It is great to promote new technology in libraries and in turn see it become more modernised. The children very visibly enjoyed exploring the library with the iPads, trying to scan all of the characters and discovering the challenging games in the app.
As I have been volunteering for a couple of summers, people often ask me why do I keep coming back. The answer is simple. I do it to promote reading skills, I do it for the joy on children’s faces and I do it for all the lovely librarians. And I hope to keep doing it for many more summers to come!
One of our brilliant volunteers
The Mythical Maze app was a great bonus this year- it (literally!) brought the monsters alive!
And from Chelsea library:
Dozens of volunteers signed up before the beginning of summer to help out in the borough’s libraries. They were here for one specific purpose – the summer reading challenge! Once accepting the challenge, and receiving a maze poster, there were prizes for entrants to win along the way. For each book there was the chance to win scratch and sniff stickers (thankfully not as smelly as last year!), wristbands, keychains and a maze puzzle – which folds into a chatterbox. On completing 6 books, challengers received a gold medal and certificate!
Alongside the challenge, there have been numerous activities and craft sessions held, based around the ‘Mythical Maze’; including pop-up cards, mask making and model building…
Yeti
So, as the summer holidays draw to a end, the challenge is nearly over, and with it hundreds of prizes won and numerous challenges completed! This reflects the success of last year and hopefully shows to be a sign that next year will build upon this…
We’re sure it will!
Staff, volunteers, and of course the children all had great fun with the summer reading challenge this year- it’s been creative, exciting, and, well, monstrous and mythical!
As the nights are getting darker, we decided to look back at some summer events and remember the fun we had when the sun was shining…
…and here at Chelsea library this summer we had a bumper edition of our summer reading challenge with the theme of ‘spooky house’. Everyone was keen to join in the summer fun and the friendly staff couldn’t wait to take it on: the challenge of a new creepy house activity every week!
Was it too much to expect in the soaring heat? With gay abandon everyone threw themselves into it.We had so many ideas we wanted to try out on the kids.
Daniel was keen to dress as a bat and hang upside down from the children’s library uplighters.
Di was ready to stand at the top of the stairs in her Victorian nightie holding a flaming candelabra aloft.
We tried them out, we thought better of it.
We decided we needed an entertainer. We searched from A to Z. At Askew Road we found Zedh (Library Manager) who mentioned Wiz. Mr Wiz it was , Wiz went off with a bang, a wizz bang.He really got the fireworks started with a show that set the library alight
We were set on a trail of super dooper fun: fun with a capital F.
Thursday afternoons in childrens were not the same, with everyone trying to outdo the others with their classy creepy crafts.
Creepy Summer Reading Challenge crafts at Chelsea!
Chelsea children chose Thursdays as their favourite afternoon, beating Dr Who on Saturday afternoons into second place.
First they built a creepy house, upon which on consecutive weeks they continued in their thrilling quest to fill with all sorts of ghouls and ghosts and spiders and snakes and rats and bats and all things creepy. Not to mention witches and wizards. There was so much we couldn’t capture it all.
Creepy house crafts
Roll on the next Summer Reading Challenge – but we’ll have to get through Christmas first!
So many of you enjoyed the blog post last December from Kensington Mums, Christmas in London for Kids that when they offered to write something similar for the summer we said yes please! And if you’re looking to see what’s happening in our libraries this summer – check out our Summer Reading Challenge events page.
Now over to Kensington Mums….
Kensington Mums logo
It’s the Summer Holidays, that means six weeks of entertaining your little ones while ‘trying’ to keep sane. Apparently, it only takes 66 days to form a new habit, so summer is the perfect time to be forming good learning routines. Just saying
It is also a beautiful endless summer waiting to be filled with memories. Here are our local picks of more than a dozen things to do with kids this summer in London. If you are staying in the capital then read on as no stone was left unturned in my quest to find the best local activities and places to visit to keep your little ones entertained this Summer. There are loads of fun things to do with your little ones this summer, most of which are FREE!
Kensington Mums summer drinks invitation
Kensington Mums is having a social networking event on the 16 August with the lovely members of the group. Dads are welcome too. Get in touch to register. This event is by invitation only. Enjoy your holidays and let us know what you are planning to get up to and have enjoyed the most by joining the conversation on our Facebook Page, any recommendations or suggestions are also welcome. To be kept in the loop you can follow us on Twitter @KensingtonMums
What’s on this summer for you and your little ones
Ecology Centre in Holland Park
London’s parks
The sun is shining, enjoy some outdoor fun in our local parks and paddling pools.
Ecology Holiday Activity Programme 2013 at Holland Park. Great sessions morning and afternoon for your little ones to explore nature’s beauty and learn with hands on activities.
Diana Memorial Playground. Little ones can play in ‘Peter Pan’ themed playground with a huge wooden pirate ship and teepees to explore and for the kids to run around and let some steam off. Expect long queues during peak times.
Diana Memorial Fountain is great for little ones to splash around and just around the corner you will find the Serpentine Lido and its accompanying paddling pool which are great for both adults and children. Expect long queues during peak times.
Kensington Memorial Park not far from the buzzing streets of Portobello Market is heaven for little ones especially in these hot summer days. The modern, interactive water play area which consists of 22 different water-play items. There is also a sand pit, slides and a rocket frame for kids to climb onto. Highly recommend it! Just don’t forget your swim suit and towel!
Kyoto Garden in Holland Park
Holland Park also has a lovely sandy play area for little ones and don’t forget to have a nice walk in the beautiful Kyoto Garden.
Shape Up in Holland Park, every Wednesday until 4 September as part of the Council’s summer programme of health activities for adults. There is something on every weekday. Whether you fancy toning your body with Tai Chi or using the new outdoor gym, or enjoying a healthy walk in the leafy environs of Holland Park there’s something for everybody. Prices vary from free to £5 and the events take place late mornings and lunchtimes. For more information and a full schedule please contact : 020 7938 8182 or email: sportandleisure@rbkc.gov.uk
One of our Royal Parks
Experience the magic of the Royal Parks! They are organising summer holiday activities, from guided walks to nature talks to family learning and discovery days. Click here for family experiences and here for children experiences.
Hanging basket at Opera Holland Park
The Opera Holland Park 2013 Season is here including Madame Butterfly and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as well as Luna Cinema which presents Summer Cinema at Opera Holland Park – classic films on the big screen at London’s most beautiful theatre.
Museums and galleries
Victoria and Albert Museum are hosting many summer activities, including the Imagination Station, Pop-Up Performances and Drop in Design. While you are there, young and old alike will enjoy paddling pool in the courtyard.
Family workshops at Saatchi Gallery are running on 17 and 24 August. Little ones will exploring the current exhibitions Paper and New Order and go on an interactive tour of the exhibition followed by a fun, creative workshop in response to the artist of the week. Booking required. Please note these workshops are suitable for families with children aged 3 to 12 years old.
The Museum of London are organising lots of family fun sessions including a musical playground, interactive performances and storytelling sessions.
Free Theatre – More London Free Festival 2013. It’s free, it’s family friendly and it celebrates the local community. There are no tickets – just take your seat, first come first served! Every Wednesday to Sunday in August experience award-winning Theatre from London’s Free Open Air Theatre Season.
The Museum of Childhood has Summer holiday activities, Thursday 25 July – Monday 2 September and a Family Chess Club, Saturdays 22 June, 6 and 20 July 3, 17 and 31 August.
Science Museum Live: The Energy Show. 22 July – 31 August 2013: throughout the summer holidays. While you are there, don’t miss the 3D Summer at the Science Museum from Thursday 25 July to Sunday 1 September 2013.
Head to Covent Gardens and visit the London Transport Museum,over the holidays they have organised some family station activities from 6 July as well as demonstrations, story time and make and take workshops.
Gallery Pavilion 2013
Visit the Serpentine Gallery to visit the Gallery Pavilion 2013 which is designed by multi award-winning Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto.
Open Studio at the Tate Modern every weekend and Thursdays and Fridays in the school holidays.
And the rest
Despicable Me 2
Escape the heat and head into your local cinema to watch Despicable Me 2. Its great family movie the whole family will enjoy.
Little Creatures family festival at London Zoo. From Friday 30 August – Sunday 1 September, ZSL London Zoo will open its doors for a weekend of big fun for your little ones.
Westfield White City are hosting ‘Kids in the Kitchen’ sessions and ‘Kids in the Garden’ every Monday and Wednesday from 12 noon to 5pm and Storytelling at the Tipi every Tuesday 11am to 4pm.
rbkc libraries blog 