Community members are encouraged to celebrate Family Literacy Week even though no official events are planned in New West this year.
Family Literacy Week, running from Jan 24 to 31, has a theme of Let’s Be Active, which focuses on the lifelong benefits of being active. The New Westminster Literacy Committee encourages community members to visit www.decoda.ca, where they will find a variety of online resources for families with younger children.
"Every year, local organizations organize free activities to celebrate Family Literacy Week,” said Maylen Crespo, a member of the committee. “This year, in New Westminster, we will be celebrating a little bit different, and we are encouraging families to take the lead to celebrate with us from home.”
Crespo said this year’s theme focuses on the lifelong and life-wide benefits of being active and the importance of finding a healthy balance between sedentary screen time (which has been increasing in many cases during these times) and active family time.
The committee points out that active play is an essential part of children’s development and unstructured play is as important as organized sports and games. Because children learn by watching, adults should join in on the play.
“We understand that our socializing, exercise and sleep routines have been greatly impacted by the pandemic,” Crespo said. “We want this week to be an opportunity for families to try out different activities and have fun together.”
During Family Literacy Week, the committee suggests families remember to include time to: build active play into your family’s day; put screens away and get active instead; and match activities to children’s abilities – let them take the lead. For little ones, the committee suggests that balancing, pushing, pulling, throwing and counting steps are great active play games for toddlers.
Families are invited to share how they celebrate and participate in DECODA's photo contest – and possibly win prizes – by taking a photo using a Let's be Active theme, submitting the photo to [email protected] or posting it on social media using hasthags #LetsBeActive and #FLW2021.
