Spending quality time with our kids and teens is critical to their growth and development—and it fosters strong bonds and relationships. But, in our fast-paced lives, finding opportunities for quality time together can be a daily challenge.
Fortunately, there are a variety of things to do, new adventures to begin, and amazing things to learn—right at your library.
Libraries are the place to connect with your kids. And most of the materials and programs available at the library are free! We hope you’ll use this online guide to help you connect with your kids and find ideas for activities you can do together—at the library, at home and in your community.
Read Together
Learn Together
Play Together
Start Family Traditions
Read Together
Reading together and being involved in what your kids are reading helps them in school while also reinforcing the joy of reading. And reading together doesn’t have to stop once your kids can read on their own. Reading anything—comics, poems, graphic novels, magazines or books—out loud together is a great way to spend time with older kids and teens.
A library card is your ticket to a world of resources for education and entertainment for the whole family: books, e-books and e-readers, digital audio books, movies, magazines, games, and many other traditional and digital resources.
Learn Together
Homework is a fact of life for students. So before you find yourself “stuck” while helping with a science project or prepping for a math quiz, take time to learn about homework help and tutoring services at the school and public library.
Ask your librarian about arts and crafts classes or classes on digital photography, video editing, social networking and on the hardware, software and online tools needed to create and share content.
As technology has evolved, so has the library. In addition to classic board games, “gaming” at the library means Wii™ for all ages and early literacy stations with computer games for young children. Playing together builds bonds, not to mention hours of fun.
Play Together
Technology can help us be more productive, assist in learning, entertain and connect us to friends and family. But when we’re always plugged in, we can become disconnected from other people and activities. Arts and crafts provide alternative ways to help unplug, unwind and connect.
Ask your librarian about arts and crafts classes or classes on digital photography, video editing, social networking and on the hardware, software and online tools needed to create and share content.
As technology has evolved, so has the library. In addition to classic board games, “gaming” at the library means Wii™ for all ages and early literacy stations with computer games for young children. Playing together builds bonds, not to mention hours of fun.
Start family traditions
Whatever you like to do together as a family, your library can help support or build new family traditions.
Start a family tradition by making regular family dates at the library. Where else in the community can you spend time with the whole family in a place that has something for everyone...for free?
Tracing family roots? A librarian can demonstrate how to develop a search strategy for tracing your family tree and help navigate through census, church, cemetery and vital record
Show kids and teens about the value of giving back. Service projects strengthen your community and send a powerful message to kids and teens that they can make a difference to someone and something larger than themselves. And they can be fun! Check with your librarian for information about volunteering both close to home and away. Your teens may even decide to volunteer at the library!