Recreational learning is vital to a child’s development, and we have found the free resources to support your adventure!
Education isn’t just about what happens in the classroom. Your child’s most important learning occurs at home. Recreational learning is all the fun things that happen as you go about your day together, such as reading recipe books, playing games, or discovering facts about dinosaurs.
“At Sunshine Coast Libraries, we believe in the magic of recreational learning for kids,” says Karen Gawen, Young People’s Services Supervisor, Sunshine Coast Libraries.
“We’re not here to replace textbooks or follow the curriculum but to ensure we have the subjects and resources that spark a love of recreational learning and fuel imagination.”
Karen believes it is essential to inspire children from an early age to be curious and understand how to access information. “Children need the necessary tools to explore the world and make sense of new concepts and people. This will enrich their lives and enhance their development.”
A study from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (Yu & Daraganova 2015) found that having over 30 children’s books at home when children were aged two to three was positively related to higher NAPLAN scores in Year 3. Regular reading has been associated with children’s greater vocabulary and higher cognitive ability. So, recreational learning is vital in all its forms!
Tips to spark your child’s recreational learning
Visit the library regularly. Bringing children to the library is so much more than borrowing. Allowing them to use their card and choose what books and toys they want to borrow aids in developing confidence, independence, and personal autonomy. Even a one-day-old baby can become a library member, and it’s free!
Try something new. We often gravitate towards specific genres, but the library has much more to discover! Encouraging your child to expand their interests beyond their comfort zone aids personal growth and ensures they can extend their knowledge and learning. Plus, it’s free, so if you don’t like your chosen title, return it and borrow something else!
Access all the free resources available. There are many different formats to choose from: books, toys, magazines, audiobooks, films, eBooks, databases, and graphic novels. If your child struggles to read, let them listen to a book. If they only like sports, introduce them to biographies and magazines on sports.
Nonfiction is your friend. Today’s nonfiction is terrific, with picture books, biographies, and trivia books on all kinds of subjects. Grab a ‘how-to’ book on paper planes and turn your weekend into a fun family challenge, or borrow recipe books and have a family cook-off.
For more information, visit your local Sunshine Coast Library or head to the Sunshine Coast Libraries website.
Our favourite books at the library right now
- The Minecrafter’s Cookbook: more than 40 game-themed dinners, desserts, snacks, and drinks to craft together by Tara Theoharis
- The Wonder of Little Things: a First Nations Elder shares his extraordinary story of living life to the full by Vince Copley with Lea McInerney
- Animals: An Encyclopaedia of Fantastic Facts by Richard Mead, William Potter and Anna Claybourne
- How to avoid being eaten by sharks… and other advice by John Larkin
- Beasts of the Ancient World: A Kids’ Guide to Mythical Creatures, from the Sphinx to the Minotaur, Dragons to Baku by Marchella Ward, ill. by Asia Orlando
- Bluey: How to Draw: 48 pages of drawing fun!
- 200 Q&As about Dinosaurs by Cristina Banfi
Keep Reading
5 simple literacy tips to nourish little brains
Fun indoor activities for kids (that will help their literacy too!)
Finding literacy in the great outdoors
Servicing Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and beyond, Kids on the Coast is an online guide for parents with kids events, attractions & things to do with kids, schools and education, school holiday guides, health & wellbeing for families, parenting and lifestyle news located on Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast & Brisbane, QLD.
