The Castlegar Library held a Spook-tacular event Friday afternoon, inviting kids to play games and make crafts.
The event was part of the library's Pro-D Day programs.
“Last year we started hosting Pro-D Day programs for ... when school is off, giving them the opportunity to come and meet new friends and get some nice crafting in,” said Laura Zaytsoff, the librarian who ran the event. “As well, we are also partnering with the Columbia Basing Alliance for Literacy. So they come and offer a helper, as well as help us incorporate literacy into the events.”
Literacy was incorporated into the Spook-tacular when kids designed two of their own monsters.
The little Frankensteins created their monsters by cutting out different body parts and glueing them onto construction paper. They then wrote down things about their monsters, like what their favourite thing is, what their favourite food is, and what they want to be when they grow up.
“Mine likes cheese and wants to be a librarian,” said Zaytsoff.
The kids also made puppets and decorated cans, which were later filled with candy, to look like bats.
There were also games to give the kids a chance to move around a little.
The first was “Don't Eat Pete.”
The game involves putting goldfish on a gridded board with many monsters. Each monster gets a goldfish and then one child is sent out of the room, while the rest decide which monster is Pete.
“The kid comes back in and starts eating the goldfish, and when they get to Pete, they all have to yell, 'Don't eat Pete!' So you could get the whole paper or you could get like one [goldfish],” said Zaytsoff.
The other game was musical chairs, but with a small twist.
When ever someone was out at the end of a round, they got to punch through some thin orange paper tied around the top of a cup and retrieve the prize hidden inside.
The kids seemed to be having a good time, and more importantly had the chance to get more familiar with their local library.
“It's just an opportunity for them to come and also get more familiar with the library and build good relationships with us (the librarians),” said Zaytsoff. “As well as getting to know the building and the people here.”