Family Literacy Day is a reminder it’s never too late to take literacy skills out for some exercise.
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The second annual literacy festival in Sarnia was held Saturday with activities, entertainment and information displays at the library and the Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery downtown.
“We’re not ever done with our literacy development,” said Vanitia Campbell with the Lambton County Library.
If we don’t keep our mind active, “you lose some of the stuff that you’ve learned,” she said. “It’s good to keep those skills up.”
Literacy skills of Canadians aged 16 to 65 were above average and in the top 10 of 27 countries participating in a recent international assessment, Statistics Canada said in December.
Finland topped the literacy results, followed by Japan and Sweden.
Among the province’s, British Columbia had the highest score followed by Alberta, Nova Scotia and Ontario.
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Canadian adults aged 25 to 34 were the group with the highest scores nationally, with those in the oldest category, 55 to 65, scoring the lowest.
“If you engage in literacy activities together as a family, it helps maintain or improve the literacy of the adults, and also the kids,” Campbell said.
Reading together is “fantastic, but board games are literacy activities and going to museums are literacy activities and music is a literacy activity,” she said.
Saturday’s line up included a return of entertainer, Dan the Music Man, performing shows in the library theater, along with activities throughout the building, including henna art, face painting, a visit by mascots from the Sarnia Sting, plus games and activities provided by several local organizations.
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“We want it to be a fun, free day for families but we’re really hoping they come away with a little bit more knowledge about family literacy,” Campbell said.
New this year was free popcorn by the Kiwanis Club of Sarnia-Lambton Golden K and a display by the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority.
“We’ve added a few elements talking about sustainability and conservation,” Campbell said.
“Learning to be Green Together” was the theme for this year’s Family Literacy Day, an annual event launched in 1999 by ABC Life Literacy Canada, a national charity that champions literacy.
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