Free craft kits and fun scavenger hunts are a monthly offering at the Whitecourt library

For those who haven’t taken part in the summer-themed Buckets of Fun Scavenger Hunt at the Whitecourt & District Public Library yet, you have just a couple more weeks to do it. Once a seasonal event, happening a few times a year, the fun is now themed monthly and attended by about 100 families each month and around 2,000 yearly.

“Scavenger hunts are a super popular program at the library. Kids can come by and find the hidden items around the building and check them off the list. Once they find them all, they get a bag with fun prizes in it. We are continuing the trend into the fall. We have a Back to School theme starting in September,” explained Joseph Kubelka, the Library’s Director.

Staff member Isabel Rennie explained that the scavenger hunt is bilingual and helps support literacy and writing throughout the year because children have to read what the items say and then write it down on their sheets. “The current scavenger hunt uses small sand buckets. The kind children would typically play with at the beach. There are fifteen buckets hidden around the library.”

The scavenger hunts became a constant at the library when restrictions kept programming from taking place. The staff wanted to offer something fun that followed the government’s rules. The response from area families was impressive, with hundreds coming out.

They used elves at Christmas time and plan to do so again this year. Once children complete the hunt, they receive a prize bag. “We switch up what we put inside them, but there’s usually a toy and a treat in there,” said Kubelka. Staff also like to add in things like stickers or even temporary tattoos. “Parents have come up to us when they are here doing it with their kids, and they tell us that they had so much fun and that they love coming to the library and doing this kind of stuff,” said library employee Renee Gray.

Scavenger hunts are reset at the beginning of each month. “It’s not just kids that do it. It’s also some preteens. We try and make them a bit harder, not too easy. Sometimes parents have to help the younger ones,” explained Gray.

Another fun, free activity offered at the Whitecourt Library is a take-home kit lovingly prepared by staff. “This is another evolution from a COVID program. When we were shut down and couldn’t do programming, we started handing out these craft envelopes, which got popular. Like the scavenger hunts, we now ensure we always have something to hand out that is themed around a holiday or the time of year. We only have time to do so many, so now that we are in the summer and we have summer students when they have a spare moment, they are working on these for the upcoming year so that we have more to hand out,” explained Kubelka.

Gray said that staff brainstormed together to come up with various fun characters to include in the envelopes and that they have one for each holiday, but there is also one for each month that doesn’t have a holiday. For the summer, staff created Sammie the Smore, a cute little smores character that comes in pieces ready to assemble with only a glue stick needed at home. Still this summer, there are plans for a rocket ship craft created by Rennie.

Staff are working hard to prep the following year’s worth of craft kits by making 25 kits for each month. More kits can be made as needed, but this gets things going. Instructions come with each craft kit, making it an excellent choice for busy families. On average, they give out around 100 envelopes each month. “It helps plug a bit of our staffing gap. Even though we are back to doing story times and programs, we can’t offer it every single week, so if the scheduling for a program doesn’t work for a family, they can pick up a kit-to-go instead,” said Kubelka.

“I think it’s increasing the different types of families that come in. If they don’t have time to do a program, they can bring the kit home, and it’s more accessible to more kids,” commented Rennie. “We’ve never had leftover kits,” added staff member Layla Perrin.

 When asked how staff like coming up with all the different craft kits, Perrin, Gray, and Rennie said in unison, “it’s so fun!” The group uses various tools to find craft ideas and loves seeing completed projects. “I love looking through all the Pinterest posts and how creative people are and taking inspiration from them. I love putting together our demos and tailoring the crafts to our personalities. For mine, I added glitter to my elf character. And anyone doing these can make it their own too. You can do whatever you want and make it how you want it to be,” said Gray.

Perrin created a New Year’s Eve-themed project that features rolled paper fireworks and a city skyline. “We get to use a lot of the stuff we have here at the library to make these kits. We try and make sure that everything needed for the kits is inside. We cut the shapes out so they are ready to go. A glue stick is usually the only thing needed,” explained Perrin.

Next month’s craft coincides with Orange Shirt Day (Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation). Gray and Rennie created a tipi craft that children can decorate, and the accompanying sheet with instructions will provide some information on what the day means. “I’m really proud of them for putting this together,” said Kubelka.

To help put even more packages together, Kubelka said public members could volunteer. “We have many volunteers during the school year, and they help us with this. It’s the perfect volunteer activity. We as staff don’t have to make 100 of them because we have volunteers that can fill their volunteer hours this way. So, if anyone needs to fill their volunteer hours, they could come to help us make more of these awesome craft kits. We would sure appreciate it!”