The Estevan Area Literacy Group (EALG) continues to see growth with its Nature Smarts summer program.
Nature Smarts is offered at St. Paul鈥檚 United Church in Estevan from Tuesday to Friday, starting at 2 p.m. each day. Regina Barz, who is the EALG鈥檚 literacy co-ordinator, said kids come twice a week, usually either Tuesday and Thursday, or Wednesday and Friday.
It鈥檚 a seven-week program that is wrapping up Week 2.
Last year it was offered three days per week.
鈥淲e have around 25 kids per day, which is good,鈥� Barz said. 鈥淭he kids are enjoying it. We鈥檙e very fortunate and lucky to get funding.鈥�
Each day the kids will play outdoors until everybody shows up. Then they will head indoors for experiments or crafts.
鈥淚f we have a huge group with smaller kids, we try to do some crafts,鈥� said Barz. 鈥淚f we have older kids, we try to have experiments, where kids actually explore. Last week, for example, we did some baggie explosion experiments where kids were actually outside exploding Ziploc bags.鈥�
When Lifestyles was there on Tuesday, the children were working on a craft to make tiles that could turn into coasters.
鈥淲e try to make crafts that the kids can actually keep at home and reuse, like pencil holders and stuff like that,鈥� said Barz. 聽聽
Literacy is incorporated into their program as well. Each day they try to read a couple of books. The children might be thinking more about physical activity during reading time, but there are always books on hand.
鈥淲e try to stick to authors the kids enjoy, like 鈥� Robert Munsch, who is big in schools,鈥� said Barz. 鈥淭he kids are enjoying the books, so we try to get the books from the library, our local library.鈥�
Nature Smarts also allows the kids to learn new things, and make new friends. Barz believes the EALG does a good job of providing fun activities for the children.鈥�
St. Paul鈥檚 provides space both inside and outside, which Barz appreciates. Last week when the Estevan area received some significant precipitation, the literacy group moved everything indoors.
鈥淭his year we鈥檙e focusing on a lot of outside activities,鈥� said Barz.
Many of the kids who attend Nature Smarts are from families who hail from countries other than Canada, giving them more opportunities to interact.
The EALG is a member agency for the United Way Estevan, and so part of their United Way allocation goes towards the summer program. They also receive support from the Community Initiatives Fund.
