With a few weeks left of the school holidays still to come, the Healesville Library will be a hub of activity to keep all entertained at no cost.
A Young Writer’s Workshop is coming up for anyone wishing to join the existing group, there will be a Summer Fun Storytime for the little ones and a day to make Paper Plate Sea Creatures and get their creative juices flowing.
Tech support officer and keen writer Katie Gatward said they started the Young Writer’s Group last year because she’s very interested in writing and encouraging young people to write.
“There are lots of opportunities for young writers that adults don’t get so I really wanted to encourage those kids to embrace them and write what they wanted but have also the support of other writers in the area,” she said.
“We ran some sessions last year and had some regular students who attended, we’re just hoping to do the same this year and get it started with the workshop next Friday.
“I drew from my own experience of being that young writer and not knowing anybody else really who was interested in it, living out this way and having little in the way of opportunities like workshops or events or competitions to enter so I wanted to change that for kids now.”
The workshop will be held at 4pm on Friday 16 January for students in Year 7 to Year 10 in 2026. Registrations to secure your place are required and can be made by calling 03 9800 6497 or doing so online at the events.yourlibrary.vic.gov.au website.
Customer service officer Trish Bardwell will be hosting the Summer Fun Storytime for kids aged up to six years old and said they like to try and do a story time for the younger audiences and their families so that are used to coming to the library.
“It’s going to be all about summer, there’ll be probably books and songs about the beach, going to the park, eating ice cream and there’ll be a craft at the end as well,” she said.
“Storytime can be like an escape for families, whether it be the heat or just to get out of the house and connect with other families in the area,
“But it’s also good for developing early literacy and having fun, we always make sure it’s lots of fun as well, because we want to encourage them to come to the library as much as we can and to love reading.”
The storytime will be held on Wednesday 14 January at 10.30am and bookings are not required.
Customer service officer Claire Backhouse said she will be running the Paper Plate Sea Creatures session for primary-school aged kids.
“There’ll be really simple ones that the younger ones can do and we’re getting plastic sewing needles so that the older kids are interested as well because the school holidays do go for a long time so children might be missing some craft activities,” she said.
“It’s a good chance to develop their fine motor skills as well but for the guardians or grandparents, aunties, uncles, anyone who comes in with the children it’s a really good chance to bond with their child.
“We’re using pretty basic materials to show them that if they want to do a craft activity at home we can do it really simply, you don’t have to go out and buy special things that cost a fortune.”
The Paper Plate Sea Creatures session will be at 11am on Friday 23 January and bookings are not required.
