Road Trips and Rainy Summer Days

Summer holidays are right around the corner. Caregivers, parents and whānau are buzzing with excitement for school to be out so we can enjoy the summer with our kids.

No matter your plans, there will be times you’ll be looking for something to keep curious, creative kids engaged.

The City Library has you covered to tackle those “I’m borrrrrrrred…” moments. Here are some of our favourite whānau friendly activities that all will enjoy (even you). What are your favourite activities? Let us know and we might feature it in a future post.

Smash Boom Best Podcast

Are you on team waffle or pancake?
Mario or Pokémon?
Narwhals or Jellyfish?
Axolotls or Flamingos?

Cheer on your favourite while listening to Smash Boom Best, the debate show for kids and families. Each episode features two debaters going head-to-head in different battles using facts and passion to make their case to a kid judge. You can even be the judge at home or host your own debates with the free downloadable home kits.

Collecting and propagating seeds

Ecosourcing native plants supports restoration and help with plant diversity at a hyper local level. Te Papa Atawhai Department of Conservation has a step-by-step guide to get you started with collecting and propagating seeds close to where they will be planted. Once seeds are collected they can be planted or shared at the seed libraries found at Central Library, the Community libraries, and the Environment Network Manawatū Office.

Audiobooks

The ultimate road trip hack is finding an enjoyable audiobook. Your library membership gives you free access to audiobooks on CD or eAudiobooks that you can download to your phone or device. Check out the great range of children’s eAudiobooks on BorrowBox and Libby. We recommend The Wild Robot, A Series of Unfortunate Events, or one of Roald Dahl’s classics.

Tinkercad

Learn 3D design, electronics or coding by doing and creating. This free, kidSAFE-certified website has easily accessible modeling tools, tutorials and challenges that are great for beginning coding and digital design. You can even explore making your 3D creation come to life using the 3D printers at Blueprint: The City Library’s Makerspace. Want to take your coding to the next level? With your Library membership you can access a coding tutorial programme through Fiero Code.

Te Papa at home

Explore the Musuem of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa from the comfort of your own home. Take on whānau creative challenges, complete puzzles, unlock your surrealist side, bring the colossal squid to life with printable activity books and more.

Planet Pilkey

Dog Man is a perennial favourite, topping our most read children’s books for the last few years. Author Dav Pilkey has loads of content for lovers of Dog Man including how to draw tutorials, create your own Flip-O-Ramas, and story starters for your own comic creations.

If you haven’t heard, Dog Man 13: Big Jim Begins will be out in December 2024. And 2025 will be a huge year with the release of Dog Man the movie!