Explorer Backpack
Background
In February 2010, all 4 year olds in East Lothian will receive an Explorer Backpack, jointly funded by East Lothian Council and Scottish Book Trust, containing the following items:
- Animal ABC by Susan Rennie and Karen Sutherland
- On the Way Home by Jill Murphy
- A whiteboard set
- A parents magazine
- A Curriculum for Excellence leaflet
The main focus of the packs is to encourage a love of reading in the children who receive them, and to provide accessible information to parents and carers about how to interact and engage with books and reading within the home and how to support their child’s learning.
The week beginning the 12th February saw the launch of the Backpackers Club and associated Club Challenge in participating libraries across East Lothian.
Check out the video below from the Backpack launch at North Berwick Nursery School:
To sign up for Scottish Book Trust newsletter and to receive Explorer Backpack updates, email info@scottishbooktrust.com
The Backpackers’ Club Challenge
The Backpackers’ Club Challenge is a free programme for all four year olds in East Lothian and is intended to reward them for borrowing books from their local library.
You just need to follow these five simple steps to get your child joined up to the club:
- Join your child up to the library as a member in their own right.
- Ask the librarian to join your child up to the Backpackers’ Club Challenge.
- Your child will immediately receive an embroidered collectable badge to stick on their Backpack, and a baseball cap.
- Each time your child visits the library and borrows books he or she will be given a badge.
- When a child has collected all six badges, he or she will be given a special certificate.
The Backpackers’ Club
Every four year old who has received an Explorer Backpack is invited to attend fun, free Backpackers’ Club events at their local library, where they will gather around an electronic campfire, sing lots of fun songs, play games and listen to stories.
All library branches across East Lothian will be running Backpackers’ Club events throughout February, as follows:
Longniddry Library - 23 April, 11am
Gullane Library - 20 March, 17 April, 29 May, 10.30am
Haddington Library - 12 March, 9.15am
North Berwick Library - 2 April, 7 May, 4 Jun, 11am
Musselburgh Library - 12 March, 11am
Port Seton Library - 13 April, 4 May, 4 June - all at 10.15am
Wallyford Library - 13th March, 10.30am - 11.30am
Click here for suggestions of Backpackers' Club songs to sing together
Click here for suggestions of Camping and Adventure themed books to read together
