Children's activities - ARCHIVED

Contents

About Bookbug

Image shows cartoon Bookbug and it's parent playing together.

 

Bookbug is Scottish Book Trust’s national Early Years programme. A national charity, Scottish Book Trust delivers the Bookbug programme locally by working in partnership with local library and education services and third sector organisations. To support local delivery of the Bookbug programme, Scottish Book Trust provides its partners with training, advice and Bookbug bags of books. More information about Bookbug can be found at Scottish Book Trust website.

There are four fantastic free bags of books for young children in East Lothian:

  • Baby Bag: from your health visitor when your baby is 3 to 5 weeks old
  • Toddler Bag: from your health visitor when your child is 13 to 15 months old
  • Explorer Bag: from nursery when your child is 3 years old
  • Primary 1 Family Bag: from school when your child is in P1

Gaelic Bookbug Bags are also available for families interested in Gaelic.

Tactile books are available for children with additional support needs alongside their Bookbug Bags.

How do I get a Bookbug bag?

Libraries, health staff and nurseries in East Lothian work together to try to make sure that all families receive their bag. If by any chance you missed getting a Bookbug bag, then please contact libraries@eastlothian.gov.uk who will arrange to have one delivered to your local library for you to collect.

Why read and sing with my baby or child?

Bookbug aims to help every child in Scotland develop a love of books and reading. Sharing books, songs and rhymes for a few minutes a day will:

  • develop language skills
  • allow time for cuddling and bonding
  • help families to relax
  • boost children’s confidence
  • encourage drawing and writing
  • provide a strong start in life

Bookbug sessions

Our libraries host free, friendly, fun sessions of rhymes and stories for babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers and their families and carers to enjoy together. Each session lasts around 30 minutes and has been designed to support children's development while having fun. They take place in a very relaxed environment and are a great opportunity to spend some quality time with your little one, and meet other families.

Rhymes and songs help your baby's language skills and are great building blocks for your baby's future learning. Sharing time singing with your babies, toddlers and preschoolers is a fantastic way to have fun together. And it's a great place to meet other families. Come along and join in the fun.

Please note that to protect the privacy of families attending Bookbug sessions and to ensure the privacy and security of staff we do not allow photography, filming, audio or video recording at Bookbug sessions in our libraries unless appropriate permissions have been given. Parents or carers wishing to film their own child must take care to ensure other children don't feature accidentally in their photographs or recordings.

Some libraries still require places to be booked in advance by contacting the library either by telephone, in person or email. Visit our library directory for contact details of your local library.

Bookbug's Library Challenge

Bookbug's Library Challenge is a free and fun way to encourage babies and preschool children to enjoy their local library. The challenge runs in all our libraries and your child will have the chance to collect beautifully illustrated certificates when they borrow books. 

Libraries have a range of great children's books you can borrow for free and your baby or toddler is never too young to join.

Sign up for Bookbug's free and fun Library Challenge - it's an easy way to enjoy books!

Taking part

  • join your local library and pick up your child's Collector's Card
  • collect a stamp each time your child borrows books
  • when your card is full, swap it for a certificate for your child to keep
  • start collecting stamps on a new card - there are lots of certificates to collect!

Monthly prize draw

Each time your child borrows books they'll be entered into a monthly prize draw. Every month each of our libraries will draw a name at random and the winner will receive a book to keep.