It looks like a small container of grass—but suggest to a preschooler that they draw eyes and a smile on the side of the pot and suddenly they’ve got a silly head growing “hair.” This is one of the Earth-friendly activities that kids throughout the province of British Columbia are being encouraged to try during Family Literacy Week, held January 26 to February 2, 2025. This year’s theme is “Learn to Be Green, Together.”

Parents and caregivers can help their children develop literacy and life skills with simple, fun activities like this. And what does growing a tub of grass have to do with literacy for children?

Growing a tub of grass can teach children much more than gardening—it connects directly to literacy development. As children engage in this activity, they are learning how to grow their own food while simultaneously developing crucial literacy and communication skills. “They’re communicating, they’re reading instructions, they’re measuring and estimating,” says Chrisy Hill, who was responsible for pulling together this activity as the Literacy Outreach Coordinator with the Elk Valley branch of the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy (CBAL).

“Family literacy is what you learn naturally in your own home. It’s parents reading with their kids. It’s families having a meal together and discussing their day at the dinner table. It’s being able to understand each other,” she says.

Hill also emphasizes that “literacy doesn’t happen in isolation”—which is why CBAL is committed to helping people of all ages throughout the Columbia Basin and Boundary region meet their lifelong literacy learning needs. CBAL is well established in the Basin with 16 coordinators working in 77 communities. Columbia Basin Trust partners with CBAL to help Basin communities address literacy issues.

Cathryn Lennox and her son have attended a range of CBAL programs, like Love 2 Learn and Block Builders. “The programs have provided me with a way to connect my son to the joy of reading and the opportunities reading and writing can provide,” she says. For example, “He won a CBAL writing contest and it gave him a sense that creating stories can be fun—not just a school task.”

The Great Big Buddy Read is one of the Family Literacy Week programs that her son participates in. This annual one-day event—which originated in the East Kootenay—sees students across the province pair up to read with other students, usually older ones. Lennox says that her son, currently 13 years old, is now “crossing into being the older reading buddy for younger children, and it is incredible to see those skills being shared with others.”

Not only are all CBAL activities free, but many of the in-person programs send parents home with the supplies and resources they need to continue the enjoyment at home. “We’re big on that,” Hill says. “We give them all the things they need!”

As for CBAL programming as a whole, Lennox lists benefits like fun and a sense of pride for her son, as well as resources, support and connections for her.

“At CBAL, we love supporting families,” Hill says. “It’s all about creating opportunities for them to play and learn together.”

Outside of schools, even more events are taking place for Family Literacy Week throughout the Basin. Parents and kids can find community events listings, activity sheets, contests and more at the website of Decoda Literacy Solutions, which oversees literacy efforts in the province: to access these resources, click here.

Connect with Chrisy today @ elkvalleycoordinator@cbal.org or elkvalleycoordinator@cbal.org to learn more about programs in the Elk Valley.