New library kits teach young kids about topics like death and anxiety

The Thompson-Nicola Regional Library in Kamloops has created activity kits to help families teach young kids up to the age of five about complex topics such as death and grief, friendship and bullying, worry and anxiety and gender diversity.

Meg Ross, co-ordinator of the children's services department at the southern Interior library, has created educational kits before about things like the alphabet and dinosaurs, but wanted to expand the kits to give families resources for tougher topics. 

"It's a tool box really is what it is. What's in these is not necessarily going to work for every situation and every problem," Ross said.

"But, for a family that might be struggling with a loved one having a terminal illness, or a family pet passing away, there's going to be something in that tool box that they're going to be able to pull out and use to help with that situation...or to help a child wrap their head around what it is that's happened in a way where the parent isn't necessarily going to have to figure it all out on their own."

Inside the box

Since Ross started expanding the activity kits, she has received requests from staff to do ones on many different subjects, she told Daybreak Kamloops' Jenifer Norwell. 

She chose these four topics because she thought they might be particularly difficult subjects for families to broach on their own.

Ross said the topics deal with big issues, but the materials are appropriate for children up to age 5. "So it's really a way that they're going to be able to engage with these really big concepts and topics in an approachable way," she said.

Each activity kit comes with a few books and items, such as puppets, puzzles and a felt story that kids can play with to try and understand the topic they are learning about.

For example, in the gender diversity kit, Ross has taken two sets of puzzles and put them together for kids to mix and match the pieces. One puzzle has different occupations such as a firefighter, princess, and mermaid and kids can match them to whichever characters they want.

"So [you can] make whoever you want to be, whatever you want. If you want to be part princess [and] part firefighter that's absolutely up to you."

The felt stories come with a felt board and cut-out pieces that kids can use to show a story that is read out loud from a script. 

"So it's just a different way of engaging with stories," said Ross.

She hopes that families going through a tough time will find these free activity kits helpful.

"They can get some extra information that they might really need and that might really have a huge impact on their lives."