Topic: A Twist in Time
Topic Type: Event
This is the summer holiday programme held by Hamilton City Libraries for kids aged 5 – 12.
We at Hamilton City libraries realised that the traditional children's reading programmes weren't working as many families in Hamilton spend the summer at beaches rather than in the city.
We wanted to design a programme that would mean children and parents would only have to visit their local library once during the school holidays. Also a programme they could be involved in from anywhere around the world. So we designed this computer-based programme that would cater to parents and kids needs. One kid managed to do the programme in England as her family went there for the school holidays.
The programme ran for six weeks over the summer holidays. It started on Friday 14th December 2007 and run until 28th January 2008.
The main theme of the programme is time travel. A stylised time map allowed the kids to navigate around the webpage. We divided the kids into two groups, the little kids became Starblazers and the older kids were Time Raiders. Each Friday morning a new time period appeared on the map and the kids travelled to that time and did an activity that taught them about a certain culture or time in history.
Kids got allotted points for the different activities they completed. When the kids got a certain amount of points they got to get a lucky dip. Each library got a box called the black hole that kids could get a prize from.
This year kids travelled to the middle ages, prehistoric times, the pirate era, the wild wild west, Ancient Egypt and the Waikato in early times.
