By Jessica Mathews/News@whmi.com


A countywide family-friendly event that celebrates early childhood and engages children to learn in a fun way is planned this weekend.

Family Fun Day: Celebrate Early Childhood supports the idea that families are their child’s first teacher. Throughout the day families will see how fun and easy it is to learn and explore simple pre-reading skills at home or on the go. Organizers say parents can help set the foundation for their child’s reading success in school with simple tools highlighted at the event. Entertainment, interactive games and fun activities are planned that will highlight the five practices for early literacy success - reading, writing, talking, singing, and playing. An interactive music concert is planned with Beverly Meyer – The Music Lady at 11 am and kids can meet storybook characters Pete the Cat, Biscuit, and Clifford. Organizers say engaging activities will offer simple age appropriate tools geared to enhance fine motor skills, patterning and color identification, alphabet recognition, problem solving, narrative skills, rhyming, sorting, eye-hand coordination, and matching.

The Family Fun Day will take place this Saturday from 9:30am to noon at 2/42 Church on Grand River in Brighton. The free event is open to everyone and is sponsored by the Livingston Early Literacy Collaborative. It includes the Brighton District Library, Cromaine District Library, Fowlerville District Library, Hamburg Township Library, Howell Carnegie District Library, and Pinckney Community Library, Child Connect for Family Success, Great Start Livingston, LESA Early Childhood Programs, Talking Is Teaching Livingston, and Michigan State University Extension.