On November 15th, during Storywalk Week, the Children’s Department of the Needham Free Public Library and the community organization, Family ACCESS, held a scavenger hunt at the library’s Storywalk at DeFazio Park. Children walked around the playground to read the Storywalk book “I Lost My Bear” by Jules Feiffer.  They completed a scavenger hunt sheet as they read. There have been community concerns about social & emotional development during Covid and children not being able to see complete facial expressions on masked faces.  So the scavenger hunt asked  children to identify the emotions of the girl in the story based on her facial expression in certain illustrations. They were also asked to look for faces of a bear with different expressions. These were put on some pages by adding stickers with the bear faces. Children returned the completed scavenger hunt page to receive a small stuffed teddy bear.  They were also able to make a teddy bear paper bag puppet craft project. Adults received information about library programs and services as well as those available through Community ACCESS.

What impacts has this program had?
Children walked the perimeter of the playground. Many families who came for the scavenger hunt stayed and used the playground. Children enjoyed the Storywalk and engaged with the book. The activity encouraged early literacy, visual literacy, social emotional development and gross motor skills. The event promoted the Storywalk and made the library and Community ACCESS more visible in the community. It strengthened the library’s partnership with this organization.  More families became aware of services and programs available to them.