This week we invited local families with young children to Orbital Shopping Park to take part in a special festive Small Talk event. Our Small Talk project helps parents turn everyday activities into new opportunities to fill their child’s world with words.
Over 100 families attended, enjoying a series of fun, free activities that gave them the chance to read stories, sing songs, colour in and play games together. The children then got a free goodie bag to take home, including a brand new book in time for Christmas!
The activities took place on a bus provided by Swindon’s Bus Company, with the help of volunteers from their team.
We will continue to run fun Small Talk event all over the country after our new research revealed that 33,204 children in the South West don’t have a single book of their own. Yet children who own a book are six times more likely to read above the expected level.
“We were thrilled with the success of the Small Talk event in the Orbital Shopping Park on Monday. It was excellent to see so many families there to give some of our chat, play and read activities a go! We gave over 200 books away and hope the families will continue to carry on the fun and learning at home.”
Anish Harrison, Swindon Stories Manager
Parents can visit the small-talk.org.uk website for fun videos and simple activities to inspire them to chat, play and read with their child at home every day.