For the kids

Stay warm and enjoy one of the many school holiday activities this July.

Bookings are essential and open on Monday 22 June 2020 at 9am.

To register for any of the  activities, make an online booking in our What's On Calendar or contact the organising libraries directly.

Children under 13 years must be supervised.

Mary Davies Library and Community Centre

Rockingham Central Library

 Warnbro Community Library

Pop-up crafts

This school holidays, Safety Bay Library will be offering pop-up craft activities. There is no set time for the pop-up crafts, you just pop into the library at any time on the day that it is on. Children under 13 years must be supervised.

Safety Bay Library

Pick-up crafts

Scrawl Walk Robots – Ages 8-16

Scrawl Walk Robots will be available for pick up at Rockingham Central Library, Safety Bay Library and Warnbro Community Library.

Please call your local library branch to arrange for pick up. Limited number available. 

View video instructions

A Winter Ways writing competition for lower and upper primary school aged children will be running from 4 July until 19 July 2020.

It is free to enter and completed stories with the opening line “It was a dark and stormy night…” can be submitted at any of our libraries.

Competition terms and conditions

• The competition is free to enter.
• Prizes are awarded in two age categories:
  • Lower primary (years 2 – 3) – Up to 500 words – Winner: $50 prize; Runner up: $30 prize.
  • Upper Primary (years 4 – 6) – Up to 800 Words – Winner: $50 prize; Runner up: $30 prize.
• Opening line must be: “It was a dark and stormy night…”
• Entries must be the original work of the entrant, be unpublished, and not have won a prize in any other competition.  Please do not enter any work currently submitted to another competition.
• Judges' decisions are final, and no correspondence relating to these decisions will be entered into.
• Entrants should keep a copy of their work, as all entries will be discarded after prizes have been awarded.
• The competition starts on Saturday 4 July and all stories must be submitted via email or in person by 5pm Sunday 19 July.
• Winners will be personally notified and publicly announced on Facebook on Monday 27 July 2020. Winning submissions will not be published.

Did you know that reading to children from the time they are born has a positive effect on the development of language and vocabulary, as well as providing the pre-literacy skills that are essential in learning to read when a child begins school? This program is designed to encourage parents and children to enjoy the benefits of reading together.

Songs, rhymes, finger plays and stories are shared in a group environment. Library staff can also assist you in finding resources to suit your needs, such as board books for babies, nursery rhyme books and parenting resources.

July 2020 Rhyme Time Sessions (suitable for 0-2 years). Bookings are essential.

July 2020 Toddler Time Sessions (suitable for 12 months - 2.5 years). Bookings are essential.

Story Time for children aged 2-5 years is held at all four libraries. Sessions include two to three stories, songs, action rhymes and a craft activity – all related to a common theme.

Older children are welcome to join story time during the school holidays and home schooling children are welcome at any time.

July 2020 Story Time Sessions. Bookings are essential.

The aim of the Bookstars Club is to introduce the benefits of using the library and to promote the joy of reading to all primary school-aged children.

Bookstars is held three times during school terms at Mary Davies Library and Community Centre, Safety Bay Library and Warnbro Community Library.

Sessions include crafts, storytelling, author visits, games and puzzles.

July 2020 Bookstars sessions. Bookings are essential.

Learn to code in a fun, free, social open learning environment. Develop new skills and build creative projects.

Free sessions for 7-17 year olds.

July Coder Dojo sessions. Bookings are essential.

Robotics eight-week after-school sessions at Mary Davies Library and Community Centreintroduce children 7-11 years old to the world of robotics with hands-on experience writing code and learning coding terminology. 

For more information contact the library on 9591 0800 or email mdlcccontact@rockingham.wa.gov.au.

July 2020 Robotics Sessions. Bookings are essential.

The City of Rockingham Toy Library operates from the Rockingham Central Library on Dixon Road.

The collection has a range of different toys (more than 800), that help develop children's skills and imagination across different stages of growth and development.

Half hour visits can be booked on Tuesday and Thursday.

Please contact the library to book a time on 9528 8683.

Opening hours:

Items from the Toy Library are available to all current and new library members to borrow free of charge.

Toys can be returned at any time during general library opening hours at Rockingham Central Library and loans will only be available during the above Toy Library hours.

Every child born in the Rockingham district will receive a toolkit as part of the Better Beginnings Family Literacy Program.

The toolkit includes a picture book and guidance material for parents to develop their baby’s early literacy.

Busy Things is a resource for the kids aged 3–11. It is a collection of fun learning activities that help children learn important skills in the key learning areas of creative development, problem solving, reasoning, numeracy, communication, language and literacy and knowledge and understanding of the world.
This subscription service has been provided through Better Beginnings supporting families in sharing a love of reading.

A place where the wonderful world of Australian Children's Literature is on permanent exhibit, Story Box Library is a beautiful online ‘reading room’. Story Box Library connects children with literature through the complementary medium of film, providing its audience with a vibrant, interactive experience via a diverse range of storytellers, each sharing past and present book titles.

Kanopy Kids has a diverse selection of educational and entertaining content that range across movies, TV series, animated storybooks, live action, and animated favourites with a focus on kids aged 2-8.

View more information on this resource.

PK Magis an online magazine for primary kids focusing on sparking any kid’s imagination and creativity.

It is full of book reviews, creative writing, videos, music, arts and crafts and interactive activities.

If you are aged 7-12 you can send PK Mag your stuff to be published.

(No log in required)

Children’s Book Week is an annual national event that celebrates Australian children’s literature. During this week authors, illustrators and storytellers are invited to our libraries to talk about their work and encourage children of all ages to read widely.

Copies of the award-winning and short-listed books judged by the Children’s Book Council are displayed and available in each library.

Primary and secondary school students are invited to read and vote for books selected from the annual WA Young Readers' Book Award list. Eligible books are displayed and available for loan at each library between March and August each year. Students are encouraged to vote for their favourite book. The votes are collected and sent to WAYRBA to be included in the state-wide voting.

Special collections have been developed at all of our four libraries that specifically cater for the young adult reader (12-18 years). This collection is separate from the adult and junior collections and includes novels, non-fiction, graphic novels and audio-visual material.

All of our libraries welcome visits by schools, child care centres and playgroups. Please contact the Young People’s Services Librarians to discuss a program for your visit.

The Young People’s Services Librarians at Safety Bay Library and Warnbro Community Library are available to visit schools and groups at their own venues.