HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — There are some things you may not learn just from reading a book, it's why the Downtown Huntsville Library has started a "life skills" program for young children, using interactive games and teamwork.
The program is known as "When I Grow Up" and is hosted every Wednesday from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM.
It started as a passion project for Youth Services Librarians, Laura Noble and Lindsey Shields-Daigneault.
"Laura had the idea of doing a life skills class and I thought that was great and jumped right in...we started planning together," Shields-Daigneault said.
Now it's become an engaging way for kids to absorb essential skills used throughout life.
"These things that you might come across as an adult that you don't know necessarily from a book," Noble said.
These topics differ every week and include things like money management, identifying feelings, laundry basics, and teamwork.
This week's focus was all about money.
"They got to hold some real fake money... And so we just talked about the different kind of denominations of money…then we moved on to counting money and they did some games and money bingo. It's just to get them familiar," Shields-Daigneault said.
"Coins were definitely the hardest part to tell the difference... I think that's why the game was so important, is recognizing the difference between what a nickel looks like and a dime and the sizes," Noble said.
But something that extends beyond the lessons is learning to help one another.
"They don't even realize it sometimes that they're learning how to do teamwork by teaching… the ones who know more...are teaching the younger ones or the ones who don't," Noble said.
And as some kids are regulars and some are new to the program, "they meet each other here, and a whole new friendship emerges," Noble said.
Ultimately, these librarians love seeing the kids have fun and learn, even if it's just a little bit.
"In a couple of years they get a job and they say…oh, I should save some of my money and I'll spend the rest because I learned that's good to do...save some money, that's awesome," Shields-Daigneault said.
Right now this program is hosted only at the Downtown Huntsville Library branch but may eventually extend to other locations based on the response.