You rush through the door after a long day at work. The list of tasks waiting for you feels endless: prepare dinner, help with homework, fold laundry, clean up.
You wonder how you can possibly fit in literacy and learning activities with your children when the clock is already against you. But here’s the good news: you don’t need extra hours in your day to support your child’s learning. You just need to rethink the moments you already have. And we are here to help you!
Instead of preparing dinner alone, invite your kids into the kitchen. Visit your local branch to explore easy, diverse, and family-friendly cookbooks together. With the books wide open, their minds fill with excitement and curiosity as they discover new culinary words and spark their imagination. Suddenly, the kitchen becomes a hands-on learning space where reading, math, problem-solving, and creativity naturally blend with stirring and chopping.
Celebrate With OPL
Make mealtime your family’s classroom, your storytelling stage, your place of connection — and let the Library help you get started.
From January 17 to February 1, OPL invites families across Ottawa to join fun, hands-on literacy activities designed to spark curiosity and build learning into everyday moments. Whether you’re looking for simple at-home ideas or lively experiences at your local branch, there’s something for every age and interest.
Family Literacy Day Activities include:
Family Fun Fair: Literacy Activity Stations: Explore through a variety of playful, book-inspired learning stations designed for young children and their grown-ups.
Storytelling With Puppets: Discover how stories come alive through puppetry and help create new ones using imagination and expressive play.
STEM + Literacy: Combine science exploration with reading and vocabulary building through simple experiments and hands-on challenges.
Cooperative Games: Enjoy games that support teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and early literacy skills.
Craft and Learn Together: Make simple, story-inspired crafts while exploring letters, shapes, words, and creativity.
Easy Literacy Activities for Everyday Learning: Learn quick, easy games you can use at home with preschoolers and kindergarteners—no prep required.
Popsicle Stick Learning Activities: Explore creative, hands-on literacy ideas using items you already have at home, such as popsicle stick puzzles, sight word sticks, or matching rhyming words to an image
Family Mealtime Activities: Discover how to turn everyday food routines—chopping, measuring, setting the table—into natural opportunities for reading, counting, and meaningful conversation.
Register today: Family Literacy Day Activities
Literacy is at the heart of OPL’s mission. When you’re out of ideas at home, join one of our year-round literacy programs—fun and engaging for your little ones and the whole family. And don't forget to explore the book recommendations below.
Parents, it’s your turn. Visit your local branch and begin your next family literacy adventure!
About Family Literacy Day
Every year, on January 27, schools, libraries, and community organizations across the country celebrate Family Literacy Day — a reminder that literacy is built through time spent together. Created in 1999 by ABC Life Literacy Canada, this day highlights the importance of family learning and encourages parents, caregivers, and children to connect over stories and reading.
Family Literacy Day takes place every January 27th to raise awareness about the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family. Family Literacy Day 2026: Make mealtime family learning time Preparing for mealtime is a fun (and tasty) way for families to learn together. Whether it’s following recipes, making shopping lists, or sharing stories at the dinner table, make your mealtime family learning time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- La Journée de l’alphabétisation familiale se tient chaque 27 janvier pour sensibiliser le public à l’importance de la lecture et de la participation à d’autres activités liées à la lecture et à l’écriture en famille. Journée de l’alphabétisation familiale 2026 : Faire du repas un moment d'apprentissage en famille La préparation des repas est un moyen amusant (et savoureux) pour les familles d’apprendre ensemble. Qu’il s’agisse de suivre des recettes, de faire des listes de courses ou de partager des histoires à table, faites de vos repas des moments d’apprentissage en famille.
