Read and Romp

Reach Out and Read at Northwest Pediatric Center will present Read and Romp, a free community-wide, family-centered event celebrating the joys of reading. The event highlights July as ?Family Reading Month,? as proclaimed by both Lewis County and the City of Centralia.
Kids will be greeted at the park by Clifford the Big Red Dog and Curious George, who will hand children their "Passport to Storybook Fun." Children will travel with their families through 10 story book stations, each themed after a beloved children?s book. At each station, they?ll listen to the story (in English or in Spanish) and participate in a fun, hands-on activity corresponding to the theme of the book. Kids can have their portrait drawn with Harold and the Purple Crayon; read books to dogs from PAWS to R.E.A.D.; enjoy adoptable Hounds from the Pound; make Leo the Late Bloomer hand puppets with Lewis County Eye on Early Learning coalition partners; romp through the Little Tikes Busy, Busy Town; learn about healthy eating with Blue Earth Farms and Gregory, the Terrible Eater, be dazzled by magicians and jugglers at Gone with the Wand; pretend to be doctors at Northwest Pediatric Center when The Berenstain Bears Go to the Doctor; learn new hula hoop and dance moves at Giraffes Can't Dance; and join Timberland Regional Library in experimenting with what sinks and what floats, just like in Who Sank the Boat?
The event is presented in partnership with Timberland Regional Library and Centralia College Child and Family Studies Department, and is funded by grants from the Lewis County Eye on Early Learning Coalition and the Foundation for Early Learning.