Keep Kids Engaged This Summer: Voice Of The Township
School is out for the summer, and this means a big change in routine for young students and their families. During the academic year parents can rely on their children being in a safe and enriching environment, but summertime often leaves them scrambling to find other options. They need daycare if they have to work, and they often have to find other ways to feed their children who were used to getting lunch and sometimes breakfast at school. When the summer break comes around, parents who choose and can afford to stay at home with their children during the day now have to find ways to keep them busy.
Here in Wayne Township and beyond there are lots of activities for children to do over the summer. The Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation Department prints the “Fun Times” catalog which is filled with activities for children and adults from craft and sport classes to nature and water activities. If you didn’t receive a copy in the mail, you can pick up the summer edition at many libraries and other public locations. Here is a link if you don’t find it in print: fortwayneparks.org/images/stories/funtimes/Summer_25.pdf
Another place that kids can connect with fun and learning is at the Allen County Public Library. There are many activities every day of the week. Just open the Children’s Program webpage and it will tell you what is going that day and into the future at the Main Library and all the branches, including Waynedale. These activities include reading and art classes and just plain entertainment for babies on up to older teens. acpl.lib.in.us/children-programs .
Besides activities, many families are looking for ways to make up for the meals their kids were getting while in school. Once again this year the Fort Wayne Community Schools, the Allen County Public Library and the USDA are providing free lunches and snacks at eight different library locations in Fort Wayne: Main, Georgetown, Hessen Cassel, Little Turtle, Pontiac, Shawnee, Tecumseh, and Waynedale, through the LINK—Learn, Imagine, Nourish and Know—program: “Library LINK is a chance to feed your body and your brain all summer!! Lunches are provided to all children and teens thanks to Fort Wayne Community Schools and the USDA. Food is available to anyone under 18 years old, on a first come, first serve basis. Lunches will be eaten at the library. Free lunches and snacks are available Monday through Friday, May 27-July 31 at eight library locations as a part of our Summer Learning Program.” (ACPL website)
Fort Wayne’s Blessings in a Backpack program operates a Summer Feeding Program. This program distributes non-perishable food items to children ages 18 and under at the eight Allen County Public Library locations during the summer. Distribution occurs every Friday during the summer months. The purpose of that program is to ensure that children have access to food over the weekends during the summer months when school is out of session.
That program and others can be found through the Indiana Department of Education’s Searchable Meal Site Locator: idoenutrition.com . On that page you can enter your zip code and see all the summer feeding programs available in your area. Finally, parents can also call the USDA National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGRY or 1-877-8-HAMBRE or they can text “Summer” to 1-914-342-7744 for further information on finding food for kids.
There are lots of local resources, and anyone can stop by our office for more information. Here’s wishing you and your kids a fun and happy summer!
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