Wiggles & Giggles Gather for Trick or Treating at Lake Wales Public Library
By Allison Williams
The Wiggles & Giggles gathering this week at the Lake Wales Public Library had a Halloween theme to it.
Every Tuesday at 11:00 a.m., children are welcome to attend the Wiggles & Giggles gathering, where they read books, dance, catch bubbles and mingle with other young children.
With Halloween being this week, this week’s theme was: Wiggles & Giggles Trick or Treat.
Children entered the Lake Wales Public Library dressed in their Halloween costumes, ready to trick or treat. Children came in dressed as:
- Spider Man
- Elsa
- Mermaid
- Unicorn
- Ace Ventura
- Dinosaur
- and more!
Kara Wiseman, Youth Services Librarian, hosts the weekly Wiggles & Giggles gathering and also was in charge of this week’s Halloween gathering.
“We do this every year,” Wiseman said. “The Tuesday before Halloween we do trick or treat with our toddlers for Giggles & Wiggles.”
The gathering started with a warm up monkey dance, then Wiseman asked the children to gather around on the rug so she could read two books: Mommy and There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat. The second book ended with a chant, “Trick or treat!” This was the perfect transition for what was to come next: Trick or treating around the library.
The children gathered in a line, bags empty, waiting to be filled. They walked through the library, inside and outside picking up candy along the way from library staff members. Once outside, they entered the Books by Mail room.
“This is our Books by Mail program,” Wiseman explained. “If you ever requested a book to be sent to your home from anywhere in Polk County, it comes to this room right here. They (library workers) mail them out all over Polk County.”
Next, the group made their way to the front of the library to visit the Bookmobile. Each child walked up to the Bookmobile to pick out a sweet treat.
Later in the evening, families gathered back at the library for the Campfire Tales program, where children were given the opportunity to have a campfire, listen to stories, play games and make crafts.
“We try to do a special program every month,” Wiseman said. “Next month coming up on the week of November 4-8 is International Gaming Week, so we are going to do board games all week and just different types of events every day of that week.”
Then on December 10 at 5:00 p.m., the library will be hosting Jingle Crafts. Santa and Mrs. Claus will make an appearance. Of course, when Santa is around, so are cookies! That’s right. Cookies and hot chocolate will be available at the event as well.
The Lake Wales Public Library hosts various events throughout the year, and for those interested in the Wiggles & Giggles program (ages 0-4), the next gathering will be Tuesday, November 5.
https://www.cityoflakewales.com/309/Library
