Monday 8 December, 2008

Bumper summer holiday edition

Long summer holidays are a great time for picnics and enjoying the outdoors. As well as providing links to Christchurch recreation spots, this bumper edition will give you help with all kinds of puzzles and board games links for those rainy days, as well as some local guidebooks. Try these for starters.

Relax, enjoy yourself and have a great summer!

Get out and about in our great city

Try our events page for library and learning centre events and courses, many of which are free, or gold coin cheap. The Pulse has a calendar of things to do for teens, as well as lists of places to go, and localeye lists sites to help you find out what's on around the city. Christchurch City Council has a comprehensive list of parks and leisure centres.

An inventive life

David Smith may not be a household name, but he is one of Christchurch’s most inventive people. He’s most famous for inventing the game Trax, on of around “fifty or sixty” games that he has invented. Now 80, David looks back on the role of games in his life in this interview.

Christmas music

Want something different this year? The library has plenty of Christmas music – orchestral, New Zealand, Christmas music for children and carols. If you fancy a sing-a-long there are also scores of Christmas music available to borrow.

Hey youngsters! There's heaps to do at the library

Start with our Book Buzz pages. If you are under 12, these pages will let you in on what other kids are saying about adventure books like The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket, or Aquamarine, a fantasy book about mermaids. There’s even a selection of books that are really funny.

Space Explorer - interactive fun

We have a range of interactive puzzles to test your knowledge and challenge you to discover great reading in all kinds of areas. The newest one is the Space explorer - it lets you explore the solar system and the space beyond, take the quiz or do some colouring-in. Others in the series include:

Castle Quest - historical reads and medieval non-fiction
Fantasy Readers' Maze - fantasy stories
Pirate Personality - stories of pirates and other schemers
Readerscope - find great reads to match your personality
Reader Survivor - adventure stories
Treasure Island - more pirate stories and non-fiction

Have you met the Undercovers? They’re three groovy characters, who know their way around and can help you find stuff that’s fun to do and fun to read. You can even download a free poster to colour in.

Summertime Reading Club for children

Simply read six books of your choice - fiction or non-fiction - and go in the draw for pool passes and a digital camera. Register today, then get reading! Starts December 18.

Get in the reading habit and you will be ready for the Reading Crusade - coming your way in Term One 2009.

We recommend: Summer holiday resources

Our online resources

Christmas resources
Christchurch City Libraries’ holiday hours
Images of Christmas
Holiday reading, including
Summer reading programme
Space explorer

Things to do in the holidays

Learning Centre Holiday Programmes
Check CINCH for term dates
localeye - information on holiday activities
Pulse What's Happening for stuff for teens to do
Be there - Christchurch events database
Christchurch City Council Holiday Programmes
Christchurch City Council Leisure centres
Te Puna O Waiwhetu - Christchurch Art Gallery
Canterbury Museum
Christchurch Botanic Gardens
Swimming
Swimming for children
Swimming for people with disabilities
Swimming pools
Swimsmart from Christchurch City Council Leisure Centres and
Summer and Suburban Pools from the Christchurch City Council
Parks - from Christchurch City Council
Kids play equipment around the city - find the best
See also:
- Awesome activities
- Boat launch ramps
- Dog exercise areas
- Mountain biking
- Places to play
- Sports parks
- Walks
Christchurch Sports & Recreation Guide
BeThere.co.nz - events calendar
Armstrong Festival of Cycling
Visiting Us - guide from localeye

CINCH

Our community information directory CINCH is the home of gaming and recreation groups in Christchurch. There’s something for everyone:

Indoor	Outdoor
Board games	Cricket
Card games	Softball
Puzzles	Volleyball
Jigsaw puzzles	Tennis
Chess	Golf
Go	Surfing
War games	Cycling
Mah jong	Croquet
Contract bridge	Petanque
Scrabble	Walking

Our Internet Gateway recommends

Sport and recreation links
Fun and games for children, including
- The Hub Online games, streaming music and video, competitions and more aimed at young people. Linked with TV’s Studio 2, produced by Taylormade Media
- Pingu
- Seussville The home of Dr Seuss, The cat in the hat and more.
- Snoopy and the gang online Visit the home page of Peanuts, read a comic strip or look at the timeline of Peanuts history.
- Stories From the Web A great place to meet your favourite authors and to find out what other kids think about the books they write.
- What now!
- The Wiggles
Christmas websites, including:
- Pohutukawa Information from the Department of Conservation on the New Zealand Christmas Tree (Metrosideros excelsa) (Myrtaceae), or pohutukawa. See also Project Crimson, a charitable conservation Trust that aims to protect New Zealand's native Christmas trees - pohutukawa and rata.
- Kiwi Christmas songs from NZ Folk Song
- Christmas Cards A flickr set showing 14 cards and other ephemera items from the Turnbull Library's collections, including cards sent from the front during WWI and WWII. Adapt and send your own.
- Churches and religious groups
- Religion and spirituality
- Christmas tips for families from Relationship Service
New Zealand travel and tourism websites

Browse the resources in our libraries

Picnic and outdoor family entertainment

Card games

Bridge, Bridge clubs
Cribbage, Cribbage clubs
Poker
Solitaire
Tarot
more card games including general resources

Board games

Word games, number games & puzzles

Crosswords, see also our Crosswords guide
Sudoku
Puzzles

Computer games

Computer games in our catalogue
Computer games programming in our catalogue

Christmas

This week in Christchurch history

What interesting things happened in Christchurch this week? Find out with the help of the Christchurch Chronology on the library website.

December 6, 1983 16-year-old Christchurch student David Tan completes B.Sc Honours degree at Canterbury University to become New Zealand’s youngest ever university graduate.
December 9, 1867 Lyttelton railway tunnel opens, the first in the world to be drilled through a volcano rim. It was New Zealand’s first tunnel, and at the time was described as one of the longest in the world, yet had been planned and financed by this tiny colonial settlement whose population was just over 9000, (6,647 in Christchurch and 2,510 in Lyttelton.)
December 10, 1981 Government announces its intention to preserve the Chief Post Office in Cathedral Square.
December 10, 1989 Sunday trading begins in Christchurch.
December 11, 1929 Edmonds band rotunda opens.
December 11, 1979 Completion of airport international arrivals terminal, stage 1 (arrival hall).
December 12, 1849 New Zealand Company agrees to reserve two and a half million acres as a site for the Canterbury settlement.
December 12, 1941 Slit trenches dug in Hagley Park and in Cranmer and Latimer Squares.