The April school holidays are just one-and-a-half short weeks away! This year, Wellington City Libraries is inviting you to enter Te Ao Kararehe: The World of Animals with us all the way through the holidays, from the 8th to the 23rd of April.
Have you ever thought that perhaps you might like to meet a llama at the library? What about a penguin? What if we asked you to design your own animals — would they have claws and scales, or bright purple fur? Is it possible to use LEGO® to build a realistic habitat for a mythological beast? How good would a walking, talking animal be at playing D&D? Whatever your interests, something wild, mysterious, fascinating or exciting awaits you in Te Ao Kararehe: The World of Animals. Visit this page to see the whole calendar, or read on to find out more about what’s happening at your local library or community centre these holidays!
What awaits you in the wilds of Te Ao Kararehe?
Animal Antics Musical Storytime
Join us for these animal-themed storytimes where your multi-talented librarians will incorporate many different musical instruments into their storytelling! Stick around when the stories and songs are done to get up-close and personal to learn about the instruments you heard.
Recommended for tamariki aged 4+ with their caregivers.
- Johnsonville Library, Thursday 13 April, 2 – 3pm
- Tawa Community Centre, Tuesday 18 April, 10.30 – 11.30am
Baby Rock and Rhyme: Cubs ‘n’ Bubs Special Edition!
Come on down to the library for these fun and free sessions for parents and carers to interact with their babies through songs and stories — this time with a special animal-themed twist! Rhyme, rhythm, repetition and music are the building blocks of language for babies. Stick around afterwards to chat with our librarians and meet other new parents in your community!
Recommended for pēpī aged 0-2 with their caregivers, but older siblings are also most welcome.
- Te Awe Library, Thursday 13 April, 10.30 – 11am
- Te Awe Library, Monday 17 April, 2 – 2.30pm
- Te Awe Library, Thursday 20 April, 10.30 – 11am
Be Ready In An Emergency! (For Kids)
Learn what to do in an emergency like an earthquake or tsunami with an expert from the Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office (WREMO)! This is an interactive group activity for children aged 5-12. Registrations are required — to book your spot, talk to a librarian or phone Karori Library on 476 8413.
Children’s Librarian’s note: How is this event related to animals, you ask? Well, have you ever heard of ‘turtling’ during an emergency? Okay, okay, the link is fragile at best, we just wanted the opportunity to have our friends at WREMO come for a visit!
- Karori Library, Friday 14 April, 11am – 12.30pm
- Cummings Park (Ngaio) Library, Wednesday 19 April, 11am – 12.30pm
The Bad Smell Hotel: Book Launch and Celebration
Karori Library and The Cuba Press warmly invite you to the book launch of The Bad Smell Hotel, by father-daughter duo Rajorshi Chakraborti and Leela (age 11)!
The duo came up with the idea of the book during the 2020 lockdown, and their story is set in the not-too-distant future, where society is contending with mysterious bouts of uncontrollable farting! The forthcoming book is marvellously illustrated by Dan Mills.
Join us at the library for this very special celebration where you can meet the authors and find out more about the wonderful worlds they have created together!
- Karori Library, Thursday 6 April, 5.30 – 7pm
Coastal Ecology LEGO® Laboratory
Ahoy, kids and whānau! Come join the team from the Wellington University Coastal Ecology Lab to learn incredible facts about your local marine ecosystem: from coral and fishes, all the way to mighty sharks! Kids then can build their very own sea critter or underwater habitat with our LEGO® collection! The most creative design will win a prize, and all models will be displayed at Island Bay Library, along with descriptions written by their creators.
Recommended for tamariki aged 5+ with their caregivers.
- Island Bay Community Centre, Thursday 20 April, 10 – 11am
Create-a-Critter Flipbooks
For our event today, tamariki will create a booklet made of pages cut into thirds, each featuring pictures of different animal body parts that they have drawn or found in magazines. As the pages flip around, the body parts will combine in ways both abstract and hilarious!
Recommended for tamariki aged 5+ with their caregivers.
- Mervyn Kemp (Tawa) Library, Friday 21 April, 11am – 12pm
Create Cuddly Creatures
Bring your old socks along to the library and transform them into a fuzy friend! We’ll provide the thread, needles, and extra accessories for your creature creation, as well as guidance from an expert librarian. Just make sure you’ve washed your socks, it may be difficult to give them a bath afterwards!
Recommended for tamariki and rangatahi aged 8+ with their caregivers.
- Mervyn Kemp (Tawa) Library, Tuesday 11 April, 2 – 4pm
- Johnsonville Library, Sunday 23 April, 2 – 4pm
Critter Creation: Recycled Art
Join us at Newlands Community Centre to turn junk into art! Bring along your own recycling stash to add to our supply, and create the critter of your dreams. Build a lion, a lemur, a llama, or something wild from your imagination!
Recommended for tamariki aged 5+ with their caregivers.
- Newlands Community Centre, Tuesday 18 April, 10am – 12pm
Cuddly Toy Animal Sleepover!
Dress up in your favourite onesie or your PJs, bring a cuddly toy animal, and join us for music, stories and crafts! Those who can bear (geddit?) to may leave their cuddly toy for a special overnight stay in the library — come back in the morning to find out what mischief and hijinks they got up to!
Recommended for tamariki of all ages with their caregivers.
- Brooklyn Library, Monday 17 April, 6 – 7pm
Kids’ Book Club: Animal Edition!
Join us at Wadestown Library for our monthly Kids’ Book Club, where we’ll be talking about the books we love and enjoying an animal-themed craft activity too!
Recommended for tamariki aged 6-12 with their caregivers.
- Wadestown Library, Tuesday 18 April, 3.30 – 3.30pm
LEGO® Habitats
Join us for these special variant sessions of our popular Let’s Go LEGO® programme! Tamariki will design and assemble an ideal habitat for their favourite animals, living or imagined. There will be small prizes for the most creative habitats as well as for the most realistic or viable ones! Completed models will be displayed in the library following the event, alongside descriptions written by their creators.
Recommended for tamariki aged 5+ with their caregivers.
- Te Awe Library, Tuesday 11 April, 10.30 – 11.30am
- Cummings Park (Ngaio) Library, Wednesday 12 April, 2 – 3pm
- Newlands Community Centre, Wednesday 12 April, 10am – 12pm
- Mervyn Kemp (Tawa) Library, Friday 14 April, 11am – 12pm
- Te Awe Library, Saturday 15 April, 2 – 3pm
- Te Awe Library, Tuesday 18 April, 2.30 – 3.30am
- Johnsonville Library, Friday 21 April, 3.30 – 4.30pm
- Karori Library, Saturday 22 April, 2 – 3pm
- Te Awe Library, Saturday 23 April, 11am – 12pm
Llamas! At the Llibrary
Yes, you heard us — get up close with real-life llamas at your local library! Join us for a special outdoor storytime where your llama-loving librarians will warm you up with some stories, then introduce you to our expert Stephen and a couple of camelids — a llama and an alpaca!
Since these are outdoor events we may have to postpone it if weather is poor on the day. Keep an eye on our website and Facebook page for any updates.
Recommended for tamariki aged 4+ with their caregivers.
*Note: The event at Johnsonville Library has been postponed to Thursday, 20 April at 2pm due to wet weather.
- Mervyn Kemp (Tawa) Library, Wednesday 12 April, 10.30-11.30am
- Johnsonville Library, Thursday 20 April, 2 – 3pm
Make Your Own Animal Mask
Make your own animal mask at the library! We will provide lots of different mask templates and heaps of craft supplies so that everyone can create their own unique mask to take home. Animal masquerade ball, anyone?
Recommended for tamariki aged 4+ with their caregivers.
- Wadestown Library, Wednesday 12 April, 2 – 4pm
- Te Awe Library, Thursday 13 April, 2.30 – 3.30pm
- Te Awe Library, Thursday 20 April, 2.30 – 3.30pm
Paws and Claws: Pompomania!
This fun craft is no pig-deal! Come on down to He Matapihi Library and we’ll help you make your first pompom animal. Just bring your enthusiasm and can-do attitude — it’s going to be a paw-some time!
Recommended for tamariki aged 7+ with their caregivers. Registrations are required as space is limited, contact the library at 801 4122 to book your place.
- He Matapihi Library, Wednesday 12 April, 2.30 – 3.30pm
The Pet Files: Zine Making
Kia ora kids! Bring in a photo, or draw an illustration, of your whānau pet (or your dream pet!). Then, join in at the library to create your very own fact file zine about your pets, with fun question prompts, and plenty of time to share our favourite pet stories! Once you’re done, you can also choose to have your Pet Files zine catalogued and added to the library collection for your friends and whānau to borrow. Sweet!
Recommended for tamariki aged 6+ with their caregivers.
- Te Awe Library, Wednesday 12 April, 2.30 – 3.30pm
- Ruth Gotlieb (Kilbirnie) Library, Thursday 13 April, 2 – 3pm
- Te Awe Library, Wednesday 19 April, 2.30 – 3.30pm
- Newtown Library, Friday 21 April, 2 – 3pm
Poké Pets Pompomania
Anime lovers unite! We got chu doing something fun these school holidays. Come along to Poké Pets Pompomania to make a Poké animal like no other. Create adorable Poké pet pompoms and their pompom Pokéball containers at the end of the session. We have instruction sheets you can bring home too.
Recommended for tamariki aged 8+ with their caregivers. Registrations are required as space is limited, contact the library at 801 4122 to book your place.
- He Matapihi Library, Wednesday 19 April, 2.30 – 3.30pm
Spanish Language Day | Día del Idioma Español
Join us on the 22nd of April for Spanish Language Day at Karori Library! Whether you are a Spanish speaker, a language aficionado, or just love learning about other cultures, you are welcome at this family-friendly celebration.
At Spanish Language Day at Karori Library you will experience a range of activities in Spanish — storytelling, an art exhibition, crafts, and the launch of our new Spanish-language book collection. ¿Hablas español? Sí!
- Karori Library, Saturday 22 April, 11am – 1pm
Te Ao Kararehe Animal Storytime
You think storytimes are just about stories? Not so in Te Ao Kararehe! Journey to the tangled heart of the forest, soar to the greatest heights of the mountains, and dive to the inkiest depths of the ocean in these continent-spanning storytimes like no other. If you’re lucky you may even get to craft a souvenir to take home as a memento of your travels in the World of Animals.
Recommended for tamariki of all ages with their caregivers.
- Karori Library, Tuesday 11 April, 10.30 – 11am
- He Matapihi Library, Wednesday 12 April, 10.30 – 11am
- Te Awe Library, Wednesday 12 April, 10.30 – 11am
- Arapaki Library, Thursday 13 April, 10.30 – 11am
- Brooklyn Library, Thursday 13 April, 10.30 – 11am
- Karori Library, Tuesday 18 April, 10.30 – 11am
- Te Awe Library, Wednesday 19 April, 10.30 – 11am
- Arapaki Library, Thursday 20 April, 10.30 – 11am
- Brooklyn Library, Thursday 20 April, 10.30 – 11am
- He Matapihi Library, Thursday 20 April, 2.30 – 3pm
Te Ao Kararehe Family Movies
Looking for a purrr-fect chill activity to do in the library? Why not join us for free movie time! It’s definitely a sloth-mode vibe so don’t forget to bring your favourite animal plushie to snuggle. All movies screened will have an animal theme, and will be rated either G or PG. Registration aren’t required; popcorn and beanbags aplenty will be supplied!
- Wadestown Library, Friday 14 April, 11am – 1pm
- Te Awe Library, Friday 14 April, 2.30 – 4pm
- He Matapihi Library, Friday 14 April, 3 – 4.30pm
- Te Awe Library, Friday 21 April, 2.30 – 4pm
- He Matapihi Library, Friday 21 April, 3 – 4.30pm
Technicolour Furbearers
Welcome to the world of the technicolour furbearers, where nothing is as it seems! At this fun workshop, tamariki will select a pre-prepared model of a fur-coated animal, and decorate their chosen critter with lush paint, shiny gems, colourful fabric, and funky textures.
Recommended for tamariki aged 6+ with their caregivers. Registrations are required.
- Johnsonville Library, Tuesday 18 April, 3.30 – 4.30pm
Under the Sea: Animal CRAFTivity
Whale hello there! Celebrate your school holiday weekend at He Matapihi Library as we create some fun under-the-sea crafts together. Perfect for all ages and stages!
- He Matapihi Library, Saturday 15 April, 10.30 – 11.30am
The Wolves of Welton: An Introduction to D&D
Join us for an introduction to the world of Dungeons and Dragons — no prior RPG experience required. We’ll provide the Dungeon Master, dice, books, pack of ravenous wolves, gear, and knowledge — all you need is enthusiasm!
This session is intended to introduce brand new and novice players to Dungeons & Dragons and tabletop roleplaying games, learning from our experienced librarians in a beginner-friendly environment. Intermediate or experienced players might find this one-shot too simplistic and undemanding.
Recommended for tamariki aged 8-12. Registrations are required: sign up below!
- Johnsonville Library, Wednesday 12 April, 2.00 – 5.00pm
- Tawa Community Centre, Thursday 20 April, 2.00 – 5.00pm