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The Arlington Public Library is one of the many organizations offering young children and their parents a chance to connect during this year’s annual Baby Day.
Created by First3Years, an organization focused on the education and development of infants, Baby Day is a free event celebrating the first three years of a infant’s life, said Sadie Funk, the organization’s chief executive officer.
Funk explained those early years are critical to the overall health and development of a child. By age three, early brain development is happening and it’s important for parents to connect with their child, she said.
That was the impetus for Baby Day, which held it’s first event in 2019. Although the coronavirus pandemic has hindered in-person events, they were still able to partner with organizations all over the state to create a virtual, week long event.
Arlington’s libraries participated in last year’s Baby Day and are among the partners for this year’s event.
The local activity was organized by Arlington library’s Manager of Youth Programming Bethany Fort. The library is facilitating a taste-safe sensory activity that parents can participate in virtually. The activities encourage infants to touch and feel different items such as ice or gelatin.
Fort said libraries are mainly known for books, but also offer a variety of educational programs such as yoga, story times and music classes. However, the libraries don’t host a lot of programs for toddlers or infants, which made her want to partner with First3Years.
“That really appealed to me,” she said. “Because I felt like it offered something to Arlington residents that they weren’t getting.”
Funk said despite not having in-person events this year, she’s excited to be able to celebrate this crucial time in an infant’s life.
“We know parenting is tough, and parenting can be exhausting,” she said. “So we’re really hopeful that [Baby Day] can be an outlet of support, but also just a fun way to kind of shake up the routine.”