Family Literacy Week

A man, dog, and two children are sitting on the floor playing the board game Monopoly.
Celebrate Family Literacy Week in January with events, activities and contests for the whole family.

Each January, families, schools, libraries and communities across BC celebrate Family Literacy Week.

In 2023, Family Literacy Week was celebrated January 22nd to 29th! Thank you for another successful year!

This year’s theme was “Make it count! Play * Sort * Measure.” Numeracy is everywhere. Children start using math the moment they start exploring the world. Sorting, counting and measuring are ways of playing with math. Talking about math with children helps build a positive attitude towards math. Math talk helps your child connect math with daily activities.

Decoda provides themed resources every year to help you plan your events and activities.

We also hold an annual Family Literacy Week photo contest open to all BC residents for a chance to win prizes.

Family Literacy Week backgrounder

Check out our FREE 2023 Family Literacy Week resources.

Find activity sheets, fact sheets, and great ideas to help your family or community celebrate Family Literacy Week!

Make it Count! Family Literacy Week 2023 Resources

Check out our collection of past Family Literacy Week resources.

Congratulations to our photo contest winners!

Collage of Family Literacy Week 2023 photo contest winning images
Esther Wong of Vancouver was the individual draw winner and StrongStart at Strawberry Hill Elementary School was the winner of the class draw.

Check out the Family Literacy Week 2022 events featured on our Community Events page!

FLW23 social media images

This year we offered a media release and social media resources to promote Family Literacy Week in every community.

Family Literacy Week 2023 proclamation

The Province of British Columbia has proclaimed Family Literacy Week (January 22-29, 2023) in British Columbia. Families are encouraged to celebrate by reading books, playing games, cooking or attending local events together.

Minister Anne Kang's head shot.
Minister Anne Kang.

“Parents and caregivers play a vital role in child development, which includes building literacy skills,” said Anne Kang, Minister of Municipal Affairs. “Whether they follow a recipe, read a book or attend a literacy event together, when families learn together, they grow together. This can create lifelong opportunities.”

Each year, the Province provides more than $2 million in support of community literacy to Decoda Literacy Solutions, a non-profit organization that uses this funding to support the co-ordination of community literacy services and initiatives in B.C., including Family Literacy Week. Each year, government also contributes $500,000 to the Vancouver Sun’s annual Raise-a-Reader campaign and programs.

Read the complete press release

For more information on Family Literacy Week contact Maureen Kehler at mkehler@decoda.ca.