The "Mister Sun" song chirped in the background as about a dozen children gathered for snack time. Jerry Xue, 3, scooped Cheerios into a paper bowl while his mother watched from the sidelines.

The PACE playtime group is a free parent-child interactive program that focuses on children's developmental skills. Even scooping three cups of cereal was an exercise for hand-eye coordination, counting, and independence, said event organizer Raquel Ayala.

"It's the same way they do when they go to school," said Ayala. "We focus on social emotional, language, parent-child interaction."

The session works with 18-month to four year olds, but this week, there are a few older siblings who are out on winter break. Xue's sibling, six-year-old Alex, spends most of the 90-minute session reading.

After snack time, Ayala reads a book about Kwanzaa aloud to the group, and talks to the children about diversity. Someone slips another book on her chair when she's done.

"Oh, I have another one! Do you want me to read for you?" she asks the children kneeling at her feet. She begins Peter Bently's "Charlie and the Banana Monster."

Parents, like Ann Marie Mullane and Kiro Levine, love it.

"It's a nice educational program for kids who aren't in school," said Mullane, who brought her one year old, Conor, and three year old, Ruby.

"We come over here every week. They have lots of events here, this library. The kids can play with other kids," said Levine.

The program will start again on January 26, 10-11:30 a.m. in the children's section of the Southworth Library. For more information, call Ayala at (508) 979-1927, or the library, (508) 999-0726, or visit www.paceccw.org.

The library is located at 732 Dartmouth Street.