Free rhymes and games workshops to introduce pre-school children to numeracy are being started by Bradford Council.

Parents and carers are invited to take their children to workshops which are being held in libraries across the district starting next week.

Refreshments are available and each child will get a free book to take home.

The first workshops are next Thursday at Ilkley Library at 10.15am and at Clayton Library at 1pm. Further sessions will follow at Menston and Wyke libraries and Allerton Children's Centre.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, Bradford Council's executive member for culture, said: "Playing with numbers is fun and introducing them at an early age will help children when they start school and in later life.

"The workshops are run on the back of the Count Me In number sacks, which are a free resource for loan at all Bradford District Libraries. The scheme, which is supported by the Yorkshire Bank, was launched in July and has proved very popular."

The number sacks contain educational aids such as books and games that can be borrowed for free from the district's libraries by parents and carers of young children.

Jacqui Atkinson, community affairs manager at Yorkshire Bank, said: "It is never too early for children to begin developing the kind of basic skills with numbers that will be vital as they grow older."