Suffolk children and their parents can enjoy fun and free Family Friday activities in both downtown and North Suffolk this weekend.

Healthy Suffolk and the Virginia Cooperative Extension will hold a program downtown on Friday from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Lake Meade Park, 201 Holly Lawn Parkway. In the event of bad weather, this event will be moved to Morgan Memorial Library, 443 W. Washington St.

Books on gardening and agriculture will be given away through a raffle drawing, and children will have the opportunity to enjoy fresh produce.

“I’m going to have cucumbers from my garden for them to taste,” said Healthy Suffolk Garden Coordinator Shelley Barlow, “and I’ll have all kinds of other herbs and things for them to touch and smell.”

Suffolk Public Library staff will have a station at Lake Meade Park for children to decorate small clay pots. They’ll then fill up the pots with soil for cucumber seeds to take home as part of their “mini gardening lessons,” Barlow said.

In North Suffolk, Keep Suffolk Beautiful will organize a litter clean-up and craft project on Friday from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Bennett’s Creek Park, 3000 Bennetts Creek Park Road. In the event of bad weather, this event will take place at the North Suffolk Library, 2000 Bennetts Creek Park Road.

Families will help clean up the park and create “upcycled” crafts, and Wayne Jones with Keep Suffolk Beautiful will give a presentation on littering — particularly the top five pieces of litter found in the world.

“The park is already well maintained,” Jones wrote in an email. “However, the idea of the cleanup is to raise awareness of the smaller pieces of litter found in our environment.  Many people don’t realize that a cigarette butt is litter, but they are and they remain the number one piece of litter in the world.”

Family Fridays are organized by Suffolk Public Library in conjunction with other local partners to give local families free and fun outdoor activities this summer.

“Family Fridays are an opportunity for families to come together and to learn and experience something new,” Suffolk Public Library Community Relations Coordinator Angie Sumner wrote in an email. “During the summer we offer our Family Friday programs in the parks in an effort to engage families in activities outdoors.”

Visit suffolkpubliclibrary.com for more information.