Winter and the cold weather it often brings with it can also mean more days inside, and the dreaded “B” word: boredom.
However, we recently discovered a new resource at our local library that we will definitely be taking advantage of throughout the year — especially as winter boredom sets in.
Pike’s Peak Library District has so many amazing things to offer. They have reading programs, free events, story times, classes, oh and of course books, too! If you’re only going to the library for books (which is great of course), you are definitely missing out.
The East Library has a new Education Resource Center. When we visited, we were amazed at all that is available. We walked away after spending over an hour there, and we had barely scratched the surface of all they have to offer. And the kids didn’t want to leave.
We are a homeschooling family and see these educational tools as an especially helpful opportunity. Even if you don’t homeschool, there are so many opportunities at the center for your kids to explore and learn. They provide resources to help make learning fun, allow you to explore something new, or solidify a difficult concept.
The Education Resource Center (ERC) is loaded with manipulatives, activities, tools and learning opportunities in subjects like science, math, history and language. The resources are suitable for a wide age range of kids including upper grades (several physics and chemistry kits are available upon request). Our 4th grader loved the Fairy Tale Problem Solving Kits, our 2nd graders got a kick out of the animal tracks and scat, and our 5 year old loved the Magna Tiles. Computers equipped with programs like Adobe Illustrator and digital dissection programs give opportunities to take a school project to a whole new level. As of the writing of this post, they are in the process of putting all the resources into the online catalog at ppld.org to make it easy to search for all that they offer.
There are tables available in the ERC, or most material are available for checkout for up to 2 hours within the library if you’d like to use them in a library study room. There is always a staff person in the ERC to help you find what you need or show you around if it’s your first time.
Located on the upper level of the East Library, the ERC is currently open 3 – 6 p.m. on Monday & Wednesday, 1 – 4 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, and 12 – 4 p.m. on Friday & Saturday.
