What's New!
Categories
Build and design your own marble maze with this fun and engaging kit! Inspire your child's creative play as they experiment with stability, motion, art, and physics! This kit is available at our Educational Resource Center.
Introduce your child to pattern matching, spatial reasoning, and problem-solving. Q-bitz Jr. builds visual intelligence, STEM skills and is so much fun! Ages 3 and up. This kit is available at our Educational Resource Center.
“Zipping on wheels…Off you go! Flying fast and spinning slow.
Riding a bike on a sunny day…your worries and cares just fade away!”
May is “National Bike Month”!!! After taking a spin around the neighborhood on your bike, choose one of these picture books to relax with! See link below for reading list.
PPLD's Makers in Residence for May/June 2018 were Charles and Tauni Orndorff. The Colorado Springs natives have been making costumes and props for over 15 years. Their skills include sewing, fabrication, 3D design, and much more. They are currently instructors at the Pikes Peak Makerspace where they teach resin casting, silicon molding, and vac-forming.
They taught Resin Casting with Silicon Molds classes throughout Pikes Peak Library District, as well as hosted open studio hours at Library 21c.
Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information about this program.
The Annual Homeschool Art Show at the East Library Children's Department will be on display for the month of April! Come check it out!
In this fun, original, and educational game, kids will learn about 52 remarkable, but often unknown, women who have advanced science and space travel. The game offers inspiring role models for kids, plus a whole lot of fun! This game is available at our Educational Resource Center.
Learn about 48 inspiring women who have changed the course of history with this great collection of knowledge cards! These women made deep and lasting contributions in the fields of aerospace, performing arts, literature, sports, peace, and more. Discover your new favorite historical heroine! These cards are available at our Educational Resource Center.
April is National Humor Month!
“Knock, Knock! Who’s there? Boo. Boo who? Why are you crying?”
It is said that “Laughter is the best Medicine”. Sometimes there is no better way to connect kids with books, than to find one that tickles the funny bone! Here is a list of humorous picture books. Click on link below!
Supplies:
- Kool-aid squeeze bottles
- Straws with different diameters, one needs to fit inside the other.
- Masking tape
- Paper
- Scissors
- Duct Tape
Rocket directions:
- Drink all the juice and then clean and dry the bottle.
- Tape the small straw to the opening of the bottle. Insert a bit into the bottle, make sure air is flowing through straw.
- Cut paper into a square, fold over itself and tape in the shape of the top of a rocket, it should be a point.
- Tape the large straw at one end so that no air can escape from one side.
- Put the large straw over the small straw, put the rocket nose on top, and SQUEEZE bottle to shoot rocket. MAKE SURE NO ONE LOSES AN EYE!
- With a square of duct tape fold a triangular shape, leaving a lip of sticky tape exposed to tape onto the straw. These are fins, kids can use them as decorations but also to experiment. See if your rocket flies better or worse with the fins added.
The Teen Art Contest is for teens and by teens. Teens create the art, and teens determine the winners.
The theme for our 2018 Teen Art Contest was "Hidden Beauty." Teens were encouraged to show us where they have found hidden beauty in the ordinary, everyday world.
All of the artwork will be displayed at either Penrose Library, East Library, or Library 21c during the month of April.
Here are the winners!
Best In Show
Clear by Isabella Huhn
High School - First Place
Letting Go by Celine Hanlon
High School - Second Place
Masked by Elizabeth Ward
Middle School - First Place
Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder by Connor Murdock
Middle School - Second Place
Beauty of the Mountain by Adyline Poirson
Coordinator’s Choice - High School
Color through Clutter by Rebecca Gearhart
Coordinator’s Choice - Middle School
A Shoe by Adia Byron
You can view the winners here:
Make a paper flowers out of coffee filters and droppers with liquid water colors!
Supplies: jars or cups, droppers or pipettes, liquid water colors, coffee filters, scissors, wax paper (to protect the surface you’re working on)
Directions: fill the jars with different water colors and add water to make a solution. Cut out flower shape in coffee filter paper. Use droppers to apply droplets to your coffee filter paper. Once you’ve colored the flower, let it dry before hanging in the window. (Project from High Prairie Library)
Kids at Monument Library enjoyed a Marshmallow Build STEM program by figuring out how to keep their structures from crashing. Kids used toothpicks, straws, and spaghetti!
Practice reading aloud and improve fluency by sharing a story with one of our loveable Paws-to-Read therapy dogs. Click on the link below for a great reading list. Here are times and library locations for PPLD Paws to Read programs:
- Tuesdays at 3 p.m. - Manitou Springs
- Tuesdays at 3:30 p.m. - East
- Tuesdays at 4 p.m. - Ruth Holley, Old Colorado
- Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m. - East, Library 21c, Penrose, Rockrimmon
- Wednesdays at 4 p.m. – Monument, Cheyenne Mountain
- Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. - East
- Fridays at 4 p.m. – Sand Creek
Check out this great current events site for kids. There's good news...more daylight is on the way!
https://www.dogonews.com/2018/3/7/rejoice-its-time-to-spring-forward
Find the matching pairs while you learn about 25 prominent figures in Black History, along with some of their important accomplishments. This fun and educational game includes 50 biographical facts! This game is available at our Educational Resource Center.
Teach your child all about monumental events, laws, historical figures, and more with these educational Black History flash cards! 40 interesting fact cards included. These cards are available at our Educational Resource Center.
PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence for March/April 2018 was Joanna Bolek. She has taught art processes in the context of mindfulness/awareness for over 20 years to diverse populations. She has a masters degree in art education. She is also a qualified meditation and Dharma Art instructor.
Sarah tought throughout Pikes Peak Library District, as well as hosting open studio hours at Library 21c.
Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information about this program.
A new exhibit of images from Pikes Peak Library District’s Special Collections photograph archive captures the response of many residents of Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region to the inauguration of President Donald Trump and his first 100 days in office. The exhibit will be on display at East Library in February, followed by visits to other PPLD locations (see full schedule below).
The response began with the Women’s March held on Saturday, January 21, 2017. The day began with speakers and performance artists in Acacia Park, followed by a march along the streets of Downtown Colorado Springs. Observers estimated the crowd to be in the range of 7,000 participants, which places it among the largest public demonstrations in the history of Colorado Springs.
The collection also includes images from a pro-Trump rally held in Acacia Park, marches and rallies against the Dakota Access and Keystone Pipelines, an anti-Muslim immigration ban protest, a Climate Justice Vigil, and the March for Science.
Numerous groups served as organizers, sponsors, and supporters of these events. Included were SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice), the El Paso County Republican Party, UCOS (Unite Colorado Springs), NAACP Colorado Montana Wyoming State Conference, NAACP Colorado Springs Branch 4001, the Colorado Springs Council for Justice, the Pikes Peak Justice & Peace Commission.
The First 100 Days! Exhibition Schedule
February: East Library
March: Fountain Library
April: Rockrimmon Library
May: Old Colorado City Library
August: Monument Library
September: Library 21c
October: Penrose Library
November: Ruth Holley Library
December: Sand Creek Library
The popular on-demand film streaming service Kanopy is now available for free to Pikes Peak Library District patrons. Library card holders can access Kanopy and sign up to start streaming films instantly by visiting ppld.kanopy.com. Films can be streamed from any computer, television, mobile device or platform by downloading the Kanopy app for iOS, Android, AppleTV, Chromecast, or Roku.
Offering what the New York Times calls “a garden of cinematic delights,” Kanopy showcases more than 30,000 of the world’s best films, including award-winning documentaries, rare and hard-to-find titles, film festival favorites, indie and classic films, and world cinema with collections from Kino Lorber, Music Box Films, Samuel Goldwyn, The Orchard, The Great Courses, PBS, and thousands of independent filmmakers.
When she was in 9th grade, Crystal Reavis dropped out of high school. “I got in with a group of friends that thought partying was more fun than being responsible,” she says. “I was a cheerleader. I wasn’t in the out crowd. But my parents left me with some friends to make my own decisions when I was 13, which led to partying and not doing my schoolwork.”
Now a married mother of two, Reavis is part of the first group of graduates from Pikes Peak Library District’s Career Online High School (COHS) program. A graduation ceremony will be held from 6 - 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 14 at East Library, 5550 N. Union Blvd.
“This is something I have wanted to do, but I don’t drive because of epilepsy, so getting a GED was hard. Dragging kids onto the bus is almost impossible. And most people don’t want your kids in the class with you,” says Reavis, who also homeschools her children: Gauge, age 9; and Kahlan, age 1.
While on PPLD’s website, self-described “library junkie” Reavis found information about COHS, and said, “‘This is something I can do!’ And my husband (David) said, 'You absolutely should!’ It was a perfect fit for me.”
Reavis was able to finish the program in four months, getting career certification in office management. The flexibility of a self-paced, online program benefited the busy Reavis. “I could go on there anytime I wanted, which was really great. Having two kids is hard enough, and when you homeschool you have to fit it in when you can,” she says.
Reavis’ accomplishment has unsurprisingly moved her family. “My son said, ‘I want to make sure I finish school now because I see how happy you are.’ When the diploma came in, my husband actually cried and told me how proud he was of me. He knew how important it was for me,” recalls Reavis.
“Thank you to Friends of the Pikes Peak Library District, to all of the librarians, and especially (PPLD Adult Education’s) Teona (Shainidze-Krebs) and Julie (Beck). They have both been with me every step of the way. If anyone were to ask me why they should enroll, I would say that it really will change your life. Once you have a diploma, you can do anything, whether it’s a better-paying job, going to college, or getting a sense of accomplishment.”
Ah yes, college. Reavis, once a teenage dropout, is about to start studying Anthropology through Ashford University. And she’s been trying to get a family member to enroll in COHS, as well. “My dad lives in Florida, and they have the same program there. He never finished school because his parents died. I told him, ‘You have to do this!’ And now he’s looking into it.”
For more information about Career Online High School, visit ppld.org/cohs.
Explore the mechanical power of liquid in motion by building your very own hydraulic machines! Follow simple step-by-step instructions to create 4 different hydraulic machines, including a working drawbridge, a rake, and a crane that really lifts objects!
This kit will help develop your child’s skills in engineering, hydraulics, and the design process. For ages 8 and up. This kit is available at our Educational Resource Center.
We have added some fun new card games to our collection! Math War: division, multiplication, and addition/subtraction game cards are an excellent way to improve math skills while also having fun.
Plus, we have animal matching, word families, and silly sentences card games! Ages vary, starting at 4 and up. These card games are available at our Educational Resource Center.
The Winter Olympics will take place in Pyeong Chang, South Korea this month! Don't just watch it on TV. Take this time to move with your child! You may not really be able to ice skate or compete in luge, but you can use your imagination! Athletes need to have good balance. Practice walking on a line. If the weather is nice...pretend to LUGE down the slide at the park. Indoors, wear slippery socks and slide around on the smooth floor like you are FIGURE SKATING. Or make a modified CURLING course...using a ball or toy truck and a broom, and land on a bulls-eye on the floor. Don't let your kids have all the fun! They want to judge your spins and turns on the ice rink as well! Here are some books to help your athletes "warm up". Click on link:
2018 marks the 10th year of the Giant Puppet Project at Mountainside Elementary School (MES) on Fort Carson. Concrete Couch works with the students to design and build a marionette puppet that is based on a favorite children's book. The most recent project, inspired by The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, is now installed at Library 21c.
The project involves kids from military families, their parents and siblings, and community volunteers. It is designed to boost literacy skills, has a pre-engineering element, and is just plain fun! Kids ages 6 - 10 are involved in the 11-day experience. The installations are up at MES for one year, and each puppet has about eight different moving parts! For the installation at Library 21c, Rainbow Fish was simplified to be a non-moving sculptural piece.
Sponsors of the program include the Bee Vradenburg Foundation, Joseph Henry Edmondson, El Pomar and Quail Roost Foundations, the Hillsdale and Alpenglow Funds, Colorado Industrial Recyclers, the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and Barb and David Winter.
Special thanks go to the many volunteers who assist in this and other Concrete Couch projects. You guys are the bomb!
~The Staff at Concrete Couch
Design your own roller coaster with our new Engineer A Coaster Kit! Through trial and error, kids learn how the track position will affect the disk as it rolls and travels from track-to-track and into the goal box!
This kit is ideal for developing skills in understanding speed and momentum, force and motion, angles and trajectories, and size. For ages 3 and up. This kit is available at our Educational Resource Center.