North Manchester Public Library is thrilled to offer new Sensory Kits for patrons in the library’s latest initiative to reach the neurodiverse community in creative and exciting ways!
"These kits will have many uses and benefits," shares Sarah Morbitizer, Children's Department Manager. "They enable patrons to try items to find out how well they work for their kiddos before making a financial investment. They're a great resource for patrons who have neurodiverse visiting family, help out with long car rides, serve as a focus and attention aid for kids who come to the library with tutors and social workers, and assist caregivers with children who are having a rough day here at the library." In addition to several sensory kits, selected stand alone items are also available for patron checkout. These include a Keeping Kalm Microwaveable Weighted Sloth, an Inflated Wobble Cushion Wiggle Seat, and several frustration free building sets. Each Kit serves a specific purpose. There are 5 total sensory boxes to choose from: Interactive (2): These kits are for those who have energy to spare and need to be constantly moving around to be entertained! Items include an Expandable Ball, Bubble Pops, Shake Musical Ball, Stretchy Worms and a Busy Board. Sweet Dreams/Relax: This box promotes relaxation and calm after a high energy activity and is especially helpful for improving bedtime routines. It contains a Weighted Lap Blanket, a Sensory Moon Night Light with 8 nature sounds. Quiet Book, Stress Ball, Liquid Motion Bubbler, and noise reducing Headphones. All About Texture: Different textures can create different positive stimulations and heighten the development of the senses. Puffer Balls, Hedge Hog Rings, a Pin Art Game, and Textured Noodles provide a wide range of sensory input. Nothin' Wrong With Help: Day to day care can be tricky sometimes and there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking for help! Some people have trouble closing their hand properly around a pencil; one person may have trouble drinking from a "regular" cup; some may not be able to verbalize what they are wanting clearly. This box will have items that assist with those day to day activities, like Foam Grip Tubes, Flexy Nose Cups and a Tiny Talker Too! “All patrons that have, care, or hang out with neurodiverse kiddos are encouraged to check these out,” says Molly Magnus, Programming Coordinator. “If you've had your eye on something for a while, but not sure if it's worth the money, check out one of these boxes and see if it's a good fit for your kiddo before you buy! We are so excited to continue to grow and offer more resources in our library. Having a special needs kiddo myself, I am super appreciative and thankful to have access to these types of resources in our small community.” We invite you to stop by the Children’s Department to take one home today!
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Stop by the Children's Department and check out the new Homeschool Resource Center behind the circulation desk! Whether your child is homeschooled, hybrid, public or private; you're sure to find a plethora of resources to enhance their curiosity, wonder and knowledge.
Want to explore the world around you? Check out the Microscope Set (complete with slides, specimen slicer, a Petri dish, and more). Doing a unit study on space? Connect your phone to the Telescope and use the Bluetooth remote to take pictures of the moon (bonus: set it up during the day to watch animals in the field). Struggling to make sense of chemistry? The Molecular Organic Chemistry Kit shows you how to construct everything from ethanol to glucose to caffeine molecules. Help littles practice sight word identification with fun games like Sight Word Bingo and Swat a Sight Word. Math concepts become easier to visualize with the help of Base 10 Blocks, Magnetic 10-Frame, and Math Link Cubes. Magic Practice Copybooks with grooved pages and disappearing ink pens are the perfect way to practice writing numbers and letters. Spell words with Magnetic Letters and Phonics Dominoes. Explore different homeschooling approaches with new books, including Wild + Free, Unschooling, Charlotte Mason, Classical and Montessori. "As someone who was homeschooled pre-K-High School, and is now a homeschool mom, I've been able to have a lot of conversations with homeschooling parents and grandparents in our community," says Sarah Morbitzer, Children's Department Head. "Some may choose to homeschool short-term due to bully issues, learning challenges, or Covid. Others are planning to homeschool for the elementary years or all the way through high school graduation. In addition, there are many parents who assist their children with homework and e-learning or who want to enrich their children's learning during the summer breaks. For all these families, we want to provide them with the tools and books that will make learning fun and meaningful. Children who are engaged are retaining information. Even more importantly, they are establishing a love of learning, which will hopefully grow into a lifelong habit of self-motivated exploration. Learning manipulatives can really start to add up so we're hoping the Homeschool Resource Center will help families financially by enabling them to borrow instead of buy." The Children's Department reminds patrons that they are invited to go behind the circulation desk to browse the Homeschool, Parenting, Spanish, and Vision resources located there. "We want patrons to freely come and go in this space. Staff work there but it is definitely a patron space as well. We want to see more of our patrons back there checking out all the cool things we have!" says Morbitzer. If you're a fan of our Binge Boxes, you'll love our Movie Night Activity Kits! We have FIVE kits with five different themes, stuffed full with entertainment and snacks for you to enjoy! Each kit can be checked out for 3 weeks at a time. Keep the food items and activity pages, and return the box, books, DVDs and puzzles to the library when you're done. Stop by today to grab a Movie Night Activity kit and take your movie nights to the next level!
NEW BINGE BOXES!
Get your spook on with one of our four scary movie boxes - ranging from Halloween movies for kids, to guaranteed-to-keep-you-up-at-night horror films for adults - or just soak in the fall vibes with our Autumn Vibes Binge Box! Each Binge Box gives you FIVE (or more!) bingeable DVDs that you can check out for a week at a time. What's not to love!? We've restocked the new shelf! Stop by the Children's Department to check out all the cool new books we have ready for checkout.
You're never too little to enjoy a good story! We've got some great choices for bedtime stories and learning times. Visit the new book display in the Picture Book room to find these and many other wonderful titles.
The perfect read for a cozy moment is on the new book shelf in the Children's Department! Curl up with a chapter book or graphic novel when the weather turns chilly and lose yourself in tales from around the world and throughout history. Large Print editions make reading accessible for striving readers and kids with visual impairments.
Spanish, English, and Bilingual books make reading fun and informative! From silly stories like Voy A Portarme Muy Bien to a hopeful and age appropriate tale of surviving domestic violence (The Big Bad Wolf in My House), there's lots to choose from.
Get the kids ready to wrap up the summer with our Back to School Binge Box, or enjoy a end of summer movie night with our New Release Movie Night Box! Binge Boxes can be checked out for a week at a time, giving you ample time to enjoy all five binge-able films!
Our new DVD shelf is chock full of adventures!
Explore the epic beauty of Alaska with Molly of Denali. Immerse yourself in big city living with The Casagrandes. Travel underground in a battle of good vs. evil with The Trollhunters. Stop by the Children's Department to check out a new DVD today! |
NMPLThe mission of the North Manchester Public Library is to provide materials, programs, and services necessary to meet the recreational and educational needs of the community in an easily-accessible facility, which is a community center of activity and information. Archives
January 2023
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