Blog: Children’s Program

The category for Children’s programs that will be featured on the Children’s Collection page.

Introducing a New Series: MPL Kid’s Corner

Raising little readers can be a challenge, especially when there are so many things competing for your family’s attention. There are millions of books on the shelves, online games, new educational tools, and resources that are helpful but are difficult to find and preview. Because of this, the MPL staff are putting together a weekly resource for busy families called: MPL Kid’s Corner.

It premieres on Facebook and Instagram and it will highlight the many books and resources available to families with readers 0-12 years old, that are trying to promote a love of literacy and curiosity in their children.  The easiest way to catch this content, is to follow either our Facebook or Instagram page (why not both?) You can also check our pages Thursday mornings at 10 am. We promise to keep the content fresh and interesting and mostly on time. 😉

This week’s post highlights our ebook resource: Tumble Books Library. TumbleBooks animate children’s books as a way to promote language acquisition and a joy of reading. They regularly update content with new titles, many books that you can find at the library, but with additional resources that help little readers learn to follow along and read on their own. You can watch the video here that introduces TumbleBooks and details how to get started. (Don’t forget you’ll need your library card # and library pin # for any library provided eResource.)

And keep an eye out for our new content weekly!

 

Check out our latest information about World Book Kids!

Here is a list of book recommendations for kids of many ages!

Check out Comics Plus

Try Creativebug!

Malden Public Library is officially a NASA@ My Library partner!

We’re thrilled to announce that the Malden Public Library has been selected to be part of NASA@ My Library, a nationwide science-technology programming initiative.

Get ready for some STEAM and NASA programs, everyone! This program is focused on getting the youth into STEAM programs related to space, but we will have live and online events for patrons of all ages!

@STARLibraries @AmericanLibraryAssociation #STEMinLib

St. Patrick’s Day Wreath: new take-and-make kit

Make a colorful origami wreath for St. Patrick’s Day and decorate it with shamrocks! Our new take-and-make kit (for ages 7-107) contains all the paper squares and instructions that you need to create this wreath–just supply your own gluestick. Call our library now to reserve a kit (while supplies last) and schedule a contactless curbside pickup:  781-324-0218.

Video instructions are also available.

 

Universal Class offers 500 Courses – including Parenting Skills

Good parenting skills are something we learn, not something we are born with. Universal Class offers over 500 online continuing education courses, including parenting skills such as basic parenting, behavior management, positive parenting techniques, early childhood development, and many more.  Check out Universal Class at https://maldenpubliclibrary.org/elibrary/page/4/

Harry Potter at Home

Are you wondering how to fill the hours at home with your children while still engaging them? Well we would suggest reading of course and we’re not the only ones! The Wizarding World has assembled a superstar team with J.K. Rowling, Audible, Bloomsbury, OverDrive, Pottermore Publishing, and Scholastic to bring you Harry Potter at Home, a hub that provides access to Harry Potter books and related activities. It’s as easy as 1-2-3: just add magic and subtract boredom. 

What does this all mean? Well for starters you will be able to access the first Harry Potter book through Overdrive in ebook and audiobook format until the end of April. No waitlists, just instant magical gratification! Teachers have been given an open license to read any and all seven Harry Potter books to their students online. There’s plenty more as well, from arts and crafts to articles and puzzles. You can sign up to have a newsletter delivered to your email weekly which will update you on the latest activities or you can just check the website. Registration is required but it’s FREE! With Harry Potter at Home, there’s something for everyone! 

The Malden Public Library and The Wizarding World know that reading, drawing, doing word searches, and other activities are more than just fun distractions. Reading can transport you to another world when you need a break from this one. It teaches you to think critically and empathize. It improves your language and listening skills and can lengthen short attention spans. It helps expand your imagination which is something to nurture rather than grow out of. You get these same benefits from listening to a book as you do from reading one. When parents read or listen to a book with their children they are helping to engage and prepare their children for the world while creating a shared experience that bonds them. So add a little magic to your home today and remember that with books you can go anywhere you want

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Updated: World Book offers free online classes and support for families learning at home!

Update 4/6/2020: It is now even easier to gain World Book access without needing to sign up! Just go to: www.worldbookonline.com   Login-ID: wbsupport and Password: distancelearn.

If you are at home with kids right now and trying to continue their education or find fun educational activities to keep their minds nimble and engaged the task can seem overwhelming. Over the last few weeks the Malden Public Library has provided access to many sites that offer educational opportunities for families while they navigate this new challenge. But without having access to teacher resources, making lessons and finding tools to teach or help young students can feel like making it up as you go along. A number of previously for-pay services are now becoming accessible in response to the overwhelming need during this challenging time.

World Book has recently decided to make their online learning resources available for free during the Covid-19 outbreak, so that families can access online learning and eresources. Sign up is simple with the above username and password. Just click on the main link: www.worldbookonline.com  to sign in. 

But before you sign in take a look at the resources for parents, caregivers, and teachers on the main page. https://www.worldbookonline.com/training/distance-learning/distance-learning.htm There are great suggestions for how to help young students. Caregivers can access suggestions for lessons, resources for people new to online learning, and tools for teaching young learners all from the World Book home page.

Once signed in the site will direct users to a menu with options for subject based learning, activities, ebooks, educational games, encyclopedias and more.

Online Learning for Kids!

There are wonderful interactive websites so that your children can practice skills and keep learning while they are home from school. We will keep adding to this page as we discover more opportunities.

 

Here is a variety of sites offering math activities for different grade levels:

60+ Awesome Websites for Teaching and Learning Math

Here are sites relating to reading:

11 Free Reading Websites

Free Reading Program

 

Check out these games to help make reading fun:

Education.com

 

Science websites for interactive learning:

From Edheads to Wonderville

Adventures in Chemistry  Resources, activities, videos, games for elementary and high school students (free through March 31)

 

Are you missing storytime? Here are some videos featuring special readers of entertaining books:

Storyline Online

 

Don’t forget to keep the A in STEAM! Here are some ways to spark creativity:

Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems

 

 

Mango’s Little Pim: Language Lessons for Kids

Mango’s Little Pim is a fun, interactive language system for young learners! Little Pim includes animated videos and other tools to make learning a language simpler for kids. Mango Languages’ PhD-created and linguist-approved software teaches real conversations in more than 60 languages. This site offers training in the following languages:

Arabic

Chinese

English

French

German

Hebrew

Italian

Japanese

Russian

Spanish