Category Archives: Recommendations

More fun stuff

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Hello library friends.  We hope you are all doing well.  Restrictions are slowly loosening, but the world is still different and likely will be for a long while.  Thanks for letting us continue to be a part of your lives.

Library update:  We continue to do no-contact pickup in the lobby.  If you want to request items or have questions, give us a call at 507-744-3977.  More updates when circumstances change.

Summer reading update: There will be a summer reading program, but it will look very different.  What won’t be different is the fun and learning.  Look for an entry with more details coming soon.

Meanwhile, here are some more fun things to do right now in the real word and the virtual world.

Real world stuff:

I know a lot of you are taking regular walks, especially now  that the weather seems to be changing.  One fun way to entertain kids on your walk is to make a bracelet of duct tape, sticky side out, and attach pretty flowers and plants you find.  Check out The Kitchen Pantry Scientist for more information.

Fun for little hands on a warm day is this activity that may be familiar to attendees of our Hands-On Science group.  Put a few small plastic toys in a freezable container, cover in water and freeze.  When you’re ready, take them out to the lawn on a sunny day along with some water and tools like eyedroppers or squeeze bottles.  Kids will love melting them free.  Little Bins for Little Hands has more specific ideas.

The outdoors is great for messy crafts, like squirt gun painting,  acrylic paint sun prints, and DIY yard Yahtzee.

Get grilling!

Shop local!  Maybe consider a gift certificate if your favorite business is not open yet.

Online stuff:

These virtual walks in Yellowstone National Park are beautiful and relaxing.

When you’ve done all of your jigsaw puzzles and visited the library’s puzzle exchange so often you’ve done all of those, too, but you still have a hankering, check out JigZone for free online puzzles.

Learn to dock a spacecraft with this Space X simulator.

See Prince and the Revolution “live” in concert on YouTube and donate to COVID-19 relief.

Educational fun

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It’s a new week.  I’m sure some of you parents feel like this stay-at-home order has lasted forever.  In case no one has said it today, you’re doing a great job!  Here are some more resources to keep kids learning and entertained.

Love the Magic Tree House book series?  I know I do!  We’re excited about Magic Tree House Adventures, where every week they will have readalongs and activities based around a theme.  This week is animals!

The Minnesota Science Museum is letting you watch films free at home.  Check out their Omnifest site!

Junior Library Guild is offering free access to great online books for elementary, middle school and high school.

The world-famous Cincinnati Zoo has great videos featuring different animals on their Home Safari page.

The Kitchen Table Classroom has free online art classes for kids.  Most can easily be done with supplies you have at home.

If you are looking for images for a report or just want to check out some amazing photos, check out Wikimedia Commons.  A good place to start is featured pictures.  Don’t be surprised if you find yourself browsing for a while.

 

Relaxation Resources

Recommendations,
These can be stressful times.  Maybe it’s a good time to take up meditating or just get a little help with letting go of your worries for a little while.  Here are some recommendations of free apps that could help.  Be aware that some of them do have ads.  Read any reviews available. They are all quite easy to install and uninstall so I would suggest trying several out.
Meditation Music has about 20 choices such as ‘Music for Stress Relief,’ ‘Bamboo Flute,’ etc.
Sound Heal has several frequencies from which to choose–174 Hz  to 963 Hz. There is sound scientific evidence showing that these frequencies work with your brain waves to calm, heal, even reduce pain.
Buddhist Meditation Music allows you to set a timer to designate a time for relaxation.
To search for more like these in your play store,  just type in words like ‘heal,’ ‘meditation,’ ‘sound,’ and be sure to include the word ‘free’ if that is what you are looking for.

More fun online literacy stuff

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I’m sure many of you are sharing your space with antsy kids.  Here are some suggestions of activities that are fun and sneak in some learning.

Lots of great children’s authors are hosting online storytimes.  This article has a list with links.  Search for #OperationStoryTime on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to find more.

Storyline Online features celebrities reading picture books.  Many are perfect for kindergarten through third grade.

We can’t get out to the Minnesota Zoo, but they do have some excellent learning resources to use online and download.

How about concerts from children’s musicians?  This website has an updated list of dates and times.  Many are free, but some request donations and others may require a small fee.

Math can be fun!  Cool Math 4 Kids has games to make practicing grade school math entertaining.

You may remember Highlights magazine from your childhood, since they’ve been around since 1946.  Their website has games, learning, real world activity suggestions and more for ages 6-12.