PPLD Kids

From a small reading room established 136 years ago, PPLD continues to evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of our sprawling community. Our service area covers 2,070 square miles of El Paso County with a population of nearly 700,000 – people of all ages and backgrounds with varying views and interests.

Thanks to taxpayer funding, we can continue to provide residents with access to 16 facilities, three mobile library services, and a large online hub of resources and services, all of which are inclusive and welcoming to everyone. The Library team strives to make its physical and digital spaces safe and respectful for diverse voices, perspectives, and pursuits; to foster community dialogue and connections; and to help people achieve their goals and dreams in life.

Overview and Process

In the winter and spring of 2022, our Board of Trustees and staff revisited PPLD’s mission statement and developed a vision statement and organizational values that best reflect our public library system and growing community in El Paso County.

This became our starting point to develop our new strategic plan for 2023 - 2025. After months of input from the public through surveys and in-person meetings, PPLD staff, Library patrons, and other community members and government officials, PPLD used the rich qualitative data it received from more than 1,600 responses to develop a new strategic plan for 2023 - 2025. Below are the six areas of focus the team identified that became the foundation of the plan.

Strategic Plan: Areas of Focus

PPLD publicly released this plan in detail on Dec. 6, 2022, so everyone could see where, why, and how PPLD will reinvest taxpayer dollars back into the community through 2025. We look forward to using our new strategic plan to fulfill our mission, uphold our values, and aim to achieve our vision for this great community.

View the complete plan here:

Free materials for this Take and Make will be available at area PPLD libraries beginning Dec. 9, 2023.

Materials provided:
Spool
Washer
Rubber Band
Toothpicks
Materials you provide:
Scissors
Tape
Markers, if desired
Directions: (see additional pictures in the pdf link below)
1. Use markers to decorate the spool, if desired.
2. Push the rubber band through the center of the spool. Use a toothpick to help poke it through if needed.
3. Break a toothpick, slide it through one rubber band loop, and secure it to the spool with tape.
4. Slide the washer onto the rubber band loop at the other end of the spool.
5. Insert a toothpick through the loop.
6. Wind the toothpick.
7. Set it down on a smooth surface and let go. Watch it race or spin!
8. Experiment with how you can adjust it to make it go straighter or farther. You can also race your friends.

How does your brain understand how far away something is? This experiment shows how your eyes work together to perceive distance.

Our eyes both face the same direction. Because they do, they produce slightly different views of the same object. Our brains are able to use this overlapping information (retinal disparity) to figure out how far away an object is. (If our eyes were on the sides of our heads like some animals, we would have poor depth perception.)

Try this: Close one eye and focus on a nearby object. Switch which eye is open and focus on the object again. You should see the object shift. Try it again with a faraway object. When you use just one eye, your brain can’t use feedback from both eyes to discern depth perception.

Materials needed:
Pipe cleaners – use half for each
Clay
Scissors
Pencils

Instructions:
1. Cut your full pipe cleaner in half. Use ½ pipe cleaner for each.
2. Bend the end of a pipe cleaner so you have a circle that’s slightly bigger than a pencil. Twist it to secure.
3. Use a bit of clay to make a stand for the pipe cleaner.
4. Make 2 more pipe cleaner stands with slightly bigger circles. You should have 3 pipe cleaners on stands.
5. Test your depth perception – Place the pipe cleaner with the largest opening on a table in front of you so you cannot see the opening. Close one eye and try to put the pencil through the hole. Try it again with both eyes open. Which is easier? Try it with each sized hole and see the difference.
6. If this is too easy, try getting a needle and thread and threading the needle with one eye closed!

Based on: https://www.kiwico.com/diy/stem/anatomy-biology/seeing-depth-perception

Take and Makes for this project will be available at area PPLD libraries on Oct. 14, 2022.

Supplies and Directions:

Materials we provide:

Paper Templates

Cardboard

Materials you provide:

Scissors

Penny

Glue

Markers, Crayons, or Colored Pencils

Directions:

Color your template. Glue the template to the cardboard. Cut out around your template.

Cut a small slit in the center of the circle to insert the penny. The slit needs to snugly hold the penny.

Spin. As it spins, note what you see.

The Science Behind it: Something in motion stays in motion unless a force acts upon it. In Penny Spinners, the friction between the penny and the surface slows it down and eventually causes it to stop. This project also shows color mixing as the colors combine when the spinner spins.

Take and Makes for this project, for ages 5-12, will be available at area PPLD libraries, beginning Sept. 9, 2022.

Supplies:

We provide:
Coffee Filters

Washable Markers

Leaf Template

Materials you provide:

Scissors

Cup of Water

Pencil

Directions:
(See pdf link below for additional pictures of this project.)

1. Stack your coffee filters. Use the template to trace a leaf on the top one. (If you’d prefer, just draw your own leaf.) Cut the leaves out through all the coffee filters.

2. Use a washable marker to draw a thick circle in the center of each coffee filter leaf. Do not fill in the center of the circle or color the entire leaf.

3. Fold the leaf 3 times (in half, in half again, and in half again). You should have a point in the middle of your circle.

4. Carefully dip the point of the leaf in the cup of water and hold it there until the leaf is saturated. It may need a minute or so. You will probably want a new cup of water for each leaf.

5. Let the leaves dry on a surface that can get color on it. Once they are dry, carefully unfold them.

This STEM project is a favorite from our quarantine days of virtual programming.

Supplies:

Large jar (24 oz. spaghetti sauce jar or a large mason jar)
Water - 2 1/2 cups water (or until it reaches 3/4 of the way up the jar)
Oil - 1/2 cup
Sprinkle in as much salt as necessary but you'd need about 1/4 cup total
Food coloring (optional)

Directions:

Pour water 3/4 to the top of a mason jar. Stir in optional food coloring.
Pour oil into jar. Allow water and oil to separate.
Sprinkle salt into jar. Watch the reaction occur and make observations.
Watch this project at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3qhs9SW-RA

Our APPR title for grades 4-6 is The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor.

Homeschoolers: Register your homeschool group, or children for a live Zoom visit with the author, October 20 at 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. at https://ppld.librarymarket.com/events/month/2022/10. We will send you the link a few days before the program. Registration begins August 15.

Schools: Please contact Barbara Andros to register at bandros@ppld.org
If you are not able to make the live session, a recording of the program will be available for 30 days. Contact bandros@ppld.org for more information.

Book description: Mason Buttle is the biggest, sweatiest kid in his grade, and everyone knows he can barely read or write. Mason’s learning disabilities are compounded by grief. Fifteen months ago, Mason’s best friend, Benny Kilmartin, turned up dead in the Buttle family’s orchard.
An investigation drags on, and Mason, honest as the day is long, can’t understand why Lieutenant Baird won’t believe the story Mason has told about that day.
Both Mason and his new friend, tiny Calvin Chumsky, are relentlessly bullied by the other boys in their neighborhood, so they create an underground haven for themselves. When Calvin goes missing, Mason finds himself in trouble again. He’s desperate to figure out what happened to Calvin and, eventually, Benny.
But will anyone believe him?
Leslie Connor is the author of several award-winning books for children, including two ALA Schneider Family Book Award winners, Waiting for Normal and The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle, which was also selected as a National Book Award finalist. Her other books include All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook, Crunch, and The Things You Kiss Goodbye. She lives in the Connecticut woods with her family and three rescue dogs. You can visit her online at www.leslieconnor.com.
Sponsored by The Friends of the Pikes Peak Library District

Shark Week begins July 24. Here's a preview into our cool shark game Take and Make, for ages 5-12, which will be available at area PPLD libraries beginning July 8, 2022.

Supplies and Directions:

Materials provided in Take and Make:

• Paper Tube
• Blue paper
• Googly Eye Stickers
• Yarn
• Bead

Materials you provide:

• Scissors
• Tape
• Markers

1. Tape blue construction paper around the paper roll.
2. Create and tape a triangular fin to the top.
3. Decorate the roll at one end to look like a shark with its mouth open. Use the sticker eyes if desired.
4. Push one end of the yarn through the bead and tie a double knot. You may need to use a pencil to push the yarn through.
5. Tie a double knot around the paper roll. Leave approximately 6-8 inches for the ball to swing on. Cut off any excess yarn.
6. Gently swing the ball and see if you can catch it in the shark’s mouth! Gentle swings are the key!

Supplies:

Clean, clear jar with lid
Thin glow stick
Scissors
Table covering or tray
Glitter (optional)
Directions:

With a grown-up's help, cut the tip off the glow stick.
Place the open end of the glow stick in the jar and shake it back and forth so that it splatters. Turn the jar as you splatter.
Add a small pinch of glitter, sprinkling onto the sides of the jar where the splatters are.
Cover with lid and take into a very dark room.
Fireflies are not flies but beetles and do exist in Colorado! They hang out by permanent water sources like ponds, lakes, and streams. Watch this project at: https://youtu.be/LRNWJVQRFYw

Take and Makes for this project, for ages 5-12, will be available at area PPLD libraries beginning this Friday, June 10, 2022.

Supplies and Directions:

Materials We Provide:

File Folder

Origami Paper

Rubber Band

Materials You Provide:

Stapler

Scissors

Ruler

Pencil
Directions: (for additional pictures, see pdf link below:
1. Draw a rectangle along the fold of your file folder that’s approximately 4.5 x 7 inches. The folded edge should be part of your rectangle. Cut it out, but don’t cut the folded edge. When you open your rectangle, it should be about 9 inches x 7 inches.

2. Fold one side down to the folded edge. Turn the folder over and do the same to the other side.

3. Fold each side back up to the top. Crease well.

4. Open the folder up along the original fold. Staple the rubber band to one end near that center fold.

5. Use the origami paper to fold a classic dart airplane.

6. Stretch the rubber band around the front of the launcher and around to the back. Hook it to the back near the top.

7. Slide the airplane into the center slot of the file folder launcher. It should rest all the way back against the rubber band.
8. Pull the sides of the launcher apart. The rubber band should propel the airplane forward!

To expand this project, experiment with different weights of paper for your airplane, different rubber band thicknesses, and different launcher lengths. You could also change the trajectory to see how the distance traveled changes.

Based on: https://frugalfun4boys.com/file-folder-paper-airplane-launcher