City of Palo Alto Library Introduces Grant Funded 'Play and Learn Island'

News submitted from the City of Palo Alto:

The Mitchell Park Library has a new feature starting this month – a “Play and Learn Island” – that is a very popular resource for children ages two to five years old. It offers opportunities for young children to learn while playing and it was funded through a California State Library “Pitch It” grant. The grant was awarded to the Palo Alto City Library in 2013.

“Play is critical to learning and to understanding the world. As a learning center, the Library is proud to have been awarded a grant that makes possible the ’Play and Learn Islands’ at the new Mitchell Park Library,” said Senior Children’s Librarian Melissa Morwood.

Some facts about the new resource:

• Play and Learn Islands were originally developed by the Rancho Cucamonga Library with a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the California Library.
• Califa (what is this?) has now partnered with Rancho Cucamonga Library to provide Play and Learn Islands to libraries who wish to purchase one.

• Palo Alto City Library’s Play and Learn Island provides a unique way to bring play and learning into the library, which supports the library’s mission to enrich our customers’ lives with knowledge and enjoyment.

• The Play and Learn Island has three different play sets: Big Build, Discovery Dig, and Healthy Mind, Body and Earth.

• Big Build’s interactive materials allow children to collect, sort, and invent with blocks.

• Discovery Dig includes sand play, and letter and word recognition.

• Healthy Mind, Body and Earth includes a farmer’s market set-up, which encourages families to play together while talking about healthy foods.

Learn more about the “Play and Learn Island” by visiting the Mitchell Park Library, visiting the library online, http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/library, or by visiting Califa’s site: http://listserv.califa.org/pals.php

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