Outdoor Activities from PERC

Utah has finally made its way out of the chilly drudges of winter and into sunny, breezy, unpredictable Spring. Children left stir-crazy from winter's storms are excited to venture outside and play, and we at PERC are excited for them! Come by next time you're at the library and check out one of these awesome outdoor toys to support playing in nature with your child:

Play Parachute

Who didn't love it when the teacher would pull one of these out at school recess? The Play Parachute provides hands-on motor skills and cooperation development for children, and comes with colorful plastic balls to bounce on its surface.

Step-A-Stones

Help your child develop confidence and balance with these bright and colorful "stones" connected by adjustable ropes. Start small with little gaps to run and jump across, and when they're ready, lengthen the ropes to give them an exciting challenge!

Jungle Rumba

A fun twist on the classic game of tag! The game comes with colorful flags that you can grab from other players and stick on your own clothing. Whoever has the most flags wins the game, but watch out before your own flags get grabbed away first.

You can find these games and countless others in the Motor Skills section of our shelves. Come find something to engage your child as the seasons get warmer and more inviting. And always remember to have fun! We're here to support your child's growth, every step of the way.

We look forward to seeing you soon. Happy Spring!

Bring a Friend February 2018

Hello PERC patrons! 

It's February, and to help you out through the shortest, coldest month of the year, we want to give back to you, the people who have kept us up and running for so long. How are we doing this? We're giving away a ball tower to one lucky patron!

Bring a Friend February is your opportunity to enter to win a ball tower just like the one your children love to play with when you come in. All you have to do is tell a friend about our services, and when they sign up and mention your name, you will be entered in the giveaway automatically!

It's that simple! What are you waiting for? Tell a friend about PERC, and make this February fun and fulfilling for you and yours. 

Best of luck!

All about art

Did you know that PERC has an entire section of books and games to teach your child about art and famous artists? It's hidden away in a back corner, so be sure and look for it or ask us about it when you come in. Here are some of the interesting items we have:

Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Faces teaches your child elementary drawing skills.

Mommy, It's a Renoir! introduces children to masterpieces by famous artists.

Famous Paintings cards teach your kids about art history.

Introducing your children to culture is a great way to end the summer!

The wonders of gears

Have you and your child ever played with gears? Gears are fascinating to children as young as two and as old as twelve. They stimulate a child's creativity, teach cause and effect, and even give children a glimpse of elementary physics concepts.

Here at PERC we have several gear sets. Visit us soon and see what there is!

 

Cooperative games

So it's Monday, which means for many of our patrons it's family night. I don't know about you, but our family nights often included bickering about who won whatever game we were playing. Wouldn't it be nice to play a game that didn't have a winner or a loser, that had everyone working together as a team? Welcome to the world of cooperative games.

At PERC we have a variety of cooperative games available for checkout. They even have their own section in the shelves. We have recently added several new and fun options for your family. Noodle Speedoodle is like Pictionary but you have to use a "noodle" in the picture. In Stone Soup, everyone works together to make a good soup before the fire under the kettle goes out.

Try one of our cooperative games and see if family game nights go smoother!

Winter Hours and New Items

Hello PERC patrons! Here's a heads-up for you - PERC is heading into the fall with our winter schedule. After Labor Day, we will be open Mondays 10-4, Tuesdays 10-7, Wednesdays 10-4, Thursdays 10-12, and Saturdays 11-2, closed on Fridays and Sundays.

We've been very busy over the summer lining up new volunteers to replace some we've lost and processing new items. Here are some of our new toys:

This is my favorite because it's so cute. Meet Gizmo, the Hedgecog (entered into our catalog as Hedgehog Gear Set). This item teaches small children about cause and effect by showing them how turning one gear turns them all. The fact that the teeth of the gears are also the spikes of the hedgehog is just icing on the cake. :)

One of the best things about my job is that I get to play with toys! This one, the Balancing Barnyard, is deceptively challenging. Can you get all the animals balanced on the barn without it tipping over? The animals are so cute that your child will be giggling throughout playtime.

These and many other items are available at PERC. You can put any of these items on hold by logging in at oremperc.info. If you're not sure how to log in, stop by or call us at 801-229-7390 and we'll give you the information.

Peaceabilities

PERC offers a number of themed bags - kits full of materials that all revolve around a specific topic. Some of these include potty training, nursery rhymes, colors and shapes, and kindergarten preparation.

One that we'd like to introduce you to is called Peaceabilities. This system was developed by BYU professors to help children deal with interpersonal relations and to quell tendencies toward conflict and violence. An entire set of Peaceabilities materials was donated to PERC and we are offering it as a themed bag. This system includes eighteen children's books and a variety of activities for children ages 6-11. It would be good for any child, not just those struggling with conflict among friends and family.

For more information, visit http://creativeworks.byu.edu/peace/overview.htm or stop by PERC and check it out!

New year, new items

Welcome to 2016! We have several new items that were donated to us over the last couple weeks. Here are a few of them:

Ed Emberley drawing books! These books are perfect for children who are interested in step-by-step instructions. You'll be amazed at the things they'll be drawing.

Beehives. Your preschool children practice color matching and fine motor skills by grasping the bees and putting them in the right hive.

Word Sweep is a fun game for older children and families that tests your knowledge of word definitions. Can you identify all three words and make a word sweep?

All these toys are more are available at PERC. Come in and see us!

New items at PERC

Now that we're back into the swing of fall, PERC has been adding a lot of new items. Here are some of our favorites:

 

Three new Spot It games! These popular card sets will teach children letters, numbers, shapes, and simple words.

This Brain Builders set helps kids follow instructions and translate 2D images to 3D buildings.

The Magical Intellect Ball operates along the same lines as Perplexus - it's a 3D maze that teaches coordination and motor skills.

All these items are available for check out at PERC. Come and see what else we've got!

BabyLit comes to PERC!

Thanks to the good people at BabyLit, who donated the entire run of these wonderful board books to PERC! For those of you who haven't encountered BabyLit, you will be enchanted by the adorable way they make classic literature accessible to the youngest child. The concepts are simple, the execution is clever, and the illustrations are amazing. Come in and check them out. You and your child will love BabyLit.

What's a boomwhacker?

When I heard that we were ordering boomwhackers for PERC, I was a little confused. What in the world is a boomwhacker?

Boomwhackers are tuned tubes that make notes when you hit them, kind of like a xylophone. This is a great way to teach kids the rudiments of music, as well as the physics of sound (why do long tubes make lower pitches than short tubes?). They are now available for checkout at PERC!

Other new items:

 Pixy Cubes can be combined lots of ways to make different pictures. Watch your kids use logic to put the patterns together.

This A to Z dinosaur puzzle has uppercase letters on the front and lowercase letters on the back. He's fun to put together, and comes with his own tray to keep all the pieces in one place.

Rings and gears and monkeys! Oh my!

We received some extra funding this year so we're having fun adding to our collection of educational toys. Here are some of the new things we acquired this week:

Meadow Ring Toss

Kids enjoy practicing their aim with this ring toss. Set up the three wooden posts, then toss the rope rings. Colored beads on each ring match colored symbols on the bases of the post. This one will be very popular as spring is coming.

Gears & Puzzles Deluxe

Put the puzzle pieces together, add the colorful gears, turn the crank and watch them go! This set can be assembled in countless ways, letting children use their creativity and see cause and effect in action. I think this is my new favorite.

Balancing Monkeys

This new toy combines motor skills and math. Children can see how the distance from the tree changes the balance of the monkeys. A lesson in basic physics for the preschool set.

For more of our new acquisitions, visit our online catalog and click on What's New.

Making room for growth

You may have noticed the many boxes of freebies we've had outside our door for a couple weeks. PERC is in the process of clearing out many of our "tired" items to make room for all the new toys we want to get. We have substantially thinned our collections of videotapes, CD-ROMS (many of which no longer work with newer computers), and audio cassettes. We hope to focus on motor skills and sensory toys for younger children, as well as some new fun games for older kids.

Here's an example of some of things we've acquired just this week. All of these items are available to you, our PERC patrons, for free. Check out our online catalog and click on "What's New" to see everything.

New Item: Tumble & Glow Froggio

One of the items we've purchased lately is the Tumble 'N Glow Froggio.

Our Roll 'N Swirl Ball Ramp has been so popular that we'd thought we'd get this little guy to help fill the demand for this type of motor skill toy. Come in to PERC today to check him out, or put him on hold by logging in to our online catalog.

More new items at PERC

Here's a sneak peek at more of the fun items we got for Christmas!

WINGO combines word-building, bingo, and dominoes to make a game that's a fun way for kids to learn language.

This fishing game gives little kids a colorful way to practice motor skills and learn about underwater life.

The First Atlas is a wonderful addition to our DK series. Lots of pictures and information about peoples and cultures makes this book interesting to kids and parents alike.

All these things are available for checkout. Make sure to come in soon and see us!

New items from our wish list

Thanks to a generous donor, we have some new items from our wish list to share with our patrons!

This Melissa & Doug Cookie Set has twelve cookies with frosting and oven tools. It helps teach basic shape and color recognition and beginning math skills through creative pretend play.

The Family Dinner Box of Questions has 75 cards designed to promote conversation at mealtime.

The Peek-a-Boo Panda encourages babies to experiment with interactive play. The panda has arms that click into place in front of its eyes.

Inventory, and PERC needs you!

Mary wields a mean scanner!

Heidi and Margy hard at work.

It's that time again - time for PERC's annual inventory. Several volunteers gathered today, and together we scanned nearly 8000 items in only six hours! Every single item on our shelves was accounted for, and in the next few weeks we'll be chasing down the strays.

Lots of New Things at PERC!

We've been really busy the last few months! First, we'd like to introduce our themed bags. We have put together a series of kits dealing with different subjects of interest to parents and children. Some of these subjects include Potty Training, Kindergarten Preparation, Growing Things, Alphabet, and more. Each bag contains several books, a video, and at least one game or toy to illustrate the concept. If you're home schooling and you have a lesson theme, or if you've got a child who is struggling with a concept, these bags are a perfect solution.

Thanks to a generous donation from Kid Budget, we have special items to give away. The Vault is a method for teaching money management to kids ages 6-10. It includes four pouches to separate accounts, a wristband to remind kids to save, and a workbook full of fun activities and lessons. These would make great Christmas presents for kids or grandkids. PERC has several to give away. Please ask a staff member for more information.

Last, but certainly not least, there are a couple of new ways for you to support PERC! We have set up an account with Amazon Smile that will allow you to donate half a percent of any applicable purchases to PERC. Just log in to your regular Amazon account at smile.amazon.com and search for Parent Education Resource Center Orem when it asks you to choose a charity to support. In order for the donation to go through, purchases must be made through smile.amazon.com, and not the regular Amazon site, but both sites are functionally identical. The link below should make things easier for you.

Parent Education Resource Center

Some patrons have expressed an interest in donating a toy or game to PERC for Christmas. To make this easier, we have set up a wish list on Amazon.

We really appreciate our patrons. Thank you for helping make this a great year at PERC!

Teen Summer Games Today!

Join us for Teen Summer Games Today! June 11th! Come to the Orem Library and join us in the Media Auditorium. Hope to see you there.

2014 Summer Game Days

This summer, PERC will be hosting it's 5th year of "Teen summer game days."

 The game days will be every 2nd Wednesday of each summer month. The days are June 11th, July 9th, and August 13th, at 2-3pm, in the Media Auditorium at the Orem Library.

This event is for Teenagers and Tweens. We feel that as long as a Tween (ages 9-11) can understand game play they will fit in fine.

We will play board games that are available at PERC. These games range in topic; from thinking and reasoning, to math, to word games, to geography, and also general board games.

In the picture to the right you can try out one of the games that will be featured in our first game day on June 11th.

We hope that you will come and join us for one hour of fun.