On the Same Page: Keep your mind sharp while having fun with the Reedsburg Public Library

Just Google “keeping your mind sharp” and you will be regaled by a number of websites suggesting that mentally stimulating activities, such as working on puzzles, are an excellent way to ensure brain fitness.

Naturally, reading is an activity that will help exercise your mind, but Reedsburg Public Library offers a variety of other opportunities to exercise your intellect as well.

Next Wednesday, March 19, Assistant Library Director Caitlin Opatik will host a Puzzle Night from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in the library’s Community Room. Individuals and families are invited to drop in and bring a jigsaw puzzle they can complete within the two-and-a-half-hour timeframe, or select from the library’s extensive collection for a relaxing session of brain teasing. Shortly after she joined the RPL staff, Opatik initiated the library’s first “puzzle swap,” which has been quite popular during the winter months. Bring in a jigsaw puzzle that you are finished with and exchange it for someone else’s. An ongoing puzzle is also available in the library’s genre fiction area for library customers to drop in and try their hand at fitting in a few pieces.

The children’s area of the library boasts wooden puzzles and floor puzzles to challenge young minds. A relatively new “light table” encourages educational play with a number of accompanying kits. These kits include a human x-ray set, where miniature x-rays can be viewed as if in a doctor’s office, and a plant and bugs specimen kit, where microscopic samples can be examined. Animal magna tiles, letter tracing cards, and counting/sorting bears are also fun to use on the light table. A wooden dollhouse, sturdy kitchen set and dishes, and dress up clothes are also available to encourage imaginative play at the library.

Launchpads (tablets preloaded with educational games) are very popular at the library and can be checked out for two weeks. The Launchpads offer the fun of gaming, always with an educational component. The Launchpad collection includes sets for children ages 3 to 5, through adulthood.

Some examples of popular titles include “Explore Some More” with 10 preloaded games for preschoolers, “Reading is History” with social studies activities for grades three to five and “On the Map,” a collection of Brain Games for adults. Popular new acquisitions include: “Stories from the Farm,” “Water Your World” and “Snoopy and Friends.”

Attending a Reedsburg Public Library program is also great exercise for the brain for both adults and children. Youth Services Librarian Heather Johnson is a proponent of hands-on learning, and often a Discovery Days, or preschool story hour will include a STEAM activity. STEAM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. Some of these activities may be of Johnson’s own creation, but she may also take advantage of RPL’s STEAM Cart pre-packaged kits. These kits include magna tiles, a robot factory, remote control machines, Keva planks, and magnetic spinning gears, to name a few.

Keep your mind active at Reedsburg Public Library! For questions about any library program or service, call the library at 608-768-READ (7323) or email info@reedsburglibrary.org.